Enjoying the weather? Welcome to the new "normal." And btw, where are the scientifically illiterate carnival barkers who last winter declared climate change dead? I will make this prediction: the same breakdown of the Arctic Oscillation (http://bit.ly/n6FCq3; http://bit.ly/ov3Fmm) which occurred in 2009 and '10 likely will occur again in winter 2011, bringing episodic "extreme" cold to North America and Western Europe.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Monday, July 18, 2011
The “Social Cost of Carbon” and Climate Change Policy | World Resources Institute
The “Social Cost of Carbon” and Climate Change Policy | World Resources Institute
Good piece to help one understand the role and limitations of benefit-cost analysis as a tool for devising and analyzing carbon policy.
Good piece to help one understand the role and limitations of benefit-cost analysis as a tool for devising and analyzing carbon policy.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Letter to TRMS Producer Bill Wolff re James Webb Space Telescope
Bill:
I’m a nightly viewer of TRMS and a fellow Crimson (Sc.M. ‘97, HSPH). I bring the following to your attention because I think it is worthy of mention on TRMS, even if only in the “Moment of Geek” segment. It is a really big deal. Outside the arenas of astrophysics, astronomy and cosmology, it is likely unknown. It is threatened with termination by budget cuts. It needs to be brought to national attention so that people will urge Congress not to kill it. I’m talking about the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). And I believe TRMS, as a friend of science and all things geek, can help.
On July 13, 2011, the House Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations Subcommittee, with jurisdiction over NASA’s budget, voted to cancel funding for JWST, the successor of the iconic Hubble Space Telescope. The charge against JWST is that it is over-budget, behind schedule and beset by mismanagement. (See e.g., http://bbc.in/n8UOIn; http://bit.ly/qDKwHc; http://on.msnbc.com/psSNvs). Indeed, JWST is over-budget and behind schedule. However, twenty years ago the same was true of Hubble. Yet, we saw the Hubble project through. The return on that investment to the advancement of science and to our understanding of the origins and evolution of the universe has been incalculable.
To date, more than $3 billion have been invested in JWST, about half the amount projected to complete it. Its primary mirror, measuring 6.5 meters in diameter--a staggering seven times the area of Hubble’s mirror and representing a technological and engineering leap forward of similar magnitude (see http://1.usa.gov/aZNkao; http://bit.ly/qfMqZm)--is nearly complete. To kill JWST via short-sighted budget cuts would be to waste more than $3 billion; eliminate hundreds if not thousands of high-tech, high-paying jobs (http://aas.org/node/4483); jeopardize the United States’ position as global leader in space science in the wake of the end of the shuttle program; and stunt the advancement of science and human understanding of the universe for a generation or more. According to NASA chief Charlie Bolden, for about the same cost as Hubble in real-year dollars, JWST can be brought into operation. (http://on.msnbc.com/psSNvs).
Think of all the amazing images of space Hubble has given us; all that we have learned from the data it has collected. Now consider this: JWST is 100 times more powerful than even mighty Hubble! The scientific impact that would be achieved by JWST over existing space telescopes has been described as the difference between walking 4 mph and flying 400 mph for your ability to explore terrain on the Earth. (http://bit.ly/pjaZi3). Here are a couple other interesting and geeky tidbits. Whereas Hubble orbits the Earth 353 miles overhead, JWST will actually not orbit Earth at all. Instead, it will sit 930,000 miles from Earth (almost 700,000 miles beyond the moon) in a point in space that will allow it to orbit the Sun in synchronicity with Earth. JWST is an infrared telescope, meaning it needs to be cold. I mean really cold. JWST’s mirror will be shielded from the Sun’s heat and energy by a heat shield the size of a tennis court which will serve to keep the instrument at 33 Kelvin. That’s 33 degrees above absolute zero, or - 400 F; - 240 C. How’s that for geeky ... and cold?
Rachel asks in the MSNBC ad with the Hoover Dam in the background whether the United States is still a nation that can do big things. The James Webb Space Telescope is a really big thing in terms of engineering, technology and science. We could not have imagined the discoveries we would make when we launched Hubble 20 years ago: That the universe is 13.72 billion years years old; That the universe’s expansion is not slowing due to gravity, but rather is accelerating due to enigmatic “dark energy;” That we would see for the first time a planet orbiting a star other than our Sun. At 100 times more powerful than Hubble, Webb represents an exponential leap forward. We can barely begin to imagine the scientific discoveries it will enable us to make. But, based on our experience with Hubble, we can imagine the tens of millions of minds Webb will excite and the future generations of astronomers, cosmologists and physicists it will inspire. The United States must demonstrate that it is still a nation that can do big things. I am asking you to dedicate some air time to the story of the James Webb Space Telescope. Before the full House votes to defund JWST, help make the threat of JWST’s defunding a national issue so that people demand that Congress not kill it.
