Green Leaf Reflections on Science Teachers

It's mid October, and the leaves are still very green. Faint signs of autumn are beginning to become visible, but as this morning's Springfield News-Leader reports, "maples often peak in mid-October, but that could be delayed this year because of unseasonably warm weather." Indeed, it is obvious now that the fall spectacle in the Ozarks is delayed, and we must grow accustomed to human accelerated climate change. We are now years into the current trend of warming global temperatures, and finally the world has begun to listen to the scientists. Hopefully, we are not too late to avert an ecological disaster.

This message is written, however, to thank all of those who, through the years have been willing to stand up in the face of ignorance and special interest groups to bravely educate the citizenry about the fact that our human actions are affecting Earth in extraordinarily negative ways. In spite of hateful and inflamatory remarks from those who continue to hide their heads in the sand, these brave scientists and educators have spoken the truth. They continue to do what scientists do; critically and objectively analyzing the data. And, the scientific results still supply mounting evidence supporting the hypothesis that our increasing appetite for and use of fossil fuels has significantly increased atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, leading to rising global temperatures.
And so, this day I say congratulations to you, Mr. Gore, and your team of scientists, whose work has finally been recognized globally with your acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Most of all, however, I want to thank all of those informed teachers, educators, mentors, and professors in the classrooms of the world. Thanks for objectively presenting the evidence of global warming with both eyes wide open, unblinded by the anti-science forces that seek domination and control of our thoughts and actions for the sake of greed and power.

It's going to take many serious and concerted efforts to kick our nation's and our world's fossil fuel addiction, but we owe it to the generations to come to meet this challenge head on. With an informed citizenry that values both objective scientific inquiry and diplomacy to resolve global challenges, we just might have a chance.


“In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations.” -From the Great Law of the Iroquois

Farewell, Polar Bears, et al: The "Slippery Slope"

Hail, the beauty of global warming. The North Pole is now easily accessible, giving our species more reasons over which to fight wars.

From the AP:

SEATTLE (AP) - A U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker is headed to the Arctic to map the sea floor off Alaska as Canada, Russia and Denmark assert their claims in the polar region, which has potential oil and gas reserves.
The lead scientist on the expedition scoffs at the political implications.
"We're basically just doing science," said Larry Mayer, director of the Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping at the University of New Hampshire. "There's no flag-dropping on this trip," he said in an interview from Durham, N.H For the complete story, click here.

Of course, U.S. authorities deny that this action is in response to Russia's recent flag planting exercise under the North Pole.

Ah, yes, the "we're basically just doing science.........." line. Talk about that "beginning with the end in mind" brand of science mentioned in my last blog! You know, I don't believe that the captains of these icebreakers are concerned about the effects of breaking up a few slabs of ice, exposing more dark ocean waters to the surface, increasing absorption of more heat energy, and expediting the melting of the ice caps. There doesn't seem to be much talk about the effects of these voyages and the future consequences of them on the rich store of wildlife that inhabits this pristine environment either.

So, just where is the "Science" in this excursion? It's clearly a race to the poles to ensure the future of the "status quo" fossil fuel based system that we have created and to which we have become addicted.

The "Science" in this situation has reached new depths, just like the ever increasing penetrating solar radiation in polar regions, to be conveniently ignored and/or exploited, depending upon which most benefits the powers that be. Who will be the voice of reason from this wilderness? Who will be the voice of a planet stressed beyond natural limits? Who will be the voice that propels us to new, renewable sources of energy, most of which already exist. It's certainly a "slippery slope" upon which we have arrived.

Beginning with the End in Mind

My interest in the blogosphere has been piqued in recent days, so I’ve decided to start my own. I’m not sure why I feel that my voice will add anything new to the nearly infinite voices of cyberspace, but at least I know that at times I will preach to the choir, while at other times, I will elicit flame. Nevertheless, the focus of this blog will be conservation, science, education, wildlife, and birds. I can’t promise, however, that I won’t diverge a bit at times.
Stephen Covey may have coined the phrase “begin with the end in mind” as a tool for success in the real world, but it certainly spells disaster for the field of science. My history as a science educator has spanned 30 years, from a time when evolution was taught freely in the science classroom to a time when the mention of the word evokes irrational responses and brands one as a card carrying communist and atheist. Sadly, but true, the scientific community must constantly battle the forces of fundamentalist religions that have aggressively attacked and attempted to discredit sound, scientific findings through history and well into the present.
In this month’s Physics Today, there is an article entitled “Science and the Islamic world—The quest for rapprochement”, by Pervez Amirali Hoodbhov. Hoodbhov laments the downfall of science in Muslim countries and asserts that there have been no significant scientific inventions or discoveries that have emerged from the Muslim world in over seven centuries. The article is well worth the read. Click the link above to find it.
Back to “beginning with the end in mind”: Where fundamentalist, proselytizing religions completely dominate, objective inquiry-based science cannot exist. Here, only science, or shall I say pseudoscience, that offers “proof” to the existence of God remains. Science cannot “begin with the end in mind” without becoming a tool of propaganda serving private interests and institutions eager to acquire power. In this state, we all lose. Let this serve as a reminder to the dangers of fundamentalism in our own country. Speak up for sound, objective science whenever possible. Don't let special interests dictate the direction of any science inquiry.

"Science is simply common sense at its best that is, rigidly accurate in observation, and merciless to fallacy in logic."
Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-95) English biologist.