Sponsored Content
« Watchmen Spawns "Watchfriend" Saturday Morning Cartoon | Main | Top Headline Comments 03-12-09 »
March 12, 2009

Overnight Open Thread: “Climate Researchers to Seek Citizen Scientists” (genghis)

Subheadline: “A national program is hoping to recruit a new corps of 100,000 citizen scientists to monitor climate impacts on the living world.”

No, I can’t see anything possibly going wrong with this method of data collection. Here’s the article. Some excerpts:

”Valerie Hilt's yard brims with hollyhocks, hellebores and hyacinths. But it's her lilac bush that landed the Port Angeles great-grandmother in the annals of science.”

“Hilt, 70, is one of the last remaining lilac watchers in a network that once included 2,500 volunteers across the Western U.S. Their handwritten postcards grew into a powerful database that researchers have used to document how rising temperatures are hastening the onset of spring.”

“Now, a national program is hoping to recruit a new corps of 100,000 citizen scientists to monitor climate impacts on the living world. This time, volunteers can gather data on a wide range of plant species, from dandelions to Douglas fir. Next year, the network will expand to include birds, bugs and other animals.”


Eventually she’ll take her place in the pantheon of science alongside Newton, Einstein and the guy who first came up with this magical elixir.
”"You don't have to be a scientist to make these kinds of observations ... and it's amazing what can emerge from them." (like incredibly flawed and unreliable data sets you mean? –ed)

“Participants in the National Phenology Network will enter observations online, and the data will be freely available.”

“Phenology is the study of life-cycle timing, from bird migrations and tadpole metamorphosis to the explosion of wildflowers in mountain meadows. Researchers are discovering that even tiny changes in temperature can disrupt that timing, pushing some species toward extinction and favoring others.”

"Temperature governs every single biological reaction," said Lisa Crozier, a research ecologist at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle.”


Ain’t that the truth, as everyone here packing junk knows. It’s always shrinkage in the winter and droopiness in the summer. But that’s how Gaia intended things to be. Cold weather does bring other delights though, particularly if there’s a tight sweater involved.

Phenology, by the way, is not the same as Phrenology, though you can draw your own conclusions about the validity of either.

With the planet about to turn into a burned-out cinder, I’d like to announce a new charity effort in the overnight thread. I’m pleased to announce the launch of the “Adopt a Snowflake” program. Isn’t it about time we stepped up and took some action to try to save this endangered species? Before its too late? I’ll be setting up a special PayPal account tomorrow so you can help do your part.


Please help us save these innocent and lovable creatures.Time is running out.

Notice: Posted by permission of AceCorp LLC. Please e-mail overnight open thread tips to xgenghisx@gmail.com. Otherwise send tips to Ace.


digg this
posted by xgenghisx at 12:09 AM

| Access Comments




Recent Comments
Duke Lowell : "With butter, please! ..."

Duke Lowell : "Posted by: SMH at what's coming at June 09, 2023 0 ..."

Hadrian the Seventh: " It's not crystals, because the gross pattern is ..."

lin-duh: " "Trump threw these people under the bus." You ..."

Dash my lace wigs!: "41 *peers in cautiously* Posted by: bluebell at J ..."

bluebell: "Still have some, Duke! With butter or without? ..."

ace: "thanks, a large bubble in the swamp.! ..."

Piper: "Is that the equivalent of bear zoomies? ..."

ace: ">>>12 Giant's Causeway made famous by the cover of ..."

Skip : "Hadrian good luck to Delilah ..."

Alberta Oil Peon: "off, bubbly sock ..."

SMH at what's coming: ""The most terrifying force of death, comes from th ..."

Recent Entries
Search


Polls! Polls! Polls!
Frequently Asked Questions
The (Almost) Complete Paul Anka Integrity Kick
Top Top Tens
Greatest Hitjobs

The Ace of Spades HQ Sex-for-Money Skankathon
A D&D Guide to the Democratic Candidates
Margaret Cho: Just Not Funny
More Margaret Cho Abuse
Margaret Cho: Still Not Funny
Iraqi Prisoner Claims He Was Raped... By Woman
Wonkette Announces "Morning Zoo" Format
John Kerry's "Plan" Causes Surrender of Moqtada al-Sadr's Militia
World Muslim Leaders Apologize for Nick Berg's Beheading
Michael Moore Goes on Lunchtime Manhattan Death-Spree
Milestone: Oliver Willis Posts 400th "Fake News Article" Referencing Britney Spears
Liberal Economists Rue a "New Decade of Greed"
Artificial Insouciance: Maureen Dowd's Word Processor Revolts Against Her Numbing Imbecility
Intelligence Officials Eye Blogs for Tips
They Done Found Us Out, Cletus: Intrepid Internet Detective Figures Out Our Master Plan
Shock: Josh Marshall Almost Mentions Sarin Discovery in Iraq
Leather-Clad Biker Freaks Terrorize Australian Town
When Clinton Was President, Torture Was Cool
What Wonkette Means When She Explains What Tina Brown Means
Wonkette's Stand-Up Act
Wankette HQ Gay-Rumors Du Jour
Here's What's Bugging Me: Goose and Slider
My Own Micah Wright Style Confession of Dishonesty
Outraged "Conservatives" React to the FMA
An On-Line Impression of Dennis Miller Having Sex with a Kodiak Bear
The Story the Rightwing Media Refuses to Report!
Our Lunch with David "Glengarry Glen Ross" Mamet
The House of Love: Paul Krugman
A Michael Moore Mystery (TM)
The Dowd-O-Matic!
Liberal Consistency and Other Myths
Kepler's Laws of Liberal Media Bias
John Kerry-- The Splunge! Candidate
"Divisive" Politics & "Attacks on Patriotism" (very long)
The Donkey ("The Raven" parody)
Powered by
Movable Type 2.64