Archives - December 2001

December 31, 2001

"Making a circus of justice" - "Animal rights" extremists who argue that cows, pigs, rats and all other animals are entitled to the same rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as people have suffered a well-deserved courtroom defeat. (Paul Driessen, Washington Times)

"Schools fail kids by cutting phys ed" - U.S. SURGEON General David Satcher's recent report about an obesity epidemic - with 60 percent of American adults and nearly 13 percent of children overweight - reminded me of my own warning six years ago about our country's fat kids. (Tom McMillen, Baltimore Sun)

December 28, 2001

"Homeless Data Based on Politics, Not Numbers" - "Dec. 21 used to be the first day of winter. No more: Now it's "National Homeless Persons' Memorial Day.'

Last Friday, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson recognized National Homeless Persons' Memorial Day as he "encouraged the nation to take the time to remember the millions of homeless individuals who don't have a warm bed, a nutritious meal, or a family to go home to this holiday."" (Steven Milloy, FoxNews.com)

December 26, 2001

"Depriving Patients Of OxyContin Is A Crime " - "News stories and congressional inquiries focusing on the abuse of OxyContin but ignoring the drug's role in helping millions of pain sufferers frighten patients and paint a distorted picture of the drug. Banning this medication makes as much sense as banning cars because some people are killed in traffic accidents." (Alen J. Salerian, Hartford Courant)

December 21, 2001

"Animal Rights Activists Unleashed" - "Circus animal trainer Mark Oliver Gebel is on trial in California charged with abusing a performing elephant. What’s really being abused, though, is the law. The evidence against Gebel is flimsy and the prosecution is political. The spectacle would be a complete farce except that a guilty verdict would move animal rights activists closer to achieving their misguided slogan of "A rat is a pig is a dog is a boy." (Steven Milloy, FoxNews.com)

"There still is a Santa" - "When Virginia O'Hanlon was troubled by the claims of her eight-year-old playmates that there was no Santa Claus, she turned to the New York Sun for guidance. The resulting editorial by Francis Church: "Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus," is doubtless the best-known editorial ever written -- its defence of faith, romance and childhood joy still rings true. If Virginia were to write today, however, it would not be her playmates that threatened the magic of Santa, it would be her teachers and assorted parenting experts." (National Post editorial)

From NOAA News: NORAD will answer children's questions on its comprehensive, six-language Santa tracking Web site. All site material, including the live tracking event, will be available in English, Japanese, French, Spanish, Italian and Brazilian Portuguese.

"Anti-gun lobby misfires" - "The national public-policy debate was plunged to a new low by the single-issue lobbying group Americans for Gun Safety (AGS). AGS is funded solely by Internet billionaire Andy McKelvey — a former board member of the gun-ban lobby known as Handgun Control Inc.

The new group is trying to make an outrageous attempt to link the terrorist strikes against this country to a national tradition as old as America itself — gun shows. Through advertisements and opinion editorials, AGS has shown it is no longer content to capitalize on the grief left in the wake of two homicidal teen-agers at Columbine High School. It is now seeking to exploit the fear of global terrorism left by the attacks of September 11, but its attack on gun shows is simply the same tired gun control agenda in new packaging. Furthermore, the facts of the cited case do not support the AGS effort." (James Jay Baker, Washington Times)

"Gun Shows a Terrorist Arms Bazaar?" - "Anti-gun groups are using the war on terror as a rationale for tightening gun control laws in America, citing the effort in their demands for more stringent background checks on gun sales at shows and over the Internet, according to Fox News.

In "The Facts About Gun Shows," Associate Policy Analyst David B. Kopel demonstrates that there is no "gun show loophole." "Despite what some media commentators have claimed," he writes, "existing gun laws apply just as much to gun shows as they do to any other place where guns are sold." Attempts to shut down gun shows are simply further attacks on the First and Second Amendments." (Cato Institute)

"Terrorism is not the only scourge" - "TERRORISM is like a hideous disease, and sensible countries seek to eradicate it. But it should not be forgotten that hideous diseases, of the non-metaphorical sort, kill and cripple far more people, especially in poor countries. Encouragingly, recent decades have seen huge progress in the struggle against sickness. Between 1960 and 1995, life expectancy in poor countries rose by 22 years, largely because modern medicine prevented millions of premature deaths. In the 1950s, 15% of children died before their fifth birthday; now only 4% do." (The Economist)

Science by telethon? "Diets high in red meat linked to stomach and esophageal cancers" - "Dietary factors are recognized as contributing to the development of stomach and esophagus cancers. In a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Chen et al. examined overall dietary patterns among patients diagnosed with distal stomach cancer, esophageal cancer, or cancer-free controls. Results suggest that several dietary patterns, particularly those high in red meat, confer a higher risk of stomach or esophageal cancer than other types of diets." (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition)

These results are from "telephone dietary assessments."

"Wanted - more answers than questions: literature review" - "The purpose of medical research is to advance knowledge and solve clinical problems. These high ideals are difficult to achieve. Instead, academia sometimes draws criticism for apparently doing research for its own sake. I therefore carried out a systematic literature review to examine whether published research was providing more questions than answers, or vice versa." (Anthony S David, BMJ)

"Long-term soy consumption does not effect hormones in postmenopausal women" - "Interest in soy isoflavones continues to increase, especially among menopausal and postmenopausal women who look to them for relief of menopausal symptoms. Persky et al., publishing in this month’s American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, examined the effects of soy protein containing varying amounts of isoflavones on serum hormone levels in a group of postmenopausal women, and found that soy had no clinically significant effect on endogenous hormone balance." (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition)

"Duke University researcher dispels 'sugar buzz' myth" - "Beth Hawkins has a lot of reasons that she doesn't want her 11-month-old son eating sweets, not least among them the notorious "sugar buzz" that makes children act silly and grownups go loopy. So Hawkins, a resident of Raleigh, N.C., and a Ph.D. candidate in zoology at North Carolina State University, is keeping the holiday goodies to a minimum for her son, Ethan Davis Godwin.

Pity. Although sugar may not be the most nutritious food, it packs no buzz. Not even a hum.

"Sugar has gotten a really bad rap," says Richard Surwit, chief of the division of medical psychology at Duke University and a researcher who has studied sugar's effect on the body. "Most simple carbohydrates, like potatoes and rice, have the same metabolic effect as granulated sugar." (Raleigh News & Observer)

"Tougher labelling rules set for herbal medicines" - "OTTAWA -- Ottawa plans stringent safety regulations for herbal medications and other products that will require manufacturers to be truthful about the promised benefits, product ingredients and potential side effects. It also will propose that all such products be licensed." (Globe and Mail)

"Manufacturers appeal Germany's kava kava ban" - "FRANKFURT, Dec 20 - A group of pharmaceutical companies have appealed a preliminary decision by the German Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) to ban the sale of the over-the-counter herbal medicine kava kava except in products containing only minute amounts.

The BfArM in November announced the decision after studying reports of two dozen cases of severe liver toxicity with suspected links to consumption of kava kava, which has become increasingly popular in the US and Europe as a sedative, muscle relaxant and diuretic. The toxicity in some cases caused hepatitis, cirrhosis and liver failure. One person died and, in November, three had undergone liver transplants." (Reuters Health)

"WA uni to probe link between mobile phones and car crashes" - "The University of Western Australia is conducting a world-first research project which will examine the link between mobile phones and road accidents. Medical epidemiologist Suzanne Cordova says some studies have already found phones are a safety hazard but they have been mainly simulated lab studies rather than real life testing. She says the 18-month research project, due to start early next year, will involve researchers speaking to people in emergency departments who have been involved in a traffic accident." (Australian Broadcasting Corp.)

"Environmental, Health Groups Petition EPA to Ban Hazardous Wood Preservatives" - "WASHINGTON, DC — Citing government inaction to protect the nation’s children from exposure to widely used and highly toxic wood preservatives, leading environmental and public health groups will petition EPA tomorrow to immediately stop the continued use of chromated copper arsenate (CCA) and pentachlorophenol (penta). The groups say that EPA has sufficient data on wood preservatives’ health and environmental risks and economically viable alternatives to initiate cancellation and suspension proceedings, rather than conduct further reviews." (Beyond Pesticides/National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides)

"Interior seeks lynx hair probe" - "Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton yesterday called for an inspector general to investigate why federal biologists planted false evidence of a rare wildcat in two national forests." (Washington Times)

"Conservationists patch it up; Urban wildlife may not use green corridors" - "Green corridors do little to aid wildlife, say UK ecologists. Their discovery that isolated wild ground contains just as many plant species as do patches linked by continuous greenery casts doubt on current conservation priorities." (Nature Science Update)

"Scientists discover coral bleaching in NT marine park" - "The environmental phenomenon known as coral bleaching has been detected in Northern Territory waters for the first time. The discovery has been labelled an environmental tragedy for the Territory's only marine park." (Australian Broadcasting Corp.)

Why? This is the first time anyone's looked - could be a common phenomenon for all anyone knows.

"Comply or else, EPA tells state air agency; Ecology Department fears a 'paperwork nightmare'" - "The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has given the state of Washington official word that it has 18 months to fully comply with the Clean Air Act or face the possibility of losing federal transportation money. The agency issued a Notice of Deficiency, one of its heaviest mandates, to the state Department of Ecology last Friday. The notice concerns a short provision in one chapter of the act, which requires states to regulate "insignificant emissions." State officials, however, say they do not need to regulate emissions so small and innocuous that the federal government has labeled them insignificant." (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

"Still cool to facts" - "Fortunately, media hot air isn't affecting the Earth's surface temperature, which is rising at a slow but dependably steady rate we can adapt to." (Patrick J. Michaels, National Post)

"Model Behavior: EPA Promotes False Climate Scares" - "The Environmental Protection Agency is telling the Northeastern United States to be very afraid. "Climate change" will prompt flooding of its shores, it will chase away its current mix of flora and fauna, and it will generally make life, well, different. The agency has spearheaded a continuation of "regional" climate scares, this week's addressing the Northeast and summarized on the EPA's website. The EPA even pumped the scare for an hysterical story in the Washington Post, all despite a rare scientific certainty: it is impossible to honestly make their claims." (Chris Horner, Tech Central Station)

"Whither the Weather?" - "We are told that because we drive gas-guzzling utility vehicles and insist on repeatedly exhaling, greenhouse gases are entrapping the warm air, raising the earth's temperature, which will inexorably melt the polar icecaps and drown us all. And you were nibbling your nails about terrorism in the skies, or anthrax in the mails, or the prospect of post-prosperity. Forget about the end of history; instead, stressniks worry about the end of winter." (William Safire, New York Times)

"Research not to be sniffed at" - "SCIENTISTS in New Zealand have concluded that the biggest cause of global warming is not the burning of coal or oil, but the discharges of flatulent cows and sheep." (The Scotsman)

"White Christmases becoming more a dream than a reality" - "OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Dec. 20, 2001 – In 1942, Bing Crosby crooned about a white Christmas, and a dream is just what a snowy Dec. 25 has become in several parts of the United States, according to statistics provided by researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Looking at 16 cities – mainly in the north -- since 1960, the number of white Christmases per decade declined from 78 during the 1960s to 39 in the 1990s. People in Chicago, for example, saw the number of white Christmases – defined as at least one inch of snow on the ground – drop from seven in the 1960s to two during the 1990s. In New York, the number declined from five in the 1960s to one this past decade, and Detroit had just three white Christmases in the 1990s vs. nine in the 1960s.

