Archives
This looks like a century-old headline:
"By airship to the North Pole -- Zeppelin expedition will survey sea ice in the Arctic."But it's not.And as long as I’m on the topic…
...here's another interview with a German climatologist (one who very much agrees climate is changing and we're largely responsible, before you ask) taking issue with the tone of the discussion: "We Have to Take Away People's Fear of Climate Change."The debate about global warming "a mirage"?
That's what three scientists, one from Denmark and two from Canada, say in a new paper:The entire debate about global warming is a mirage. The concept of ‘global temperature’ is thermodynamically as well as mathematically an impossibility, says professor at The Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Bjarne Andresen who has analyzed this hot topic in collaboration with professors Christopher Essex from University of Western Ontario and Ross McKitrick from University of Guelph, both Ontario, Canada.It is generally assumed that the atmosphere and the oceans have grown warmer during the recent 50 years. The reason for this point of view is an upward trend in the curve of measurements of the so-called ‘global temperature’. This ...Are we wrong about the causes of climate change?
There's a legitimate rival theory about the most important thing driving climate change.The fire down below
The surface of our planet is nice and cool. (A little too cool, this time of year.) But not all that far beneath us, it's anything but. In fact, says Chris Marone, Penn State professor of geosciences, enough heat emanates from the interior of the planet to make 200 cups of hot coffee per hour for each of Earth's 6.2 billion inhabitantsThe Earth consists of three concentric layers. We're on the crust, hard and thin (from 10 to 100 kilometres thick). Under that is the mantle, made of molten rock and about 2,900 kilometres thick. At the center of the planet lies the core, consisting of an inner part about the size of the moon that is essentially ...Maybe I’m just a contrarian, but…
...when people start preaching inevitable doom and gloom climate-wise due to global warming, it puts my back up.Yet, when people try to tell me there is no such thing as climate change, it annoys me just as much.Where's a middle-of-the-road, yes-there's-a-problem-but-it-ain't-the-end-of-the-world-yet kind of guy to do?Turns out there's a whole middle ground to the climate wars, and it's the one that many of the professional climate scientists occupy. And they find themselve vilified by both sides of the debate.FuturePundit writes a great post that neatly encapsulates my own feelings on the topic (thus saving me the trouble of doing so).I love it when that happens.Read it!Future energy sources
A lot of attention in Canada has been focused recently on the Kyoto Agreement to limit the emission of greenhouse gases. But scientifically, the goal for preventing possibly catastrophic global warming has been set far higher than Kyoto's modest reductions. An article in the November 1 issue of Science sets out the challenges. Entitled "Advanced Technology Paths to Global Climate Stability: Energy for a Greenhouse Planet," it was written by a team of 18 scientists and engineers from major universities (including McGill), U.S. government laboratories and agencies, and even Exxon Mobil. The U.S. Department of Energy funded the project. The level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased from 275 to 370 parts per million ...Paleoclimatology
This week an international expedition set out for Mt. Logan, Canada's highest mountain (and yes, it's still Mt. Logan, not Mt. Trudeau) to attempt to travel through time: to look back 10,000 years to see how climate has changed over the millennia--and how human activities are affecting climate now. Two Canadian scientists will climb to very Mt. Logan's 5,959-metre peak and extract a 225-metre cylinder of ice from its glaciers. A core was taken in 1980, but the technology didn't exist then to take one as long as will be taken this time--and the longer the ice core, the farther into the past you can look. ...Global warming update
What with all the talk about the greenhouse effect recently, I decided it's time for a quick review... The term "greenhouse effect" is usually used today in reference to a predicted gradual warming of the Earth caused by an increase in various gases in the atmosphere, primarily due to human activity. Really, however, the greenhouse effect has been at work for eons, which is a good thing, because it's what keeps Earth's mean surface temperature high enough (17 degrees Celsius) for life to thrive. About 40 percent of the energy we receive from the sun arrives at such short wavelengths that it zips through the atmosphere unimpeded. ...Melting ice in Antarctica
Considering how cold it's been around here recently, global warming sounds not so much like an environmental problem as it does something devoutly to be wished for--but as someone once said, "Be careful what you wish for--you may get it." While it's true that science has yet to come flat out and say that global warming, the anticipated result of mankind's pumping of billions of tonnes of heat-trapping carbon dioxide and other gases into the atmosphere every year, has unequivocally begun, the evidence is mounting--and one place where the evidence may soon become crystal clear is Antarctica. As far back as 1978, a paper in the science journal Nature suggested ...
