Author Archives: Blair

Risk Assessment Methodologies Part 2: Understanding “Acceptable Risk”

Posted on February 7, 2015 by Blair

In my last post I wrote about the basic concepts of toxicology including dose/response relationships and the concept of a de minimis risk. Today I am going to expand on that concept by discussing what represents an “acceptable risk” in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Risk Assessment Methodologies | 8 Comments

Risk Assessment Methodologies Part 1: Understanding de minimis risk

Posted on February 4, 2015 by Blair

In my last post I talked about big numbers and how they can cause confusion in the minds of the media and the public. In this post I want to discuss the other side of the coin: extremely small numbers … Continue reading →

Posted in Risk Assessment Methodologies | 14 Comments

How Big and Small Numbers Influence Science Communication: Understanding Fuel Spill Volumes

Posted on February 3, 2015 by Blair

This weekend I got a tweet from a friend who wanted everyone on her twitter list to be deeply concerned about the remaining oil from the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico (more on that later). In reading … Continue reading →

Posted in Oil Sands, Pipelines, Risk Assessment Methodologies | 7 Comments

Carbon Offsets: a Basilica to Bad Policy

Posted on January 29, 2015 by Blair

Last week’s ridiculous display of private jets in Davos, Switzerland brought back to mind a topic I have meant to discuss in detail: carbon offsets.  For those of you in the back row, a carbon offset is simply a credit … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Change Politics | 8 Comments

On Science Communication and the Difficulty Relaying Scientific Information to the Public

Posted on January 28, 2015 by Blair

This blog posting is a reminder about the difficulties communicating good science both in the media and to our fellow scientists and how challenging it is to communicate to both audiences simultaneously. This blog posting is derived from a three-way … Continue reading →

Posted in Risk, Risk Communication | 3 Comments

Black Carbon, a Climate Change Topic We Should all be able to Agree on

Posted on January 25, 2015 by Blair

One feature of the climate change debate I find particularly troubling is the extent to which CO2 has come to dominate the narrative. Certainly CO2 is a critical component of the climate change discussion, but there are other important areas … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Change | 5 Comments

What is so Special about 2 degrees C in the Climate Change Debate?

Posted on January 22, 2015 by Blair

In my last post I promised to take a bit of time to discuss the 2o C target. You would expect that such an important target was picked through the use of a detailed scientific process with input from the brightest … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Change, Climate Change Politics | 6 Comments

Why I think Climate Sensitivity is Essential for Developing Effective Climate Change Policy

Posted on January 16, 2015 by Blair

For those of you recent to this blog, my primary readership is not typically experts in climate change science but rather people interested in the policy implications of climate change science. This includes people with interests in renewable energy technologies and governmental decision-making. What … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Change, Lukewarmers | 26 Comments

Does the climate change debate need a reset? – on name calling in the climate change debate

Posted on January 14, 2015 by Blair

The purpose of this post is to address an area I think is incredibly badly served in the climate change debate and damages all resultant policy debates: it is the topic of name-calling. It is a common ploy in debating … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Change, Climate Change Politics | 22 Comments

On “Trust” and the Role of Renewable Energy Sources in “Climate Science”

Posted on January 13, 2015 by Blair

 Over the course of the last few weeks, my readings into the field of climate change have strayed from the technical end of the spectrum to the “discussion” end of the spectrum more than usual. Certainly, I have tried to … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Change, Climate Change Politics, Renewable Energy | 11 Comments