But in several cities, the number of white Christmases has been fairly constant. Looking at the 1960s, ’70s, ’80s and’90s, Tahoe City, Calif., had eight, seven, eight and nine white Christmases, respectively. Salt Lake City’s number of white Christmases per decade were seven, seven, eight and eight. Minneapolis/St. Paul had eight white Christmases in the 1960s, seven in each of the following two decades and eight in the 1990s." (Oak Ridge National Laboratory)

UHIE artefact perhaps? And why choose the 1960s as baseline?

"Climate protection begins at home" - "I've been asked why, as mayor of Seattle, I chose to take a stand on a global issue like climate change. Isn't this issue better left to national and international authorities? Doesn't it require a global solution? The answer is simple: Global climate change is an acutely local problem. It may sound remote and difficult for a city to influence. But in the end, even the biggest global problems begin and end at home. Particularly in the absence of federal leadership on the issue, local initiative can pave the way to global solutions." (Paul Schell, Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

"French Farmer Sentenced to Jail" - "MONTPELLIER, France - A judge sentenced militant French farmer Jose Bove to six months in jail Thursday, but not until riot police fired tear gas to force more than 100 of his supporters from the courthouse. The appeals court convicted Bove, a leading anti-globalization activist, for his role in destroying a genetically modified rice field in southern France in 1999. After the sentencing, a defiant Bove vowed to continue the fight against genetically modified crops. He said he would lodge his second appeal in the case, this time to France's highest court, the Court of Cassation - a move that could keep him out of jail for up to a year. Under French law, defendants don't have to being serving sentences until all appeals are exhausted." (AP)

"Farmers hit by European curb on use of fertiliser" - "FARMERS, still recovering from one of the worst years in living memory, suffered another blow yesterday when limits were announced on the amount of manure and fertiliser that can be used on the land. The Government said it was proposing to extend the amount of the country protected as a nitrate vulnerable zone - intended to reduce pollution of drinking water, rivers, streams and coastal waters - from 8 per cent to either 80 per cent or 100 per cent of the total area of England. Similar proposals are expected soon for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland." (Telegraph)

"Today in AgBioView"

• Lomborg's Call for Help from Scientists - Critique in Scientific American
• GM Soybean Planting In Brazil Said To Be Spreading North
• Argentine GM Crop Area to Grow by 1.5 million Hectares
• The Threat that Biotechnology Is
• More on St. Laurence River 'Contamination' with Bt Corn Protein
• Gene Flow to Wild Plant Relatives
• Biotechnology Issues in Africa
• AgBiotech Reporter
• Unquiet on the Western Front
• Biology: Under Transformation
• Safety Fears Over Herbal Remedy

"Beating Up On Biotech" - "Nice farm you got there. Hate to see anything bad happen to it."

That's the basic message of a new briefing paper released by the anti-technology Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), working with the anti-biotech Genetically Engineered Food Alert. The paper, "GMO Liability Threats for Farmers," says farmers who grow genetically improved crops -- called by the European Union "even safer than conventional plants and foods" -- are at legal risk.

The message: If you can't beat 'em with science, take 'em to court.

IATP says this is just the first in a series of propaganda papers it will release with GE Food Alert. What's the motive? IATP is a left-leaning anti-corporate organization that uses its activist network to strong-arm American corporations into endorsing the "politically correct" trading model, which includes importing more food from "sustainable" growers in other countries. U.S.-produced new food technologies fly in the face of IATP's dogma. (For more on IATP, visit our new website ActivistCash.com, with more information on other activist groups coming soon.)

As for GE Food Alert, it isn't a group itself -- it's a coalition of groups (including IATP) that have been ganging up on genetic improvement for years. Among them: Greenpeace, which has led activist raids on grocery stores where they slap labels on biotech products, and the Organic Consumers Association. (There's info on both of these groups at ActivistCash.com as well.)" (GuestChoice.com)

"A Genetically Modified Comeback: As Monsanto Turns A Corner, It Sees Independence Up Ahead" - "Two years ago, Monsanto Co. was a mess. Protests by activists froze the company's, biotech operations in Europe and threatened its U. S. business. The company was tottering under more than $6 billion in debt from buying a slew of seed companies. Its unfocused portfolio included the vaunted arthritis drug Celebrex -as well as an herbicide sold to farmers. To top it off, Monsanto had a reputation as an arrogant outfit with no time or inclination to address the public's growing fears about biotech crops. ''In the beginning, we said, 'Go away. These are good products. Just accept it,''' says President and CEO Hendrik A. Verfaillie.

Today, St. Louis-based Monsanto has quietly turned a corner in its effort to build a successful biotech business. Under the stewardship of parent Pharmacia Corp., it has spruced up its balance sheet and installed tighter financial controls. More important, the backlash against genetically modified foods is fading as new studies ease fears about the health and environmental effects of such crops, though serious obstacles still retard their potential abroad. And there's a growing appreciation of biotech's ability to feed the world's hungry. Plantings are up, and protests are down. Roughly 90% of biotech crops worldwide contain a Monsanto gene, so the company is well-positioned to profit from this shift." (Business Week)

"FDA Warns of Misleading Labels On Genetic Modification in Foods" - "The Food and Drug Administration, trying to douse one of the hottest trends in food retailing, is warning Hain Celestial Group Inc. and five other natural-foods companies that they are misleading consumers with labels touting products as free of genetic modification." (Wall Street Journal)

"Agresearch applies to develop human proteins in cows' milk" - "The crown science company Agresearch is seeking approval to develop human proteins in cows' milk. Agresearch has lodged an application with the Environmental Risk Management Authority (Erma) to develop human therapeutic proteins in the milk of transgenic cows. Agresearch general manager, science, Paul Atkinson, said today the application would seek approval to transfer transgenic embryos to conventional recipient cattle housed in a secure containment facility. On maturity, it was hoped the resulting transgenic offspring would express therapeutic proteins in their milk." (New Zealand Herald)

"Brazil GM-Free Corn Exports Seen At Record" - "Brazil's record corn harvest of 42 million tonnes this season and its reputation for banning genetically modified crops have pushed the country's corn exports to all time highs, independent grains analysts Safras e Mercado said Wednesday." (Reuters)

"GM Soy Planting In Brazil Said To Be Spreading North" - "Natural food buffs may find it increasingly hard to buy non-genetically-modified soy products in Brazil, one of the world's few major soybean producers that still officially bans GMOs. Brazil's ban hasn't stopped GMO seeds from being smuggled in from neighboring Argentina - where more than 90% of the soy crop is genetically-modified - but illegal planting on the Brazilian side of the border was thought until recently to be limited to the southern part of the country. This, however, may no longer be the case." (Dow Jones via AgBioWorld)

December 20, 2001

"Fatwa on Obesity Carries No Weight" - "The surgeon general of the United States has hit the American people with a public health bombshell: Being too fat can be bad for your health. David Satcher vows that he will launch a campaign against girth that is equivalent to the one the office launched in 1964 against smoking." (Brian Doherty, LA Times)

"Wine fights heart foe" - "Indulging in a little fine Cabernet Sauvignon this Christmas could well do you good. Red wine blocks a cellular compound thought to be a key factor in heart disease, a new study finds, bolstering claims that red wine carries more health benefits than other alcoholic beverages." (Nature Science Update)

"'No payoff' from increased drinking" - "Men who increase their drinking in the hope that it will protect them from heart disease increase their risk of death from other causes, says a study. The authors say there is no justification for persuading non-drinkers, or those who drink only occasionally, to slightly increase their consumption. The benefits of moderate alcohol consumption are well-documented - a reduction in the risk of death from heart disease. However, no-one has ever checked to see if changing your drink habits to take advantage of this actually yields any benefit whatsoever." (BBC Online)

"The Pill, Heart Risk Linked" - "BOSTON -- The latest generation of birth control pills appears to carry a smaller risk of heart attack than its predecessor, a Dutch study found. The study of 1,173 women found that those who took second-generation pills had 2 1/2 times the heart attack risk of other women. But women who took the current, third-generation pills had essentially the same risk as other women, according to findings published Thursday in The New England Journal of Medicine." (AP)

"Lynx hairs, lies and spin" - "The U.S. Forest Service offers a preposterous explanation for how planted lynx hairs became part of survey samples gathered to set policy in two national forests. The loudest howls of outrage ought to come from conservation groups because the integrity of federal processes used to justify controversial decisions has been mugged. Supposedly, seven government employees from the Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the state Department of Fish and Wildlife independently decided to test the accuracy of lab procedures; the spin is that the incident was spontaneous inspiration, not collusive mischief." (Seattle Times editorial)

"Western lawmakers want biologists fired" - "Western lawmakers yesterday called for the firings of federal wildlife biologists for planting false evidence of a rare wildcat in two national forests." (Washington Times)

"Endangered salmon increase very good news" - "A 14-FOLD increase in the numbers of endangered salmon the past five years has set off a ring of euphoria across California among the few who have learned of it." (San Francisco Chronicle)

"WHO Cares?" - "The World Health Organization cares more about its own life than the lives of the poor." (Brian Doherty, Reason)

