Science

"The problem isn’t the public’s reasoning capacity; it’s the polluted science-communication environment that drives people apart, says Dan Kahan."

"While Prime Minister Stephen Harper says the fate of Enbridge’s proposed pipeline from the Alberta oil sands to tankers on the British Columbia coast will be based on science and not politics, documents show some of that science isn’t forthcoming. And critics say there is no time for the science to be completed before a federal deadline for the environmental assessment currently underway."

"A retired aerospace executive - appointed to review a study on hydraulic fracturing after it was disclosed the study's author has strong industry ties - has such ties himself."

"The source of an enormous floating mass of pumice spotted this week in the South Pacific Ocean off the coast of New Zealand has been discovered: NASA satellite images and other sleuthing science have pinpointed an erupting undersea volcano called the Havre Seamount as the culprit."

"The United States will suffer a series of severe droughts in the next two decades, according to a new study published in the journal Nature Climate Change. Moreover, global warming will play an increasingly important role in their abundance and severity, claims Aiguo Dai, the study’s author."

"A federal investigation into two researchers who wrote a famous report on drowned polar bears is finally over, according to their lawyer. But the scientists still haven't been allowed to see a copy of the investigation report or its conclusions, says attorney Jeff Ruch of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility."

"Noting the occasion of the 15th annual Lake Tahoe Summit, a conference examining the environmental and developmental issues affecting the iconic alpine region straddling the California and Nevada borders, California Governor Jerry Brown announced the launch of a website dedicated to combating skeptics of climate change.