Free Republic

For the first time in decades, it's hard to ignore the threat of nuclear war. But as long as you're far from the blast, you're safe, right? Wrong. In this sobering talk, atmospheric scientist Brian Toon explains how even a small nuclear war could destroy all life on earth -- and what we can do to prevent it. A professor in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at the University of Colorado-Boulder, Brian Toon investigates the causes of the ozone hole, how volcanic eruptions alter the climate, how ancient Mars had flowing rivers, and the environmental impacts of nuclear...

The White House recently announced that it was funding a five-year research plan for a controversial proposal to fight climate change by geoengineering — i.e., technologies and processes that can be used to artificially modify the Earth's climate.This research would be dedicated specifically to a form of geoengineering known as "solar radiation management," which involves spraying fine aerosols into the atmosphere to reflect sunlight away from the Earth. The hope is that, once the sunlight is reflected, less heat will be generated, and ergo temperatures will go down. Presto: actual anthropogenic climate change! A global SPF 100, as it were!The...

Since the creation of the atom bomb, the threat of nuclear war has loomed. Endless films and books have dealt with the nuclear apocalypse and its aftermath, but what would a nuclear apocalypse really look like? Rutgers University Professor Alan Robock spoke with Fox News about the Armageddon and his team’s new study regarding a nuclear war’s effects on ocean life. CITIES WOULD BURN If you live in a major city when a nuke hits, needless to say, you’re in big trouble. “A nuclear bomb is like bringing a piece of the sun to the surface of the earth for...

The United States Geological Survey has increased the Yellowstone supervolcano threat to “high.” This is the first time that the USGS has updated its volcano threat assessments list since 2006. The USGS said that 11 of the 18 volcanoes they have classified as a “high threat” or a “very high threat” are located in Washington, Oregon, or California, “where explosive and often snow- and ice-covered edifices can project hazards long distances to densely populated and highly developed areas.” According to the Epoch Times, the danger list is topped by Kilauea in Hawaii, which has been erupting continuously in 2018. Mount...

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is offering support to Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) amid a war of words between the latter and President Trump. "Sen. Corker is a valuable member of the Senate Republican caucus and he’s also on the Budget committee and a particularly important player as we move to the floor on the budget next week and he’s an important part of our team,” McConnell said Monday in Kentucky, according to the Associated Press. Asked about whether he agreed with Corker's criticism of Trump, McConnell sidestepped, adding: "[Corker is] an important part of our team and he's...

A leading anchor on Russian state television on Sunday described Russia as the only country capable of turning the United States into "radioactive ash", in an incendiary comment at the height of tensions over the Crimea referendum. "Russia is the only country in the world realistically capable of turning the United States into radioactive ash," anchor Dmitry Kiselyov said on his weekly news show on state-controlled Rossiya 1 television. Kiselyov made the comment to support his argument that the United States and President Barack Obama were living in fear of Russia led by President Vladimir Putin amid the Ukraine crisis....

Krakatau Volcano, Indonesia Eruptions from Krakatau volcano, Indonesia have forced the evacuation of tens of thousands residents. Seven districts affected are Kalianda, Rajabasa, Katibung, Sidomulyo, Ketapang, Sragi and Palas. On Monday ash from Anak Krakatau continued to cover residential areas in parts of Banten province and South Lampung. Visual observations showed ash emissions reaching a height of 600 m and drifting east. Ashfall has affected the operation of seismometers on the volcano. Fisherman and tourists are advised to stay at least 2 km from the volcano.

European, Asian and Canadian companies are taking advantage of the weaker dollar to buy their U.S. counterparts at a record pace, increasing investment in the United States but also raising fears about a potential loss of jobs and autonomy. "We could be looking at the world's largest tag sale if we continue to see declines in the dollar," said Donald Klepper-Smith, chief economist at DataCore Partners. In the latest large deal aided by a weak dollar, Commerce Bancorp, which is based in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, agreed Tuesday to be acquired by Toronto-Dominion Bank of Canada in a cash-and-shares deal...

'Nuclear winter' may kill more than a nuclear war 19:00 01 March 2007 NewScientist.com news service Debora MacKenzie A regional exchange of relatively small nuclear weapons could plunge the world into a decade-long "nuclear winter", destroying agriculture and killing millions, according to a new study. Weapons experts to consider that small-scale nuclear exchanges are now more likely than the massive US-Soviet exchanges feared during the Cold War. In the 1980s, scientists calculated that such exchanges would put enough smoke into the atmosphere to shade the Earth from the Sun, causing a nuclear winter. Now scientists have re-calculated the likelihood of...

Sudden ChillEven a limited nuclear exchange could trigger a climate catastrophe Sid Perkins In the mid-1980s, at the height of the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union each had thousands of nuclear warheads, along with a multitude of aircrews and missiles, sitting on red alert to carry those bombs to their targets at a moment's notice. The philosophy of mutual assured destruction—the notion that any use of nuclear weapons would trigger a full-fledged exchange that neither nation would survive—may have deterred any use of such bombs since World War II. Today's combination of nuclear proliferation, political instability,...

Once a scientist, then a priest Colby Cosh, National Post Published: Friday, December 22, 2006 Wednesday marked the 10th anniversary of the death of Carl Sagan, the American astrophysicist and novelist who became famous as the writer and presenter of the 1980 PBS series Cosmos. The decennial of his demise is being observed by scientists, humanists and writers everywhere, and the international newspapers and notable Web logs are full of personal testimony to his influence as a communicator....(snip)

My topic today sounds humorous but unfortunately I am serious. I am going to argue that extraterrestrials lie behind global warming. Or to speak more precisely, I will argue that a belief in extraterrestrials has paved the way, in a progression of steps, to a belief in global warming. Charting this progression of belief will be my task today. Let me say at once that I have no desire to discourage anyone from believing in either extraterrestrials or global warming. That would be quite impossible to do. Rather, I want to discuss the history of several widely-publicized beliefs and to...

Public release date: 3-Feb-2004 Contact: Dr Derek Ward-Thompson derek.ward-thompson@astro.cf.ac.uk 029-2087-5314 Cardiff University Astronomers unravel a mystery of the Dark Ages Undergraduates' work blames comet for 6th-century "nuclear winter" Scientists at Cardiff University, UK, believe they have discovered the cause of crop failures and summer frosts some 1,500 years ago – a comet colliding with Earth. The team has been studying evidence from tree rings, which suggests that the Earth underwent a series of very cold summers around 536-540 AD, indicating an effect rather like a nuclear winter. The scientists in the School of Physics and Astronomy believe this was caused...

Aliens Cause Global Warming A long read, but filled with interesting anecdotes from people like Feynman and Teller. I must say, he sounds pretty conservative. My topic today sounds humorous but unfortunately I am serious. I am going to argue that extraterrestrials lie behind global warming. Or to speak more precisely, I will argue that a belief in extraterrestrials has paved the way, in a progression of steps, to a belief in global warming. Charting this progression of belief will be my task today.

<p>My topic today sounds humorous but unfortunately I am serious. I am going to argue that extraterrestrials lie behind global warming. Or to speak more precisely, I will argue that a belief in extraterrestrials has paved the way, in a progression of steps, to a belief in global warming. Charting this progression of belief will be my task today.</p>

So, the eco-whackos at EPA sent out one of their regularly scheduled "Administrative Reports" on global warming to the United Nations again. This time, some desk- bound, far-left resident bureaucrat also sent the "report" to the media as an "official" administrative response. . . . Yawn. . . . Problem is, they forgot to show it to the adults in the administration first. So, the "report" received a couple days free play by the liberal media before President Bush put the kibosh on that foolishness. Perhaps a little about the public schizophrenia of these bureaucrats and their counterparts could be...