"New car drivers exposed to toxic emissions" - "New car headaches may involve more than minor warranty problems. Research by CSIRO has found high levels of air toxic emissions in new motor vehicles for up to six months and longer after they leave the showroom. Dr Steve Brown, head of CSIRO's Air Quality Control research says, "Just as air inside our homes and workplaces is often much more polluted than the air outside, so sitting in a new car can expose you to levels of toxic emissions many times beyond goals established by Australia's National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC)." (CSIRO release)

"Shareholder Attack on ExxonMobil's Climate Policy Gets Big Boost" - "A campaign against the stance of the world's largest oil company on global warming received a major boost Tuesday when a veteran leader of the corporate accountability movement introduced a shareholder resolution calling for the board of ExxonMobil to rein in its controversial top executive and chairman, Lee Raymond. Robert A.G. Monks--founder of the leading United States corporate-governance consulting firm, Institutional Shareholder Services, Inc. (ISS)--announced the move, charging that Raymond's "increasingly extreme position" on global warming and other environmental and social issues was harming the company's reputation and share values." (OneWorld US)

"Mild winters cause of bird population recovery" - "Wildlife experts say an increase in the numbers of many of Britain's breeding birds could be the result of a succession of mild winters. A survey by the British Trust for Ornithology, with the Joint Nature Conservation Committee and the RSPB, has been in operation since 1994. The 2000 results are published in the latest edition of BTO News." (Ananova) | British birds stage patchy recovery (BBC Online) | Long decline of Britain's wild birds may be over (Independent) | Warmer winters boost bird numbers (The Scotsman) | Good weather fails to help the skylark (Telegraph) | Number of wild birds climbing skyward again (The Times)

"Flickering sun switched climate" - "The flickering sun may cause rapid climate change, according to a new comparison of climate records. A 200-year cold snap 10, 300 years ago seems to have coincided with a passing slump in the sun's activity." (Nature Science Update)

Sigh... "Here comes the rain" - "EVEN just a degree or two of greenhouse warming will have a dramatic impact on water resources across western North America. Teams who have modelled the climate in the area are warning of greatly reduced snowpacks and more intense flooding as temperatures inch up during the 21st century.

It's the first time that global climate modellers have worked so closely with teams running detailed regional models of snowfall, rain and stream flows to predict exactly what warming will do to the area. The researchers, from the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, and elsewhere, were surprised by the size of the effect generated by only a small rise in temperature. (New Scientist)

"VIRTUAL CLIMATE ALERT; December 18, 2001 Vol. 2, No. 46" - "With Michael Powell’s December 17th story headlined "Northeast Seen Getting Balmier," The Washington Post bids for a place alongside such potential tabloid gems as "Bin Laden Is My Alien Baby," "Santa Busted In Christmas Eve Breaking and Entering Spree," and "Cleveland Fans Win Good Sportsmanship Award." (GES)

Just for a little contrast: "Adelaide's cool start to summer equals 37-year-old record" - "Adelaide has had one of the coolest starts to summer on record. For the first time this month, Adelaide's maximum temperature was today higher than 30 degrees Celsius. The maximum temperature to 3pm was 33.6 degrees. For the first 18 days of December this year, daily maximum temperatures did not reach 30 degrees. The average maximum temperature for the period was only 22.8 degrees - 4 degrees below the long-term average of 26.8 degrees for December. The last time this occurred was in December 1964, when, for the first 18 days, the maximum daily temperatures was below 30 degrees. The average temperature for the whole of December 1964 was only 21.4 degrees. The coolest start to summer on record was in 1907, when the first 19 days of December remained below 30 degrees." (BOM release)

"Sun fails to burn off a cool record" - "You would think the last people to be wagering on Melbourne's weather would be the weathermen. But yesterday they were going "toe-to-toe" over whether the temperature would stay low enough to break a record that has stood for 145 years: the longest wait for a 30-degree summer day. The previous record was set in December, 1856, when Melburnians had to wait for the first 18 days of summer before 30 degrees Celsius (or 86 Fahrenheit, as it was known then) was reached." (The Melbourne Age)

Tasmania, too, has set a record cold start to the southern summer season. What do all these 'records' mean? Actually, nothing much - about as little as parts of the northern hemisphere enjoying a mild start to winter.

"Build toward Kyoto goals: panel" - "An advisory panel to the minister of economy, trade and industry proposed Monday taking a staged approach toward a target of reducing green house emissions under the Kyoto Protocol. Japan is required to reduce emissions that cause global warming by 6 percent from 1990 levels by 2012, and a subcommittee under the Industrial Structure Council has been examining ways to achieve the target. In its interim report, the advisory panel calls for reviewing the effect of emission-cutting measures and the level of emissions every three years before 2008 to decide whether further action is necessary." (Japan Times)

"Japan Eyes Ethanol to Cut Greenhouse Gas Emissions" - "TOKYO - Japan, under pressure to cut greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming, is considering introducing a policy of blending ethanol with gasoline to reduce automobile emissions. Industry officials say use of the bio-fuel in Japan, if mandated by the government, would create a big export opportunity for ethanol-producing countries like Brazil." (Reuters)

"Implementing Kyoto Protocol requires two-stage approach" - "We all know that we have to implement measures as swiftly as possible to protect the ozone layer and prevent global warming--the most pressing environmental issues on the globe. But when it comes to actually taking action, it becomes clear that the two issues are a trade-off, meaning that steps to solve one problem only serve to exacerbate the other. It is not easy, and it requires enormous effort to solve the situation." (Daily Yomiuri)

"Southern ocean iron may have come from the depths, not the atmosphere, researchers conclude" - "WASHINGTON - Scientists believe that increases in plant life in the Southern Ocean are associated with increases in iron, which acts as a fertilizer, in the ocean water. This "Iron Hypothesis" was put forward a decade ago by the late John Martin. Iron is usually in short supply but, according to Martin, could have been delivered in greater amounts via dust falling into the ocean during intervals between glacial periods. Two researchers from Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) now cast doubt on dust as the principal source of iron and propose an alternative source of iron in the Southern Ocean. (American Geophysical Union)

?!! "India: Bt Cotton Fiasco: Stepping Onto A Booby Trap" - "ISN'T it like sending a soldier to the battle front and then ask him not to use the latest sophisticated assault rifle,'' a British radio journalist asked me the other day. He was referring to the Government's initial decision to burn down the illegally-grown genetically modified cotton on some 10,000 acres of farmland in Gujarat. ''It would certainly be tragic to deprive a soldier of the latest weapon. But it will be more sinister and criminal to provide the soldier with an AK-47 gun and then deliberately make him step onto a 'booby' trap,'' I replied, adding that Bt cotton containing a gene from a soil-borne bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is an attractive biological trap, more potent than the toxin it produces that kills the dreaded bollworm pest." (Devinder Sharma, Business Line)

"SCIENTISTS SAY MEXICAN BIODIVERSITY IS SAFE; Concerns About Cross-Pollination Unfounded" - "Auburn, AL, December 19, 2001 - Following allegations that genes from biotechnology-improved crops have been found in varieties of corn grown in Mexico, scientists around the world are re-affirming that Mexico's biological heritage is safe and that biotechnology will actually protect biodiversity, not harm it. "Organizations with vested interests and hidden agendas have used these tenuous claims and a campaign of hysteria to discredit modern biotechnology," said C.S. Prakash, a professor of plant genetics at Tuskegee University and president of the AgBioWorld Foundation." (AgBioWorld)

"Corn growers third annual survey shows more elevators requiring GMO segregation" - "In releasing the results of their third annual survey of U.S. grain elevators, the American Corn Growers Association (ACGA) reports that over half of the elevators surveyed are requiring segregation of GMOs from non-GMO varieties either upon arrival at the elevator or on the farm. Almost 20 percent reported offering premiums for non-GMO corn or non-GMO soybeans. The survey included 1,149 grain elevators in 11 mid-western states." (Media Release)

"Philippines Biotechnology Bt Corn Field Tests Show Increased Corn Yield" - "According to a new GAIN report by USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service Bt Corn field tests during the wet season revealed an average yield increase of 40 percent over traditional corn varieties on top of additional savings as a result of reduced pesticide applications." (USDA Foreign Agricultural Service via AgBioWorld)

"Europeans Want Right to Choose on GMOs" - "A Europe-wide survey indicates that 94.6% want to have the right to choose whether to eat GM food or not. The Eurobarometer survey, which addressed a wide range of issues on science and society, also indicated that 85.9% wanted "to know more about this kind of food before eating it", and a similar proportion (85.8%) said that GM foods should only be introduced if it is scientifically proven that they are harmless." (Agbiotechnet via AgBioWorld)

"Vic government says no to GM zones" - "The Victorian Government has rejected the idea of setting up genetically-modified free zones within the state. A GM Free Zone is a designated area where genetically-modified organisms are not permitted in any form." (Australian Broadcasting Corp.)

"Green Light For First GM Food Crop To Be Produced in South Africa" - "Government has given the green light for the first genetically modified (GM) crops to be produced and sold in South Africa for human consumption, and is planning a huge public awareness campaign to allay consumer fears about GM food." (Financial Mail)

"Activists Say US and Argentina Using Pressure to Push GMO" - "WASHINGTON, Dec 18 Environmentalists worldwide have accused the United States and Argentina - two large agricultural exporters - of bullying small nations that have prohibited or proposed to prohibit the import of genetically modified organisms (GMOs)." (IPS)

December 19, 2001

As those who follow this site would be aware, I'm quite sparing when it comes to awarding 'Big J' JunkScience.com awards. However, some candidates simply select themselves:

J "Fox River PCB cleanup plan inadequate, toxicologist reports" - "The cancer rate due to eating fish contaminated by PCBs is roughly equal to the cancer rate experienced by individuals who smoke two to three packs of cigarettes a day, says a toxicologist commissioned by citizens groups concerned about polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in Wisconsin's Fox River and Green Bay.

