Featured Posts
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Trust Me, I’m a Doctor: How Fake Experts Sell Doubt
Take a look at this magazine ad from 1946. A friendly man in a white coat smiles at you, cigarette in hand. The headline says, “More doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette.” It’s a classic example of the fake expert technique—using the appearance of medical authority to make a dangerous product seem safe and trustworthy. It worked. Camel ran that slogan for six years. But here’s the kicker. R.J. Reynolds, the company behind Camel, reportedly “surveyed” those doctors right after handing them free cartons of Camels. That ad is one of the oldest tricks in the science denial playbook. And it’s still being used today — with climate change,…
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15 Easy Ways to Have a Greener Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is a time for family, friends, yummy food, and gratitude. But let’s face it: It’s also a holiday that can produce a lot of waste! Between the mountains of leftover food, disposable plates, plastic decorations, and holiday travel, our Thanksgiving celebrations can leave a pretty big environmental footprint. In fact, Americans throw away about 25% more trash between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day than during the rest of the year. And a significant amount of that waste is food. But here’s the good news: You don’t have to give up your favorite holiday traditions to make have a greener Thanksgiving. Here are 15 simple ways to celebrate Thanksgiving while…
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Climate Models: Understanding Earth’s Future Climate
How can scientists predict what Earth’s climate might look like 50 or even 100 years from now? They use one of the most powerful tools in climate science: computer models. But what exactly are climate models? How do they work? And how do we know we can trust them? Let’s dig in and take a look. What Is a Climate Model, Anyway? Think of a climate model as a virtual Earth inside a computer. Scientists use these models to understand how our planet’s climate works, how it has changed in the past, and how it might change in the future. Climate models simulate the movement of air and water, the…
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Environmental Justice: Why Your Zip Code Can Determine Your Health
Take a deep breath. Now picture filling a glass of water at your kitchen sink. Most of us don’t think twice about either one. But here’s something you may not know: in the United States, how clean your air and water are depends a lot on where you live — and on who your neighbors are. I just returned from Humboldt County, where I witnessed this first hand. I was absolutely horrified. That’s not an accident. And the fight to fix it has a name: environmental justice. What Does “Environmental Justice” Actually Mean? It’s a simple idea. Everyone deserves clean air, clean water, and a safe place to live —…
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Butterflies Are on the Move — and That’s a Warning Sign
Butterflies are turning up in places they’ve never lived before. And they’re vanishing from places they’ve called home for generations. Climate change seems to be a big reason why. In the largest study of its kind, an international team led by Shawan Chowdhury at Monash University in Australia combed through more than 6,000 records of butterfly movements, covering 1,758 species in 105 countries. Their results, published in August in Nature Ecology & Evolution, are striking: about 1 in 10 butterfly species worldwide has already changed where it lives, and climate change or extreme weather was connected to nearly 80% of those moves. But here’s the kicker: that 1-in-10 number is…
