You are here

Weekend Reads 5/4/19

Human influence on drought started a century ago

Over the first half of the century, the signal of human-driven trends in drought became increasingly clear, crossing the 90-percent statistical confidence level. But through the 1950s, '60s, and early '70s, global temperature dipped, partly due to a rapid increase in sunlight-reflecting aerosol pollution. This brought the signal back toward the noise range.

Interpreting this as aerosol-driven, however, is complicated. Aerosol pollution affects precipitation in complex ways that are different from greenhouse gas-driven warming, and these interactions are still a weak point for climate-model simulations.

We Wouldn’t Have Let Obama Get Away With This

The entire point of having separate but equal branches of government was to create protections against the kind of tyranny and absolute rule that was common in Europe. If Trump can simply ignore Congress and act unilaterally without consequence, then he is America’s first dictator.

See the asylum seekers’ wounds and believe

Although immigrants are repeatedly labeled as criminals, my experience with dozens of parents and children arriving at our border is that they are far more likely to be the survivors of violent crimes. Lacking police reports or other supporting evidence, asylum seekers are hoping to offer their scarred bodies as testimony.

“Get Out While You Can”

Where was McHugh radicalized? Her story is about support systems and pipelines. It's about how an angry young conservative with reactionary views got herself involved with a small coterie of ideologues in Washington and prepped for a conservative media career in the crucial years before the rise of Donald Trump, as extremism became more popular on the right and as people could optimize themselves for success through attention on social media.

up
132 users have voted.

Theme by Danetsoft and Danang Probo Sayekti inspired by Maksimer