President and CEO of the national organization Citizens for a Better Environment, Dr. Jeffery Foran was hired by Clean Water Action Council on behalf of a coalition of local and regional citizen groups. His task was to evaluate the health risk assessments used by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for planning the cleanup of PCBs in the Fox River." (Environmental News Network)

Reminder: Dr Renate Kimbrough, who's initial small study on rodents raised possible concerns over PCBs has since done much more comprehensive studies following a huge cohort of workers chronically exposed to PCBs for an average of 31 years, some with blood serum levels 300-600 times higher than the population norm, and found "there was no association between PCB exposure and deaths from cancer or any other disease, including heart attacks and strokes." She further states "The findings in our study should come as no surprise to much of the medical and scientific community because they are consistent with the finds of four other earlier studies conducted by other researchers of workers in the same plants."

Fear mongering with 'clusters': "HOT SPOTS: CANCER CLUSTERS PROMPT FEAR" - "CONCERNS have been expressed that cancer spots exist across the country. The huge BP oil refinery at Grangemouth has long been of concern to nearby residents and with the addition of fears that chemicals are also spreading across the area from Kilroot power station near Belfast, the region has been dubbed a "death corridor" by environmental campaigners." (The Scotsman)

II "Missing link in child cancer" - "CONCERNS over a rise in childhood cancer highlight the uncertainty about how environmental factors play a part in triggering the disease. Among other possibilities, chemical plants, power stations and waste dumps have been blamed for cancer clusters and seem to be likely causes, according to experts. However, no absolute proof has been found. Dr Richard Dixon, head of research at Friends of the Earth Scotland, claimed it could take generations to find out how the clusters are formed." (The Scotsman)

"Gun Makers Must Face Municipality's Claims for Cost of Violence; State court judge allows suit to proceed" - "The first state court in New Jersey to rule on whether gun makers can be sued for the costs of gun violence has held that the case can go forward, at least in part.

Essex County Superior Court Judge Arthur Minuskin ruled Dec. 11 that the city of Newark, N.J., could proceed with causes of action grounded in negligence and nuisance, albeit not on product liability or unjust enrichment claims, against more than 15 companies that produce and distribute handguns.

Minuskin also found he had jurisdiction over claims against two Connecticut-based trade associations, National Shooting Sports Foundation Inc. and the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers Institute Inc., based on their advertising, soliciting, lobbying and use of mass media in New Jersey." (Law.com)

"Jury: Pfizer drug did not cause woman's death" - "HOUSTON, Dec 18 - A jury on Monday found that the prescription drug Rezulin did not contribute to the death of a diabetic woman who died in January 2000, Pfizer Inc., whose subsidiary Warner-Lambert made the drug, said. The verdict, in District Court in Harris County, was the first jury decision in litigation involving thousands of claims against the diabetes drug Rezulin, including current trials in Liberty, Missouri, and Corpus Christi, Texas. The drug, now withdrawn from the market, has been blamed in 63 liver-failure deaths worldwide between 1997 and 2000." (Reuters)

"Power lines 'increase cancer risk'" - "Prolonged exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF) from electricity power lines doubles the risk of childhood leukaemia, a major international study has found. However, the scientists found no evidence that EMF exposure was linked to an increased risk of suicide, reproductive problems, heart disease or cancer in adults." (BBC Online)

They didn't find that EMFs cause childhood leukaemia either.

Hmm... even The Indy declined to beat this up: "Doubt over power line link with childhood leukaemia not proved" - "Strong electric fields from overhead power lines might be doubling the risk of childhood leukaemia in some families, a study shows. Although the scientists established a link between electro- magnetic fields and childhood leukaemia they do not believe there is enough evidence to confirm that power lines actually cause the disease." (Independent)

"Study Links Emissions, N.J. Cancer" - "TOMS RIVER, N.J. -- A six-year, $10 million government study of high cancer rates among children in this central New Jersey community found that contaminated well water and air emissions from a chemical factory were linked to some leukemia cases." (AP)

"Causes of Many Kinds of Cancer in Toms River Are Still Mysterious" - "TOMS RIVER, N.J., Dec. 18 — The residents came to the high school this evening hoping to hear reassuring certainties from state and federal scientists who have examined local fears that the community's high rates of childhood cancers were caused by pollution from industrial sites here.

What they got was the carefully hedged finding that only one kind of cancer might be due to contaminated wells and industrial air pollution, and the conclusion that no explanation exists for the other cancers that have stricken children in this shore town.

"No single environmental factor appears to be responsible for the elevated rates of cancer that were found in Dover Township over recent years," said Jerold A. Fagliano, the scientist from the State Department of Health and Senior Services who led the six-year, $10 million study. The findings were formally released here tonight." (New York Times)

"Samuel Broder, MD, Reflects on the 30th Anniversary of the National Cancer Act" - "Thirty years ago, confidence in US science and technology soared. A victory in the space race and two decades of steady economic expansion drove expectations for US achievement ever skyward. Philanthropist Mary Lasker saw an opportunity to turn these resources against the scourge of cancer. With Texas Sen Ralph Yarborough and other proponents, Lasker spearheaded a movement to establish a sweeping national campaign against cancer." (JAMA, Vol. 286 No. 23, December 19, 2001)

"Study: newspapers biased on mammography" - "PHILADELPHIA, Dec 18 - Women who look to newspapers for information about breast cancer may be getting a distorted picture about the value of routine mammograms for those in their 40s, a study released on Monday found. Researchers scrutinized the accuracy of 225 articles about mammography that appeared between January 1990 and July 1997 in six US dailies--USA Today, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune and Houston Chronicle. What they found was that newspaper coverage was twice as likely to cite recommendations advocating regular screening for women ages 40 to 49, a group for whom the effectiveness of mammography for breast cancer is still being debated." (Reuters)

"Health site drkoop.com to declare bankruptcy" - "SANTA MONICA, Calif. - Troubled Internet company drkoop.com Inc. announced Monday it is shutting down and will liquidate its assets. The site, started in Austin, Texas, in 1997 by former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop and others, had hoped to find new financing, but the company said Monday it has run out of money and will declare bankruptcy. The company said it will ask a court-appointed trustee to sell its assets to satisfy its creditors. Shareholders, who have seen the value of the stock plunge from $45 soon after it went public, to pennies per share before it was delisted earlier this year, will likely not receive anything, the company said." (AP)

"Some say science must restrict access to research data" - "A blueprint for constructing an anthrax bomb. A recipe for making anthrax resistant to antibiotic treatment. The formula for how to turn a mouse virus into a killing machine. All these potential terrorist weapons are available to any member of the public who knows where to look. Perhaps never before has the flow of scientific information been so free - or so potentially frightening. The rise of the Internet, coupled with the end of Cold War-era security precautions, has made an unprecedented amount of detailed biotechnology research available to scientists and potential terrorists alike. Now, federal agencies and scientists themselves are trying to impose more secrecy and control over the burgeoning biotechnology field, concerned that the research might fall into the wrong hands." (Boston Globe)

"Biomedical Journals Ponder the Failures and Remedies of Peer Review" - "Barcelona - In the modern era of evidence-based medicine, medical journals and those who oversee them provide a critical bridge between research and practice. The soundness of this bridge has been under the scrutiny of editors of biomedical journals, researchers, and others who convened here for the Fourth International Congress on Peer Review in Biomedical Publication, looking for ways to ensure that the process of peer review provides essential quality control in the publication of new research findings.

The study of peer review and scientific publishing is a young and evolving field that comprises research on the editorial practices of biomedical journals - "a new science," in the words of Drummond Rennie, MD, a deputy editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), who chaired the meeting, which was sponsored by JAMA and the BMJ Publishing Group. And like any fledgling field, peer review is experiencing predictable growing pains as those who practice it attempt to uncover flaws and devise ways to improve the process." (JAMA)

"3rd Circuit Reverses New Jersey Environmental Racism Decision" - "In what may be its most important civil rights decision handed down this year, a divided panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held Monday that 42 U.S.C. § 1983 cannot be used to enforce a federal regulation "unless the interest already is implicit in the statute authorizing the regulation." (Law.com)

"That new smell can drive you to illness" - "IT'S true: New cars do smell new. And what's more, they could make you sick. CSIRO scientists have sniffed out a cocktail of volatile organic compounds in a two-year study of the cabins of new cars. Some pongs are so strong they can bring on headaches, nausea and drowsiness.

The smells come from organic compounds, released into the air from a heady combination of fresh plastics and glue. People most vulnerable to its effects appear to be those who are most sensitive to smells generally. Queensland allergy specialist Dr Graham Solley said many people were sensitive to a range of aromas – from cigarette smoke to the fumes from perfume. But he said he did not believe the new car smell would be a major problem." (The Courier-Mail)

"Lung infection may lead to asthma, study finds" - "CHICAGO, Dec 18 - A lung infection that is a common cause of pneumonia can persist even after recovery from the illness and may lead to chronic asthma, researchers said Monday. A study of mice infected with the bacterium Mycoplasma pneumoniae, a common cause of respiratory infection in people, found signs of the infection in the animals' lungs as long as 18 months later, with many developing the type of bronchial constriction associated with asthma attacks. "We speculate that Mycoplasma pneumoniae may be able to establish long-term infection in children and adults that leads to wheezing long after the initial respiratory infection has resolved," lead researcher Robert Hardy of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas said in a statement. From eight to 18 months after the test mice were infected, researchers found they had inflamed lung tissue similar to that in asthmatics and also detected the immune protein interleukin-4 in their blood, an immunological marker often found in asthmatics." (Reuters)

"Researchers call for summer clothing to be given UV protection factor ratings as many fabrics offer inadequate protection" - "A new study published in BMC Dermatology reveals that, contrary to popular belief, many articles of clothing offer little protection against ultraviolet light, exposure to which is linked to the development of skin cancer." (BioMed Central)

"Lynx count a hair off? Fur flies over fake find" - "U.S. Forest Service officials leapt into damage-control mode yesterday after a disclosure that federal and state employees on Washington public lands had sent bogus lynx-hair samples to a lab." (Seattle Times)

Here we go again: "U.N.: 2001 Temperatures to be High" - "The Earth's temperature in the year 2001 is expected to be the second highest since global records began 140 years ago, the U.N. weather agency said Tuesday. ``Temperatures are getting hotter, and they are getting hotter faster now than at any time in the past,'' said Michel Jarraud, the organization's deputy secretary-general. Nine of the 10 warmest years in the last four decades have occurred since 1990, he said." (AP) | This Year May be Second Warmest on Record (Earth Policy Institute) | 2001 the Second Warmest Year on Record (ENS) | 2001 'warm, but no record' (BBC Online) [ I've been known to sledge the Beeb's Alex Kirby quite severely in the past but, with tags like the 'Far from extraordinary' perspective in this piece, Alex continues to lead the Beeb away from the sensationalist junk environmental reporting of which it has recently been so guilty. A tip o' the hat to ye Alex - Ed. ] | 2001 to be world's second hottest year (Independent)

See also the pretty (* bizarre / meaningless / highly distorted / deceptive / imaginative / ... [* choose any]) release and graphics: Global temperature second warmest on record (WMO); Global temperatures (CRU) and Sea level rise (UNEP)

Curiously, WMO and CRU are still using the 1961-1990 average for calculating their anomaly. What's curious about it? The US has the best financed and maintained data collection and collation service on the planet - click here for a graphic of US mean temperatures 1880-2000 - and note that you'd need to go back to the 1901-1930 average to find a lower figure than 1961-1990. Why haven't they updated to the 1971-2000 average yet?

