E continua ... O ensino da ciência nos EUA, mais estudos, e o metano, ou como Krugman poderia dizer: scary things, indeed

O ensino da ciência nos EUA:

• 'Darwin Foes Add Warming to Targets' by Leslie Kaufman - The New York Times - RichardDawkins.net: "Critics of the teaching of evolution in the nation’s classrooms are gaining ground in some states by linking the issue to global warming, arguing that dissenting views on both scientific subjects should be taught in public schools. In Kentucky, a bill recently introduced in the Legislature would encourage teachers to discuss “the advantages and disadvantages of scientific theories,” including “evolution, the origins of life, global warming and human cloning.” [...] Last year, the Texas Board of Education adopted language requiring that teachers present all sides of the evidence on evolution and global warming. [...] The linkage of evolution and global warming is partly a legal strategy: courts have found that singling out evolution for criticism in public schools is a violation of the separation of church and state. By insisting that global warming also be debated, deniers of evolution can argue that they are simply championing academic freedom in general. [...]"

 Mais um estudo:

• Leading article: Climate change is not a matter of faith - Leading Articles, Opinion - The Independent: "If opinion polls are right, fewer people 'believe' in climate change now than a few months ago, prior to the leak of emails from the University of East Anglia and the emergence of embarrassing errors in one of the reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The science of global warming, it seems, has taken a severe hit in terms of the public's credulity. Yet as the latest scientific research makes clear, the evidence is, if anything, stronger than it ever was about the role of humans in the observable increase in global temperatures seen over the past half-century. For scientists it is not a question of 'belief', it is a question of observable fact and reasonable inference based on a wealth of scientific data. The latest study by an international team led by the Met Office's Hadley Centre reaffirms this position. The world is warming, it is observed on every continent, and there is no natural explanation that can account for it."

As mais recentes sobre o metano:

• Arctic Seabed Methane Stores Destabilizing? - Grasping Reality with All Six Feet: "Matthew Yglesias tells us to go read: Arctic Seabed Methane Stores Destabilizing: It’s a good thing this is all part of some giant conspiracy, because if I thought scientists at the University of Alaska were undertaking good-faith scientific research I’d be really worried about this: A section of the Arctic Ocean seafloor that holds vast stores of frozen methane is showing signs of instability and widespread venting of the powerful greenhouse gas, according to the findings of an international research team led by University of Alaska Fairbanks scientists Natalia Shakhova and Igor Semiletov. [...]"

• Science stunner: Vast East Siberian Arctic Shelf methane stores destabilizing and venting « Climate Progress As fotografias acima e o vídeo abaixo foram retirados daqui.

• Study Says Undersea Release of Methane Is Under Way - NYTimes.com: "Climate scientists have long warned that global warming could unlock vast stores of the greenhouse gas methane that are frozen into the Arctic permafrost, setting off potentially significant increases in global warming. Now researchers at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, and elsewhere say this change is under way in a little-studied area under the sea, the East Siberian Arctic Shelf, west of the Bering Strait."

• Methane releases from Arctic shelf may be much larger and faster than anticipated|Climate Ark: "A section of the Arctic Ocean seafloor that holds vast stores of frozen methane is showing signs of instability and widespread venting of the powerful greenhouse gas, according to the findings of an international research team led by University of Alaska Fairbanks scientists Natalia Shakhova and Igor Semiletov. The research results, published in the March 5 edition of the journal Science, show that the permafrost under the East Siberian Arctic Shelf, long thought to be an impermeable barrier sealing in methane, is perforated and is leaking large amounts of methane into the atmosphere. Release of even a fraction of the methane stored in the shelf could trigger abrupt climate warming." 

Mas, talvez, não haja [para já?] razões para entrar em pânico - atenção, que é uma atrás de outra, e há sempre as fotografias como as apresentadas acima:   

• The Heat Over Bubbling Arctic Methane - Dot Earth Blog - NYTimes.com: "[...] But are these emissions new, or simply newly observed? Does this mean that the Arctic system is coming unglued, and that a great outpouring of this heat-trapping gas is about to upend the global climate system? Despite portentous headlines — including one on the news release from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, saying “ Arctic seabed methane stores destabilizing…” — there is no evidence (yet) that what is happening is fundamentally new or destabilizing, at least according to some of the scientists most closely tracking levels and sources of this gas from the poles to the tropics.[...]"

Um dos cientistas desta história do metano, explica-se: