Good news? Or just more confusion and a further step into the grey area...

In the news today, covered by both the Economist and the New Scientist is the news that the climate is less sensitive to carbon dioxide than previously thought - this seems a good thing; of course it does in principle. This means that the IPCC's last estimate of climate sensitivity (which measures the amount of warming that can eventually be expected to follow a doubling in the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide) is now being revised to 1.7 to 2.6 degrees as opposed to 2.6 degrees. No doubt though, this could either be a blip or will be heavily contested but it provides healthy debate which is ultimately the purpose of science.


Check out the more in-depth articles here:

• http://www.economist.com/node/21540224?fsrc=rss
• http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn21212-co2-may-not-warm-the-planet-as-much-as-thought.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=environment

SCALES OF DEVASTATION

I have been enjoying the way data is now presented - the internet has revolutionized the way data is both presented and interpreted; from Hans Rosling's Gapminder to world mapper to one of my favourite sites - information is beautiful! Check out the way devastation is represented in the context of the recent Thai floods - really makes you think....

Click here to get to the website link

Click here to go to world mapper

Migration between US states...

Americans are enormously mobile: 37.5 million people moved from one house to another last year, with 4.3 million of them moving between states. This mobility makes us efficient seekers of economic improvement—moving into, and then leaving, cities likePhoenix as their fortunes rise and fall.

Click here for the interactive version!