WMO and CRU also claim to be using air temps but their measure is certainly in serious disagreement with satellite MSU readings for the troposphere. The last time I captured a NASA GHCC Global Temperature Anomaly graphic was September and it certainly doesn't suggest the year's anything to write home about.

"Penguins 'could abandon' Antarctic" - "New research suggests Adelie penguins may abandon the Antarctic Peninsula if temperatures continue to increase. Scientists studying fossilised penguin remains near Britain's Antarctic base at Rothera say there were far fewer Adelie penguins here during warmer periods in the past.

"Most of Antarctica has been warming at about the same rate as the global average, about two thirds of a degree Celsius over the 20th Century," [Dr David Vaughan of the British Antarctic Survey] said." (BBC Online)

Really? Not the impression gained from Antarctic Base temperature tracks. (Courtesy John Daly, Still Waiting For Greenhouse) Still, comforting to know that penguins happily survived periods when it was warmer than it is now, I guess.

"Industrial Age Leading to the Greening of the Earth?" - "Summary: I've said it before, and I'll say it again: yes, it is. In fact, even members of the media are beginning to acknowledge that fact, although somewhat grudgingly, of course, for it's hard to switch horses in the middle of a race ... especially when you thought the finish line was a destination called Kyoto." (co2science.org)

"Solar Forcing of Little Ice Age Climate" - "Summary: A GCM with a new twist has recently reproduced several aspects of reconstructed climate change between 1680 and 1780, when solar irradiance is believed to have experienced a small but important increase in intensity. Does this finding encourage us? Not really. Science 294: 2149-2152." (co2science.org)

"Urban Heat Island Effects Appear to Inflate U.S. Coastal Air Temperature" - "Trends Summary: A comparison of century-scale air and seawater temperature trends along both the east and west coasts of the United States reveals the presence of growing urban heat island effects in these maritime regions. Geophysical Research Letters 28: 3935-3937." (co2science.org)

"Radical Climate Changes Independent of Atmospheric CO2 Concentration" - "Summary: They've happened before, and they can happen again. Where? Right where climate prognosticators claim CO2-induced climate changes should be strongest and most evident, which means (1) nothing unusual - much less "unprecedented" - has happened to the climate of this region over the past century, and (2) there is no compelling reason to blame the historical rise in the air's CO2 content for the rather mediocre - and totally normal! - temperature fluctuations that have occurred. EOS, Transactions, American Geophysical Union 82: 601, 607." (co2science.org)

Not a bad piece from National Geographic News: "Is Warming Causing Alaska Meltdown?" - "Alaska's glaciers are retreating, reports glacial geologist Bruce Molnia. Significant glacier retreat, thinning, stagnation, or a combination of these changes characterizes all 11 mountain ranges and three island areas that presently support glaciers." (National Geographic News)

"Scientists seek global warming clues in sheep's belches" - "Sheep are playing their part in a bid to cut New Zealand's contribution to global warming by more than 10 per cent. AgResearch scientists have fitted the sheep with devices to measure the amount of methane they let out when they belch. Methane released by New Zealand's 45 million sheep and 8 million cattle accounts for 44 per cent of locally produced greenhouse gases, which trap heat in the atmosphere." (New Zealand Herald)

"Focus turns to profiting from carbon constraint" - "While many business groups have come out against ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, the Business Council for Sustainable Development is focusing on the opportunities it presents to make or save money. The council has started a climate change project, co-sponsored by the Ministry of Economic Development, to identify business opportunities in a "carbon constrained" economy. These opportunities may arise from reducing costs by improving energy efficiency or cutting emissions of greenhouse gases in other ways." (New Zealand Herald)

Environment & Climate News December 2001 is now available (Heartland.org)

"Safety fears over herbal remedy" - "A popular herbal remedy could be removed from shelves across the UK following fears over its safety.

It follows the withdrawal of the product in Germany and reports that it has been linked with six cases of liver failure and one death on mainland Europe." (BBC Online)

Amazing isn't it? Some people obsess over the possibility of harm from tested and reviewed biotech-enhanced foodstuffs while consuming completely unknown quantities such as the above precisely because they contain (or are believed to contain) biologically active compounds. Don't know which compounds, don't know what quantity or quality variance may have occurred with varied growing conditions but it must be OK because it's 'natural.' Go figure!

"Study Finds Biotechnology Answer to Hay Fever" - "CHICAGO - A man-made antibody that binds to and blocks the action of the natural antibody involved in allergic reactions has proven effective in combating hay fever, scientists said on Tuesday." (Reuters) | JAMA Editorial

"INTERVIEW - Argentine GM crop area to grow by 1.5 mln hectares" - "BUENOS AIRES - Argentine crop area planted with cost-cutting genetically modified (GM) seeds will rise 1.5 million hectares to 11.44 million hectares in the 2001/02 season, the head of an international biotechnology group told Reuters in an interview." (Reuters)

"Biotech Companies Trying to Milk Cloning for Profit" - "Three firms, including Advanced Cell Technology, hope to change the way farm animals are bred, but the industry faces hurdles. First came Dolly, the cloned Scottish sheep that stirred debate in 1997. Then came Second Chance, a Texas-born cloned Brahman bull. Now a small herd of cloned livestock is moving from laboratories to farms--and closer to American dinner tables. Cloning is becoming a business, though it has generated few, if any, profits." (Los Angeles Times via Genetics News)

"Expression of GFP and Bt transgenes in Brassica napus and hybridization with Brassica rapa" - "The green fluorescent protein (GFP) can be used to monitor the movement of transgenes from transgenic plants to wild relatives. In their study, Halfhill and colleagues used transgenic, insect resistant canola and wild relatives as a model system." (Theor. Appl. Genet. via Bio-Scope)

"US pressures Brussels on modified crops imports" - "The Bush administration is stepping up pressure on the European Commission to approve imports of a dozen crops made with genetically-modified organisms, warning that a continuation of the moratorium could escalate into a serious trade dispute." (Financial Times via Agbios)

"Virginia Tech researchers join NSF Arabidopsis 2010 Project; may help produce plants that defend themselves without pesticides" - "Understanding the functions of the genes in the plant Arabidopsis could help with research in the fields of agriculture, medicine, and energy; and Virginia Tech researchers have received a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Arabidopsis 2010 Project Program to help understand those genes." (Media Release)

December 18, 2001

"Defense Bill Authorizes Continued Vieques Bombing" - "WASHINGTON, DC, December 17, 2001 - A planned referendum on the future of Navy training on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques will be canceled by the 2002 Defense Authorization bill reported by the U.S. House and Senate this week. The measure, which maintains live fire training on the island indefinitely, was denounced by the protest groups who have risked arrest to block the Navy's exercises." (ENS)

"Killing a Painkiller; The OxyContin hysteria inflicts pain" - "Last May a Kentucky physician reported that a former patient, a paraplegic with severe chronic pain, had killed himself. The man's new doctor, alarmed by official warnings about the prescription painkiller OxyContin, had drastically reduced his dose, leaving him in agony.

Stinginess with pain medication is not a new phenomenon. For decades pain experts have complained that many doctors are so worried about getting into trouble with state regulators or the Drug Enforcement Administration that they err on the side of letting patients suffer. The federal government's ongoing crackdown on OxyContin, egged on by a year of hysterical press coverage, is bound to make the problem worse." (Jacob Sullum, Reason)

Diagnostic and/or reporting artefact? "Children's cancer rises by one third" - "MORE children are being diagnosed with cancer, scientists announced yesterday, prompting concern that infections and environmental factors are to blame. The Cancer Research Campaign (CRC) has uncovered a "creeping rise" over the last 45 years in cases of brain cancer, leukaemia and germ cell tumours, some of the most common cancers in children. Environmental campaigners warned the use of chemicals that pollute the environment must be phased out in order to tackle the problem. The current rate of brain cancer in UK children is 36 per cent, higher than it was in the 1950s, while the rate of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) has gone up by a third." (The Scotsman)

"Antimicrobials in the production of farm animals - the Danish perspective" - "Currently in the United States, there is a keen debate about the desirability of banning the use of antimicrobial growth promoters (AGPs) in farm animal production. On the one hand, medical researchers and regulators believe that there is now convincing evidence that the use of antimicrobials in animal production is one factor contributing to the development of antimicrobial resistance in pathogens which infect humans. On the other hand, representatives of the farming and animal health industries take the opposite view and point to the problems a ban on the use of AGPs would cause for those in farm animal production. Attention is drawn to the fact that in Denmark where AGPs are no longer used there was a 30% increase in the amount of antimicrobials used to treat animals in 2000 compared with the previous year." (Press release)

"Owners may pass drug-resistant bug to their pets" - "CHICAGO, Dec 17 - An antibiotic-resistant bacterium largely limited to hospitals has been identified in domestic animals, some of which probably caught the bug from their owners, according to a new report." (Reuters Health)

"Scientists examine CJD 'link' to polio vaccine" - "Senior Government advisers sought to head off a potential public health scare yesterday after two people with the human form of BSE were found to have shared the same batch of polio vaccine. Although the two victims of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) both took the oral form of the vaccine, made using bovine blood, scientists believe the cases are a coincidence. Professor Peter Smith, chairman of the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee (Seac), revealed that an investigation by scientists has failed to find evidence of a link between other cases of vCJD and the polio vaccine." (Independent) | Link to polio vaccine is ruled out in CJD 'cluster' (Telegraph) | Two vCJD deaths linked to vaccine | Polio doses 'very unlikely' to be a risk for past recipients (The Times)

