Curious Tidbits

The responsible application of science to government

Twitter: @ScienceMarchDC Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1862739727343189/ Reddit: /r/scientistsmarch Get Email Updates To help: https://goo.gl/forms/zAdY02dBEz3Ykii42 Contact: [email protected]

We accept the following as provisionally true:

The Earth is becoming warmer due to human action.

The diversity of life arose by evolution.

An American government that ignores science to pursue ideological agendas threatens not only the environment of which humans are a part, but America itself.

Scientific research in the United States is underfunded.

Politicians who devalue expertise risk making decisions that do not reflect reality.

Who can participate:

Science is a methodology and a way of thinking. Anyone who uses and values these tools for understanding the world, not just professional scientists, may participate.

How can I help?  

We are still in the very early stages of organizing this event. We need all the help we can get, especially from people with expertise in the following areas:

Web Design

Logo/Graphic design

Law, incorporation of a not-for-profit

Fundraising

Public relations and media relations

Social media management

Organizing large events

Acquiring permits in DC

Contacts with possible speakers

A required read from Michael Oman-Reagan.

This is all true. This all happened in Canada, and its very likely it will happen in the USA under Trump and be worse than Harper’s crackdown on Science ever was.

Links cited in this twitter essay:

The Big Chill: “Scientists Can’t Do the Job They Were Hired to Do”

More than 1000 Jobs Lost, Climate Program Hit Hard in Coming Environment Canada Cuts

Leaked document says Canadian federal climate scientists being blocked from media contact

Harper Government Trashes Another Federal Science Library

Federal scientists closely monitored during polar conference

Science Silenced: US Scientist Caught in Canadian Muzzle Climate-change scientists feel ‘muzzled’ by Ottawa: Documents

The Canadian War on Science: A long, unexaggerated, devastating chronological indictment

http://ourrighttoknow.ca/

http://write2know.ca/

I posted an article, and some images, several months ago of Jill Pelto’s art. But this article has some new art. It’s worth a repeat. Here’s some of her art. Link into the article to read her story.

Little side note to give this post some context. Over the weekend, I participated in a climate change research seminar and field work studying joshua trees and piñon pines in Joshua Tree National Park. Dr. Cameron Barrows, who is one of the lead researchers on the effects on climate change in the desert environment, was doing his usual lecture, showing us data and charts and graphs. But he inserted a poem into his presentation, written by a woman from England who did some citizen-scientist work in Joshua Tree National Park earlier this year. She came into the research perceiving the desert to be a horrible, desolate place with no life. She left with a 180 degree turn, and wrote a poem about what she then realized a desert to be, as a place full of life. Dr. Barrows told us, completely correctly, that art can add a gloss to science that we all need to appreciate the science.

‘Landscape of Change’ was painted using data about sea level rise, glacier volume decline, increasing global temperatures and the rise in fossil fuel usage. (Photo: Jill Pelto)

‘Habitat Degradation: Arctic Melt’ depicts Arctic sea ice data from 1980 to present. (Photo: Jillian Pelto)

‘Habitat Degradation: Deforestation’ depicts the plight of tigers using data showing the decline in rainforest area from 1970 to 2010. (Photo: Jillian Pelto)

‘Increasing Forest Fire Activity’ uses global temperature rise information to illustrate how harsh drought conditions affect forested regions. (Photo: Jillian Pelto)

'Salmon Population Decline’ draws population data from the Coho salmon of the North Pacific. (Photo: Jillian Pelto)

'Decrease in Glacier Mass Balance’ uses data from a group of North Cascade, WA glaciers from 1980-2014. (Photo: Jillian Pelto)