Recent content by Iain

I've been thinking about this, a bit of cod psychology/lit crit noodling makes me wonder if he wasn't very aware of himself as a literary creation, of his actions as those of a shocking tale. A failed writer whose attempt at a contribution to literature was a cryptic two word, probably...

Before we get too excited about this... - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6530677.stm If anyone has read The Cement Garden they'll know all about Ian McEwan's stuff. Then again, there is Atonement...

In addition to the above referenced novel, also there is Fenimoore Cooper's story The Prairie featuring a settler called Ishmael Bush the owner of an axe and a gun. Both (according to bits of lit crit I've read in the last half hour) have deliberate imagery, the axe of both creative and...

Saw it Sunday night. Agree with agricola. Getting to be a real Nick Frost fan. Is worth seeing when if you get a chance.

There's plenty of people, myself included, who think that nuclear power seems to be the most sensible low carbon alternative. I haven't done a whole lot of research in this area. I agree that it is unlikely that the two will ever be totally separated. However, the position that near-all...

Yeah ok, badly phrased. Point is, and you know this, that there are plenty of over the top advocates for almost any position. It would be wrong to identify all conservatives with certain talk show hosts.

I can't and won't apologise for the idiots who adopt similar positions to me. All I can suggest is that the web is a massive and decent resource, just read more widely than the list of sceptics that always recur. Sure read them, but read more than just them. You'll quickly note that most...

Actually you guys are the ones trying to make things nasty and personal. I can't see any ad hominem's from agricola. So far you haven't begun to address any of the science, you've made mere assertions about how there is no scientific evidence, yet I wonder if you've begun to look for it. I...

No it didn't. You made a highly inaccurate analysis of the science based on the proportion of CO2 in the atmosphere as though this would prove that because CO2 is present in tiny amounts relative to oxygen and nitrogen that means that this is all a fuss over nothing. I and others called you on...

Exactly the same stuff as the last thread. Wrong then, wrong now.

There is no chance that this will stay on topic. Partly because some object to GW on the grounds that the cure may be worse than the ill, which is a position I'm somewhat sympathetic towards. Mainly though because many object to the science purely on the grounds that they don't like the cure...

Firstly, don't shout. There was some speculation about global cooling in the 1970's, there is a famous Newsweek article that is consistently referred to. However, the standard for scientific papers is passing a peer review in order to be accepted for publication. No one has yet found one peer...

You're asking for something that is already largely happening. I know that attacks on consensus are the 'in thing' right now, but I think one or two things need highlighting. Firstly, there is Naomi Oreske's work (and I'm aware of Peiser before anyone trots out that name) which analysed peer...

Fluctuations in solar output can potentially affect the climate of the earth, I don't think anyone is denying that. What is being said is that there isn't any evidence to support the idea that this alone is the sole cause of recent warming.

Of course you should. You should see where their funding is coming from, you should question their findings and seek to understand the science behind it all. You should try to understand the role of CO2 in the atmosphere, the role of water vapour, the idea of temperature proxies and all the rest...