"Rare lynx hairs found in forests exposed as hoax" - "Federal and state wildlife biologists planted false evidence of a rare cat species in two national forests, officials told The Washington Times. Had the deception not been discovered, the government likely would have banned many forms of recreation and use of natural resources in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest and Wenatchee National Forest in Washington state. The previously unreported Forest Service investigation found that the science of the habitat study had been skewed by seven government officials: three Forest Service employees, two U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials and two employees of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. The officials planted three separate samples of Canadian lynx hair on rubbing posts used to identify existence of the creatures in the two national forests." (Washington Times)

"Study finds pregnancy makes dads gain weight" - "CANBERRA, Dec 17 - First-time dads-to-be are prone to put on weight and reach for the bottle during their partner's pregnancy rather than after the baby is born, according to an Australian study documenting a form of male "prenatal depression." A 3-year study by the Adelaide-based Flinders Medical Centre (FMC) found that, on average, men put on 3.5 pounds and one in seven started to drink a dangerous amount of alcohol before the baby's birth to counteract stress and less sex." (Reuters)

"Kitchen air pollution risk revealed" - "The health of young children is at risk from the air pollution in kitchens caused by gas cookers. A new study for the British government reveals that safety guidelines for nitrogen dioxide recommended by the World Health Organization are breached in most homes that cook with gas." (New Scientist)

Gasp! Energy-efficient (read: poorly ventilated) dwellings suffer comparatively poor indoor air quality!

"Apples, selenium may lower asthma risk: study" - "NEW YORK, Dec 17 - A new UK study links intake of apples and the mineral selenium to a lower risk of asthma, suggesting that certain antioxidants may protect the lungs from disease. Antioxidants help neutralize damaging forms of oxygen that arise from normal metabolism. These free radicals are unstable compounds that can damage cells and are thought to contribute to chronic disease. Researchers have speculated that antioxidants may protect lung health, including lowering the risk of asthma. But studies on antioxidants like vitamins C and E have produced conflicting results. And even less is known about other antioxidants, such as plant compounds called flavonoids and trace minerals like selenium, according to Dr. Seif O. Shaheen and colleagues." (Reuters Health)

It's silly season: "Conservationists fear for future of wildlife as winters get warmer" - "WINTER could be wiped out altogether, with longer warmer autumns and earlier springs already threatening the existence of wildlife and habitats throughout Britain, according to a new survey by a prominent conservation charity. With the prospect of any real wintry weather diminished by global warming and climate change, the Woodland Trust has found that many natural events previously associated with spring are now happening before Christmas." (The Scotsman)

and getting sillier: "Northeast Seen Getting Balmier; Studies Forecast Altered Scenery, Coast" - "NEW YORK -- New England's maple trees stop producing sap. The Long Island and Cape Cod beaches shrink and shift, and disappear in places. Cases of heatstroke triple. And every 10 years or so, a winter storm floods portions of Lower Manhattan, Jersey City and Coney Island with seawater. The Northeast of recent historical memory could disappear this century, replaced by a hotter and more flood-prone region where New York could have the climate of Miami and Boston could become as sticky as Atlanta, according to the first comprehensive federal studies of the possible effects of global warming on the Northeast." (Washington Post)

"Forest investment fund extends offer" - "A highly-publicised venture to raise more than $200 million for investment in Australian native trees has been forced to extend its share offer by six months. Hancock New Forests Australia is seeking minimum subscriptions of $10 million from large companies interested in forest and carbon credit investment." (Australian Broadcasting Corp.)

World Climate Report Volume 7, Number 8, December 24, 2001 is now available.

"Vital climate research destroyed by fire, say scientists" - "A fire at a British research laboratory in the Antarctic has dealt a significant blow to research into the world's understanding of climate change. An electrical fault was identified as the most likely cause of the blaze that destroyed the £2m laboratory at the Rothera Station in September. Scientists prepared yesterday to restart studies in the harsh environment around the South Pole. The British Antarctic Survey (BAS), which analyses climate change and its effects on marine life off the Antarctic Peninsula, said a rebuilt Bonner Laboratory would be fully operational by the end of 2003 but the fire had interrupted its extensive research programme." (Independent)

Hmm... Professor Paul Rodhouse, the head of the biological sciences division of BAS, said: "If this season is one in which a major trend takes off or is pivotal in some way, clearly it would be more difficult to interpret what went on."

"German retail power bills seen up 6 pct from January" - "FRANKFURT - German householders will have to pay an average six percent more for their electricity from January 1, 2002, the VDEW industry association said yesterday, citing tax increases." (Reuters)

"Scientists Seek Ways to Rebuild the Body, Bypassing the Embryos" - "Human embryonic stem cells may not be the only source of tissue needed to repair damaged organs. Alternative approaches from the mundane to the exotic are being explored to avoid the ethical controversy surrounding embryonic stem cells. Those cells are obtained by destroying human embryos, which some people view as human life. Still, it may be hard for the alternative approaches to measure up to the potential of embryonic stem cells, which have two attributes that make them attractive for regenerative medicine." (Andrew Pollack, New York Times)

"A Thick Line Between Theory and Therapy, as Shown With Mice" - "Dr. Brigid Hogan has never worked with human embryonic stem cells — her expertise is with mouse cells. But patients with virtually every sort of chronic disease have found her, and they plead for help. "I even hear from patients whose fathers have lung cancer," said Dr. Hogan, a professor at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. "They have a whole slew of problems they think can be treated. They think stem cells are going to cure their loved ones of everything." If it ever happens, it will not happen soon, scientists say. In fact, although they worked with mouse embryonic stem cells for 20 years and made some progress, researchers have not yet used these cells to cure a single mouse of a disease." (Gina Kolata, New York Times)

"Colombia allows creation of transgenic animals" - "Colombia has become the second South American country — after Brazil — to introduce regulations permitting the application of genetic engineering techniques to animals." (SciDev.Net)

"Scientists milk animals for malaria vaccine" - "In their quest to mass-produce an effective malaria vaccine, scientists might one day replace expensive manufacturing facilities with a goat. In a study reported December 18 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences online, researchers developed mice that could secrete an experimental malaria vaccine into their milk. When the purified candidate vaccine was injected into monkeys, it protected four out of five animals from a lethal dose of the malaria parasite. If the process can be scaled up to larger animals such as goats -- and early experiments indicate it can -- livestock might prove to be inexpensive, high-yield malaria vaccine factories.

“A vaccine must not only be effective, it must be cheap to manufacture if it is to be used in those countries hit hardest by malaria,” says lead author Anthony Stowers, Ph.D., a malaria researcher at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). “Using transgenic animals to achieve both ends is an exciting possibility. If it works, a herd of several goats could conceivably produce enough vaccine for all of Africa.” (NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)

"Global Adoption of Biotech Crops Is Increasing Rapidly" - "According to a new report by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) an estimated 3.5 million farmers from industrial and developing countries derived multiple and significant benefits from 44.2 million hectares (109.2 million acres) of transgenic crops in 2000." (CropBiotech Net)

December 16-17, 2001

"Air Pollution Harmful to Babies, Fetuses, Studies Say" - "A growing body of research from around the world indicates that smog is exacting a much greater toll than previously known on infants and unborn babies. Scientists have long known that the extreme levels of air pollution found in the developing world can harm babies, and that lesser pollution in U.S. cities can sicken or kill the elderly and infirm. The new research shows that the harmful effects of dirty air can extend even into the womb. More than a dozen studies in the United States, Brazil, Europe, Mexico, South Korea and Taiwan have linked smog to low birth weight, premature births, stillbirths and infant deaths.

A UCLA study conducted by Ritz and scheduled for release Dec. 28, for the first time links air pollution and birth defects in Southern California." (LA Times)

Hmm... so far, no one's come close to a cause and effect relationship and the UCLA epidemiologic study has yet to be released. I guess that means this story is another "pollution-caused" premature birth.

"To S. Africa, risky DDT again a malaria miracle" - "Toxic insecticide, back in use, succeeds in fighting disease." (Baltimore Sun)

Yes, DDT is toxic (to insects). Yes, DDT is a dazzlingly efficacious human health-aid. Yes, DDT is a must-have for Third World countries.

"PCBs labelled `non-hazardous'" - "RESIDENTS are concerned that dangerous chemicals entering the Brookdale waste-treatment plant are labelled "non-hazardous". Photographs taken this week show drums of polychlorinatedbiphenyls on the back of a truck travelling along Waterworks Rd, Forrestdale. They are labelled "Non-hazardous waste. Low-level PCB-contaminated transformer oil". It has been illegal to manufacture PCBs for almost 20 years in Australia because of evidence that they can cause cancer." (Western Australian Sunday Times)

Same old media nonsense. While massive doses of PCBs can cause cancer in rodents there's no evidence of human harm from exposure to these low levels. Dr Renate Kimbrough, who's initial small study raised possible concerns over PCBs has since done much more comprehensive studies following a huge cohort of workers chronically exposed to PCBs for an average of 31 years, some with blood serum levels 300-600 times higher than the population norm, and found "there was no association between PCB exposure and deaths from cancer or any other disease, including heart attacks and strokes." She further states "The findings in our study should come as no surprise to much of the medical and scientific community because they are consistent with the finds of four other earlier studies conducted by other researchers of workers in the same plants."

Here we go again: "Agent Orange Suits Still Viable, 2nd Circuit Says" - "Seventeen years after a class action settlement intended to end lawsuits over Agent Orange, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that two Vietnam veterans may sue companies that made the product." (Law.com)

"EPA seeks advice on pesticide testing" - "WASHINGTON - The Environmental Protection Agency has sought the assistance of science advisers to determine whether it should use industry data gathered from human tests to help set limits on pesticide levels in food and water. The EPA last month said it has been looking at human testing in three or four cases. Physicians and environmentalists have criticized the practice, saying it would encourage pesticide makers to conduct more human tests in order to win approval of their products." (AP) | E.P.A. Reconsiders Human Tests of Pesticides (New York Times) | EPA Calls for Pause in Pesticide Tests on Humans (Washington Post)

"Wealthier children at more risk of diabetes" - "Children in affluent areas with few incomers are at the greatest risk of getting diabetes. Researchers have found a much higher likelihood of childhood diabetes in communities where there is little change in the population mix.

