Source: NIPCC

Reference
Walker, R. 2011. The impact of Brazilian biofuel production on Amazonia. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 101 (4): 1-10.

In a thought-provoking article recently published in the Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Robert Walker of Michigan State University’s Department of Geography writes that “although biofuel represents a renewable and ‘green’ energy,” it has what he rightly calls “a downside,” the potential problem being, as he describes it, “the impact of growing international biofuel demand on Amazonia.” Therefore, focusing on Brazil, and “given the explosive growth of Brazilian agriculture, and notable effects on forests within its national borders,” he seeks to answer the question: “How will global demand for Brazil’s land-based commodities, including biofuel, impact its tropical forest in the Amazon basin?” (more…)

Source:  Opinion

We cannot make sane decisions on global warming if the ‘experts’ present us with evidence that is biased

This month, after a three-year investigation, Harvard University suspended a prominent professor of psychology for scandalously overinterpreting videos of monkey behaviour. The incident has sent shock waves through science because it suggests that a body of data is unreliable. The professor, Marc Hauser, is now a pariah in his own field and his papers have been withdrawn. But the implications for society are not great — no policy had been based on his research.

Yesterday, after a four-month review, a committee of scientists concluded that the Nobel prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has “assigned high confidence to statements for which there is very little evidence”, has failed to enforce its own guidelines, has been guilty of too little transparency, has ignored critical review comments and has had no policies on conflict of interest”. (more…)

Source:  FoxNews.com

By Gene J. Koprowski

A United Nations report on climate change that has been lambasted for its faulty research is under new attack for yet another instance of what critics say is sloppy science — guiding global warming policy based on a study of forest fires.

A view of the Amazon basin forest north of Manaus, Brazil. A U.N. report stated that global warming is threatening the forests — a statement that was recently discredited.

A United Nations report on climate change that has been lambasted for its faulty research is under new attack for yet another instance of what its critics say is sloppy science — adding to a growing scandal that has undermined the credibility of scientists and policymakers who back the U.N.’s  findings about global warming.

In the Fourth Assessment Report (AR4), issued in 2007 by the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), scientists wrote that 40 percent of the Amazon rainforest in South America was endangered by global warming. (more…)