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Magebane
“Spectacular” – Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Evil wizards, multi-level conspiracies, hidden kingdoms…Lee Arthur Chane…has done a marvelous job…Magebane is a very entertaining book and well worth the time.” – A.M. Donovan, Night Owl Reviews
I happily recommend Magebane and I’ll certainly give Chane’s next novel a try based on this one.” —Bill Capossere, Fantasy Literature
“…an original and delightful tale of epic fantasy and magic, steampunk science, adventure, tragedy, and love…” – Errant Dreams Reviews
Eight centuries ago, the world changed. A devastating war swept the lands, and the MageLords, who had long ruled by virtue of their spell powers, were driven to a distant place, separated from those they had ruled by a magical Barrier. With magic banished from the rest of the world, the MageLords became mere legend and people turned to science to improve their lives. But if one man has his way, all that is about to change….
Written as Lee Arthur Chane (the middle names of my older brothers, Jimmy Lee and Dwight Arthur, and myself, Edward Chane Willett).
Marseguro
Winner of the 2009 Prix Aurora Award for Best Long-Form Work in English
Water world Marseguro is home to the Selkies, a water-dwelling race created from human DNA. When an unmodified human seeks revenge on a Selkie by activating a distress beacon taken from the remains of the original colony ship, a strikeforce is sent from Earth to eradicate the genetic abomination. Yet Marseguro will not prove as easy to conquer as the Earth force anticipates…
Terra Insegura
Finalist for the 2010 Prix Aurora Award for Best Novel in English
Marseguro, a water world far from Earth, is home to a colony of humans and the Selkies, a water-dwelling race created from modified human DNA. For seventy years the colony has lived in peace. Then Earth discovers Marseguro, and a strike force is sent to eradicate this “abomination.” But Marseguro has created a genetically tailored plague to use against Earth’s Holy Warriors. With the enemy defeated, the people of Marseguro feel they are safe. But Chris Keating, the traitor who signaled Marseguro’s location to the Holy Warriors, has fled to Earth, unknowingly carrying the deadly plague within him. The people of Marseguro feel they must send a ship to Earth with a life-saving vaccine. Only time will tell what awaits them when they reach their destination.
Lost in Translation
Kathryn was a human empath whose world and life had been destroyed when the alien S’sinn slaughtered her parents before her very eyes. Jarrikk was a young S’sinn, an unproven warrior who’d seen his flight mates slaughtered by the humans who’d sought to colonize his world.
As humans and S’sinn found themselves on the brink of war, these two Translators had to work together to find a common ground and avert catastrophe. But whether their Translators’ oath and training could overcome the enemies leagued against them was very much in doubt…
Archives
Song of the Sword
My new YA fantasy novel from Lobster Press
Before the Lady called her, Ariane’s life was a mess. Two years ago, her mother disappeared. She bounced around different foster homes until her aunt finally took her in. The meanest clique at her new high school has decided to make Ariane their prime target. And to top it all off, she is having frightening premonitions, and they are becoming more intense. The moment water touches her skin, she sees visions of a lake, a lady, and a sword. When a staircase opens up in the middle of Wascana Lake and the water begins singing to her, she has no choice but to answer the call….
Historic Walks of Regina and Moose Jaw
Ten walks to points of historic and architectural interest in the cities of Regina and Moose Jaw (eight walks for Regina, two for Moose Jaw).
Johnny Cash: The Man in Black
When country music legend Johnny Cash took the stage at Folsom State Prison in 1968, he solidified the public’s perception of him as a rebel who followed his own path. Born in Arkansas during the Great Depression, Cash endured poverty, the death of his older brother, and a difficult relationship with his father. He turned to gospel and country music to express the pain, and after many years of struggling, his songs of hardship and hope would finally reach the ears of those waiting for an artist who represented them, ordinary people fighting to survive.
Andy Warhol: Everyone Will Be Famous for 15 Minutes
“Paintings are too hard. Machines have less problems…” In the 1960s, Andy Warhol became the most famous creator of a new style of art called pop art, which transformed mass-produced items of popular culture into fine works of art. From Campbell’s Soup cans to photographs of Marilyn Monroe, Warhol’s willingness to use anything and everything from the mass media in his work expanded the range of subject matter available to artists. His avant-garde films, artistic usage of American icons, and unconventional social life made him a controversial figure, both greatly admired and deeply reviled. A trendsetter rather than a trend-follower, a dispassionate observer of both the seamy and celebrity sides of life, Warhol was a true American rebel.
Disease-Hunting Scientist
The true stories of six real disease hunters. Epidemiologists travel the world trying to keep us safe from deadly diseases—from high-tech labs in Canada to remote villages in Africa. Learn how these “disease detectives” are coming up with new ways to fight disease, and find out if you have what it takes to become an epidemiologist, too!
The Bounty Mutiny
The Bounty was a British ship visiting Tahiti in 1789 when some of the crew overthrew the captain, William Bligh, and set him adrift in a tiny boat with sailors loyal to him. The mutiny resulted in a number of trials–both of the men who mutinied and of Bligh for losing command of his ship. These fascinating events have been the source for numerous Hollywood movies, most recently The Bounty. The Bounty Mutiny: From the Court Case to the Movie explores the famous case and the movies it inspired.
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