Children who are exposed to incomers, or who move to new areas, are also exposed to different types of infections, which challenge their developing immune systems, making them more robust, the researchers believe. Increased social mixing in the first year works in the same protective way, they said.

The research, the first of its kind, may explain the growing incidence of the condition. It suggests that diabetes, like asthma and eczema which are also on the rise, can be explained by the hygiene hypothesis: that in the modern world, growing immune systems are no longer challenged enough." (Independent)

Today's 'Henny Penny' item: "They come from outer space" - "Worried about an asteroid strike destroying our planet? Well, you should be, says Ian Brown. Scientists believe the danger is all too real." (Independent)

"Solarium skin cancer fear" - "CANCER experts are worried that a huge increase in the popularity of solariums will bring higher skin cancer rates. The number of solariums in Melbourne has grown 650 per cent in five years, Anti-Cancer Council of Victoria figures show. The study found there are 171 registered solarium outlets, not including solariums in beauty salons, hairdressers and gyms. The council is also concerned about data showing a surprising rise in the number of Victorians who are trying to get a tan. Its survey found 22 per cent of people are trying to tan, 5 per cent more than last year." (Melbourne Herald Sun)

"The answer isn't in the wind" - "ANTI-NUCLEAR campaigners must have been delighted by the claims in last week's New Scientist magazine that the Government is about to pull the plug on nuclear power. A leaked draft of the review, commissioned earlier this year by the Prime Minister, was said to concede that nuclear power is too dangerous and expensive, and should be phased out in favour of renewable energy sources. Campaigners should brace themselves for a big disappointment when the report finally emerges next year. For far from recommending the abandonment of nuclear power, the leaked report speaks of the need to keep open the option of nuclear power." (Robert Matthews, Sunday Telegraph)

"Blair wants UK to keep nuclear power" - "Tony Blair will this week order the Government to keep open the option of building a new generation of nuclear power stations, despite receiving a report calling for much more investment in green sources of energy. He and Energy minister Brian Wilson are determined not to close down nuclear energy in Britain, and will draw on passages in the report – prepared for him by his own Performance and Innovation Unit – that support this. Environmentalists, citing selective leaks from the report, claimed last week that it condemned nuclear power, and would finish off the industry in Britain. In fact it is more balanced and says that "policy should keep the nuclear option open". But it recognises that, at present at least, nuclear power plants are likely to be too expensive to be built." (Independent)

"46 charged after protesters storm nuclear facility" - "Police have charged 46 people with trespass after this morning's Greenpeace protest at Sydney's Lucas Heights nuclear reactor. The Greenpeace activists broke into the site early this morning in what police describe as a well planned and well executed action." (Australian Broadcasting Corp.)

"German renewable energy groups slam econ min report" - "FRANKFURT - German renewable energy associations criticised Economics Minister Werner Mueller's recent report that described the promotion of green energy sources as an economic burden." (Reuters)

"Sour Climate Surrounding German Ecology Subsidies" - "BRUSSELS. The outcome of the conflict between the German government and the European Commission's cartel office over Germany's controversial ecology tax and its conformity with EU subsidy regulations hinges on two factors, according to the Commission's general director for competition, Alexander Schaub.

The German government must do a better job of proving the ecological advantages of industry's self-imposed accord to take measures for climate control, Mr. Schaub said in an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. "The German arguments do sound plausible. Still, we need concrete figures," he said.

The second, and more important, prerequisite is an effective monitoring and sanction program in order to be able to control and ensure that the fulfillment of climate control goals are actually being met, Mr. Schaub said. The climate control accord must clearly state that the claim to tax breaks would be invalidated should industry not achieve its goals for reducing carbon-dioxide emissions, he said." (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung)

"Alaska's glaciers shrinking rapidly" - "Most of Alaska's glaciers have been shrinking in a meltdown that began at least two centuries ago and appears to be accelerating, according to a new comprehensive study that drew on thousands of historical and scientific sources." (Anchorage Daily News)

New items posted on Still Waiting For Greenhouse

"Keeping cool on global warming" - "Q. WHAT ARE you chuckling at?

A. This news story. Apparently satellite photos now confirm that the polar ice caps are shrinking and the planet's temperature is increasing. As more carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere, more of the sun's heat is getting trapped. If it keeps up, the global climate change will be enormous.

Q. And you find that funny? What human beings are doing to the planet is tragic!

A. What are we doing to Mars?" (Jeff Jacoby, Boston Globe)

"'Winter flowers' worry Greens" - "Genetically modified oil seed rape plant being grown at a Scottish test site is flowering abnormally early, according to the Green Party. The controversial crop is being grown at Roskill Farm near Munlochy, on the Black Isle in north east Scotland. Green MSP Robin Harper said he is going to ask the Scottish Executive why it has flowered in winter instead of spring. The list MSP said he was concerned the plant was flowering early because of genetic instability." (BBC Online)

"Benefits From EU's Upbeat Line, No Need For GM-Free Zone" - "Thai food exporters are likely to gain from the European Union's policy to open its market to genetically modified products. Charuayporn Tantipipatpong, the president of Thai Pineapple Canning Industry Corporation, said the EU's acceptance of genetically modified food as safe would make consumers more confident about the products. Thai food makers would benefit as they used some imported ingredients that had been modified. In some cases, the process used in modifying ingredients had reduced the chemical residue." (Bangkok Post)

"China GM Cotton Acreage Doubles-ISAAA" - "SINGAPORE, Dec 14 - The amount of land in China used to grow genetically modified (GM) cotton doubled to three million hectares (7.4 million acres) in 2000 over the previous year, the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) said on Friday." (Reuters)

"New Zealanders want more information on GE" - "Almost half of New Zealanders say they are uninformed about genetic modification, while most of the remainder say they are 'just informed' according to research commissioned by the Ministry for the Environment. The research, which was conducted before the Government announced its response to the recommendations of the Royal Commission on Genetic Modification, was designed to help the Ministry understand people's knowledge of genetic modification, whether they would like to know more about it, and how they would like to receive information." (New Zealand Herald)

December 15, 2001

For the sake of a vague and unsupported hypothesis: "U-turn over tonsil operations" - "The government has been forced to make a u-turn on the use of re-usable surgical instruments for tonsil and adenoids surgery. They had originally been withdrawn in January because doctors feared there was a theoretical risk of transmission of variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease (vCJD) from re-usable surgical instruments. However, following the change surgeons, found more patients than before were being harmed during surgery. There was even one death linked linked to single-use instruments." (BBC Online)

Dishonor among shakedown merchants? "New York Firm Accused of Intimidating Clients in Fen-Phen Litigation" - "A New York law firm has come under attack by disgruntled fen-phen plaintiffs who charge the firm persuaded thousands of plaintiffs to opt out of the 1999 global class action settlement, struck a secret deal with American Home Products and then intimidated its clients to settle for far less than was promised.

According to a law suit filed Tuesday on behalf of 5,600 plaintiffs in the Southern District of New York, Napoli, Kaiser, Bern & Associates convinced diet drug users the settlement with American Home was inadequate, and that the plaintiffs would receive far more if their cases were handled individually.

"Their campaign led people to believe that the national class-action settlement was horribly under-funded, and that they would recover larger sums of money if they would allow NKB to represent them," said Seattle attorney Steven Berman, of Hagen Berman, in a press release. Berman filed the suit along with New York's Lovell & Stewart." (Law.com)

"EPA Considers Accepting Human Tests of Toxics" - "WASHINGTON, DC, December 14, 2001 - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is considering accepting studies involving human testing of toxic substances such as pesticides. In a letter released today, the agency asked the National Academy of Sciences to review the scientific and ethical issues posed by studies that use human subjects to identify or quantify toxic effects." (ENS)

"Fish out of drinking water but fleas are in: that's ethics" - "Not even the health of 4 million people overrides the special rights and privileges that come with having a backbone. That is why one of the most important jobs that the Sydney Catchment Authority delegates to the animal kingdom may be transferred to an invertebrate." (Sydney Morning Herald)

"Latex Allergy Not an ADA Disability, Federal Jury Finds" - "In a verdict that is sure to grab the health care industry's attention, a federal jury found that a nurse's allergy to latex does not qualify as a disability for purposes of the Americans with Disabilities Act because her symptoms can be completely controlled by simply avoiding latex and taking prescribed medications." (Law.com)

Here sabre-toothed kitty cat... "Lions, tigers and bears as pets?...Oh my!" - "NEW YORK, Dec 14 - Keeping exotic pets can be very dangerous hobby, a report in a recent issue of The Journal of Trauma demonstrates. In the report, doctors from LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah describe two men seriously injured by a lion and a camel, respectively." (Reuters Health)

Apparently, some people need keepers. Parenthetically, emus (large, flightless Australian birds) don't "deliver babies," the hens lay eggs which are incubated exclusively by the cockerels. Just what the cited restaurateur was trying to do when the camel lay on him remains a mystery.

Once again flaunting the Law of the Sea, engaging in piracy and international terrorism: "Greenpeace disrupts Japan whalers" - "Greenpeace vessels have been involved in a standoff in the Antarctic with Japanese whaling ships in an attempt to disrupt the planned killing of 400 minke whales." (BBC Online)

"LARGE VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS HELP PLANTS ABSORB MORE CARBON DIOXIDE FROM THE ATMOSPHERE" - "New NASA-funded research shows that when the atmosphere gets hazy, like it did after the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines in June 1991, plants photosynthesize more efficiently, thereby absorbing more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere." (GSFC)

So... atmospheric CO2 is rising because we've made the air... too clean? Interesting predicament for the rampant greenies since they've made such a deal out of CO2 - maybe they're now going to campaign for haze, sue to overturn the Clean Air Act perhaps?

"Adult Amazon Trees Gain Mass, Puzzle Scientists" - "Research has shown that mature forest trees in the Amazon have gained in size over the last 20 years, but scientists aren't sure what's causing it. Nor do they know what affect it might have on global warming, although tropical forests in the Amazon are an important component in the global climate and water cycle." (National Geographic News)

Let's see... atmospheric CO2 has risen; plants thrive under conditions of CO2 enrichment; Amazon trees are... plants? Gee, this is a puzzle!