Sincerely and respectfully,
Eric B. Schupper, ScM, JD
Austin, Texas
Twitter handle @ericschupper
I’m a nightly viewer of TRMS and a fellow Crimson (Sc.M. ‘97, HSPH). I bring the following to your attention because I think it is worthy of mention on TRMS, even if only in the “Moment of Geek” segment. It is a really big deal. Outside the arenas of astrophysics, astronomy and cosmology, it is likely unknown. It is threatened with termination by budget cuts. It needs to be brought to national attention so that people will urge Congress not to kill it. I’m talking about the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). And I believe TRMS, as a friend of science and all things geek, can help.
On July 13, 2011, the House Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations Subcommittee, with jurisdiction over NASA’s budget, voted to cancel funding for JWST, the successor of the iconic Hubble Space Telescope. The charge against JWST is that it is over-budget, behind schedule and beset by mismanagement. (See e.g., http://bbc.in/n8UOIn; http://bit.ly/qDKwHc; http://on.msnbc.com/psSNvs). Indeed, JWST is over-budget and behind schedule. However, twenty years ago the same was true of Hubble. Yet, we saw the Hubble project through. The return on that investment to the advancement of science and to our understanding of the origins and evolution of the universe has been incalculable.
To date, more than $3 billion have been invested in JWST, about half the amount projected to complete it. Its primary mirror, measuring 6.5 meters in diameter--a staggering seven times the area of Hubble’s mirror and representing a technological and engineering leap forward of similar magnitude (see http://1.usa.gov/aZNkao; http://bit.ly/qfMqZm)--is nearly complete. To kill JWST via short-sighted budget cuts would be to waste more than $3 billion; eliminate hundreds if not thousands of high-tech, high-paying jobs (http://aas.org/node/4483); jeopardize the United States’ position as global leader in space science in the wake of the end of the shuttle program; and stunt the advancement of science and human understanding of the universe for a generation or more. According to NASA chief Charlie Bolden, for about the same cost as Hubble in real-year dollars, JWST can be brought into operation. (http://on.msnbc.com/psSNvs).
Think of all the amazing images of space Hubble has given us; all that we have learned from the data it has collected. Now consider this: JWST is 100 times more powerful than even mighty Hubble! The scientific impact that would be achieved by JWST over existing space telescopes has been described as the difference between walking 4 mph and flying 400 mph for your ability to explore terrain on the Earth. (http://bit.ly/pjaZi3). Here are a couple other interesting and geeky tidbits. Whereas Hubble orbits the Earth 353 miles overhead, JWST will actually not orbit Earth at all. Instead, it will sit 930,000 miles from Earth (almost 700,000 miles beyond the moon) in a point in space that will allow it to orbit the Sun in synchronicity with Earth. JWST is an infrared telescope, meaning it needs to be cold. I mean really cold. JWST’s mirror will be shielded from the Sun’s heat and energy by a heat shield the size of a tennis court which will serve to keep the instrument at 33 Kelvin. That’s 33 degrees above absolute zero, or - 400 F; - 240 C. How’s that for geeky ... and cold?
Rachel asks in the MSNBC ad with the Hoover Dam in the background whether the United States is still a nation that can do big things. The James Webb Space Telescope is a really big thing in terms of engineering, technology and science. We could not have imagined the discoveries we would make when we launched Hubble 20 years ago: That the universe is 13.72 billion years years old; That the universe’s expansion is not slowing due to gravity, but rather is accelerating due to enigmatic “dark energy;” That we would see for the first time a planet orbiting a star other than our Sun. At 100 times more powerful than Hubble, Webb represents an exponential leap forward. We can barely begin to imagine the scientific discoveries it will enable us to make. But, based on our experience with Hubble, we can imagine the tens of millions of minds Webb will excite and the future generations of astronomers, cosmologists and physicists it will inspire. The United States must demonstrate that it is still a nation that can do big things. I am asking you to dedicate some air time to the story of the James Webb Space Telescope. Before the full House votes to defund JWST, help make the threat of JWST’s defunding a national issue so that people demand that Congress not kill it.
Sincerely and respectfully,
Eric B. Schupper, ScM, JD
Austin, Texas
Twitter handle @ericschupper
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
House Sucommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies - Members' Twitter handles
The subcommittee's homepage: http://1.usa.gov/n6E9e5.
The members and their twitter handles are:
Frank Wolf: @RepWOLFPress
John Culberson: @CongCulberson
Robert Aderholt: @Robert_Aderholt
Jo Bonner: @RepJoBonner
Steve Austria: @SteveAustria
Tom Graves: @RepTomGraves
Kevin Yoder: @RepKevinYoder
Chaka Fattah: @chakafattah
Adam Schiff: @RepAdamSchiff
Jose Serrano: @RepJoseSerrano
The members and their twitter handles are:
Frank Wolf: @RepWOLFPress
John Culberson: @CongCulberson
Robert Aderholt: @Robert_Aderholt
Jo Bonner: @RepJoBonner
Steve Austria: @SteveAustria
Tom Graves: @RepTomGraves
Kevin Yoder: @RepKevinYoder
Chaka Fattah: @chakafattah
Adam Schiff: @RepAdamSchiff
Jose Serrano: @RepJoseSerrano
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