"Antarctic mud reveals ancient evidence of global climate change" - "Scientists concerned about global warming are especially troubled by dramatic signs of climate change in Antarctica - from rapidly melting glaciers to unexplained declines in penguin populations. Records show that average winter temperatures are 10 degrees higher in parts of Antarctica today than they were 50 years ago. If that warming trend continues, say many climate experts, the vast Antarctic ice sheets could melt, causing catastrophic coastal flooding as the world's oceans rise.

But new geologic evidence unearthed from deep-sea mud deposits strongly suggests that Antarctica experienced periods of extreme warming and cooling long before the invention of the automobile. "We've got a sedimentary record that reveals very significant changes in water temperature and ice melt during the past 7,000 years," says Robert Dunbar, professor of geological and environmental sciences at Stanford. "The cause of these highly variable climate changes is still a mystery." (Stanford University)

"News Flash! We’re In For ‘NAS’ty Weather" - "A couple of days ago, the New York Times blared out in a dramatic headline that “Drastic Shifts in Climate Are Likely, Experts Warn.” It was a classic piece of virtual risk ecohype, emulated widely by other newspapers, such as the Washington Post, as well as scores of television news stations around the U.S. You will notice at once that the climate change involved has to be “drastic,” it is, moreover, “likely” -- although no immediate date is given -- and that they are “expert” Cassandras who are calling the shots." (Philip Stott, Tech Central Station)

"‘NAS’ty Report Cuts Kyoto Off at the Knees" - "Nothing has undercut the Kyoto Protocol limiting carbon dioxide emission from industrial countries like the latest report from the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), Abrupt Climate Change: Inevitable Surprises. The trite headlines in media coverage hint at the report’s nature, e.g., “Drastic Shifts in Climate Are Likely, Experts Warn” (New York Times). This title is as newsworthy as the banal “Blizzard Buries Boston.” (Dr. Sallie Baliunas, Tech Central Station)

"Scientists Unsure of Absorption" - "SAN FRANCISCO - Scientists are uncertain how much of the carbon dioxide given off naturally each year within the North American ecosystem is reabsorbed by that system, complicating calculations of the net effect of human activities on emissions of the greenhouse gas. The calculation is important because it establishes a baseline to gauge incremental sources of carbon dioxide - namely that produced by the burning of fossil fuels, scientists said Thursday at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union. Stating outright whether North America is a source or sink is currently ``problematic,'' said Pieter Tans, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientist." (AP)

Alas, poor Germans... : "Germany passes law to do away with nuclear power" - "BERLIN - The parliament approved a plan Friday to shut down Germany's 19 nuclear power plants within 20 years, the final hurdle for a pledge Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder made to the environmentalist Greens party. The law, signed by Schroeder in June, was passed by the lower house of parliament with votes from the coalition government of Schroeder's Social Democrats and the Greens. It does not need approval in the upper house. The leading opposition party, the conservative Christian Democrats, had argued that eliminating nuclear energy would force Germany to use dirtier power sources." (AP)

December 14, 2001

"The Feds: Terrorizing With Fat" - "The federal health nannies worry we’re too fat. So the Surgeon General this week issued a "call to action" against overweight and obesity. "Thin is in" no longer is the slogan of a hip lifestyle—it’s government policy. But "thin" also describes the science and rationale behind the federal offensive against the American paunch." (Steven Milloy, FoxNews.com)

"Surgeon General warns obesity may overtake tobacco as leading preventable killer" - "WASHINGTON - Calling for changes in policies - from schools to the fast-food industry, the surgeon general warned Thursday that the nation's obesity epidemic has gotten so bad it soon may overtake tobacco as the leading cause of preventable deaths. Some 300,000 people a year die from illnesses directly caused or worsened by being overweight. The toll threatens to wipe out progress fighting cancer and heart disease, and could even exceed cigarettes' harm, Surgeon General David Satcher warned." (AP)

Today's revelation: "Poorer children miss out on healthy food" - "About two million children in the UK are living in families who cannot afford to eat healthily, says a report. Low income families know what healthy food they should buy but many struggle to afford even the basics, according to the charity Child Poverty Action Group." (BBC Online)

"Scots think healthy food is 'boring and tasteless'" - "Healthy eating is making people miserable. Research carried out in Scotland for the Food Standards Agency found that people think of healthy eating as being regimented, boring, and tasteless. The agency said that the findings are important and should be used to develop new methods of encouraging the public to eat better. In particular, it would like to see greater emphasis placed on highlighting the life enhancing benefits of a healthy diet rather than the more negative message about restricting choice to certain types of food. (BMJ News Roundup)

Book Review: "The Precautionary Principle" - "Indur Goklany is one of the nation's foremost authorities on risk assessment. His book, "The Precautionary Principle" applies risk assessment to three major environmental issues, DDT, Genetic Engineering and Global Warming." (Conservative Monitor)

"ActivistCash Revealed" - "As we've promised, we have unveiled our new website, ActivistCash.com. Here's what one journalist had to say:

"Activist groups, even though most receive non-profit status and must file with the IRS, have been reluctant to let anyone see their records," The Wall Street Journal's Kimberley A. Strassel writes this morning. "But now, thanks to a new Web site called ActivistCash.com, the average U.S. citizen can finally get the lowdown on the financial and organizational operations of many major activist groups in the country.

"ActivistCash.com, unveiled yesterday, is run by the Guest Choice Network, an organization of 30,000 restaurant and tavern operators. The Guest Choice Network has become a front line defense against today's nanny culture. Or, as its first Web site -- nannyculture.com -- puts it: 'Unofficially we include anybody who stands up against the growing fraternity of food cops, health care enforcers, vegetarian activists and meddling bureaucrats who "know what's best for you." ' The site offers, among other things, information on junk science and food scares.

"Now, however, the group has gone further. Over the past year it has used freedom of information laws to get the IRS documents of the country's leading activist groups -- more than 100,000 pages of information the activists hope Americans won't see."

Some examples:

• People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is using a private foundation called the Foundation to Support Animal Protection to funnel as much as $432,000 to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), another animal rights group. PCRM in turn promotes itself incorrectly as a medical organization.
• Media mogul Ted Turner does more with his money than pay salaries for the Atlanta Braves. His own grant-making foundation lavishes over $40 million per year on activist groups including those who advocate confrontation with police.
• Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) claims to be "entirely supported by tax-deductible contributions from people like you." But the F.M. Kirby Foundation has poured $440,000 into ASH in recent years to promote extreme anti-smoking regulations.
• The Ben and Jerry's Foundation has given $10,000 to Mothers for Natural Law, a radical anti-food-technology group operated by disciples of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
• The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, a Minnesota-based activist group, has accepted a $75,000 grant from the Foundation for Deep Ecology for -- and we quote -- "a campaign to end industrial agriculture."
• The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) repeatedly attacks groups for taking funding for research. But CSPI took $50,000 from the Helena Rubenstein Foundation to fund an attack campaign against the fat substitute Olestra.

"The next time Americans get a flyer or a phone-call asking for a donation," writes Strassel, "they'd do well to spend a few minutes on ActivistCash.com." (GuestChoice.com)

Peta's telling porkies again: "Britney's nude performance" - "NEW YORK: Britney Spears is the latest star to take off her clothes for the cameras in support of an anti-fur campaign. The singer is to pose for a poster for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta). Spears, 20, agreed to take part in the I'd Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur campaign after coming under fire from Peta for using a tiger in one of her stage acts." (Sydney Daily Telegraph)

but: "Spears will not strip" - "POP vixen Britney Spears, who markets herself to teens as a sex kitten and to their parents as a dedicated virgin, has not agreed to shed her clothes to aid an anti-fur campaign, her spokeswoman said. Kasteler accused the group of spreading false information." (AAP)

Today's joke: "Global warming: WWF expert tells it like it is" - "Have difficulty getting your head around global warming? Join the club.
For the past few weeks, I have been researching climate change and the Kyoto Protocol. My discoveries gave me pause -- but not about climate. What surprised me was that so many people, scientists and environmentalists alike, were unable to explain the issue in clear, concise terms.

One notable exception was Richard N. Mott, vice president of World Wide Fund for Nature in the United States. Rather than tell you what he told me, I'll let him tell you himself, because he says it so well. Below are the highlights of our discussion." (Stephen Hesse, Japan Times)

In Hesse's defence, he did have a fair stab at a balanced article a few days earlier: The climes they are a-changin' (Stephen Hesse, Japan Times)

and here's another: "Physicians Call on Bush to Take Urgent Climate Action; Administration Must Work to Craft New Energy Policy, PSR Says" - "WASHINGTON, Dec. 12 -- With the release of the latest in a line of National Academy of Sciences (NAS) reports dating back to the 1972 that warn of the potentially devastating environmental and health effects of global climate change, Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), called on President Bush today to take urgent action to prevent a climate catastrophe." (U.S. Newswire)

"Philosophy 101: Global Warming Myths vs. Empiricism" - "I think it's time to re-examine the concept of “global warming” more philosophically.

Weather and climate change every second, of every minute, of every day, of every week, of every year, of every decade, of every century, of every millennium, of every eon. There is no such thing as a stable, or “sustainable,” climate. Temperature is accordingly never static; it is always either rising or falling." (Philip Stott, Tech Central Station)

"The past says abrupt climate change in our future" - "San Francisco – Past climates changed abruptly, suggesting that abrupt changes in the future will also occur, according to a Penn State geoscientist. "When we look at records of the past, climate often changed abruptly rather than smoothly," says Dr. Richard B. Alley, the Evan Pugh professor of geosciences at Penn State. "This is true wherever and whenever you look."

Alley, who is currently chairing the National Academy of Science Committee on Abrupt Climate Change: Science and Public Policy, told attendees today (Dec. 13) at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Association in San Francisco, that while studies of ice cores, sediments and other relics of the past indicate these abrupt changes, the models currently used by those predicting the future of climate change do not do a good job of simulating abrupt changes in the past.

"If we look at what we know about climate, there is much we don't understand," says Alley. "However, we do know that abrupt change occurred in the past." (Penn State)

"VIRTUAL CLIMATE ALERT December 13, 2001 Vol. 2, No. 45" - "We heard the news, this week, oh boy. "The vast reshaping of the environm