Author Archives: gymnosperm

A couple interesting papers

Posted on July 24, 2012 by gymnosperm

Sulfate Burial Constraints on the Phanerozoic Sulfur Cycle Halevy, et al. Science 20 July 2012: 331-334.DOI:10.1126/science.1220224 Rapid Variability of Seawater Chemistry Over the Past 130 Million Years Wortmann, et al. Science 20 July 2012: 334-336.DOI:10.1126/science.1220656 Sulfur has hit the radar. … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate, Climate Change, Geography, Geology, Global Warming, History of Life, Oceanography, Paleoclimate, Paleogeography | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Carbon Isotope Excursions and Carbon Limitation of Primary Productivity in the Biosphere

Posted on July 15, 2012 by gymnosperm

Carbon Isotope Excursions and Carbon Limitation of Primary Productivity in the Biosphere Gordon Lehman, Trunkmonkey, Gymnosperm; sheepherders, ignoramuses all Abstract The conception of natural history as an economic struggle was developed by Geerat Vermeij (1). “Supply side” interpretations of δ13C … Continue reading →

Posted in Biology, Climate, Climate Change, Economics, Geography, Geology, History of Life, Oceanography, Paleoclimate | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

What is it with squares in nature anyway?

Posted on June 30, 2012 by gymnosperm

Actually, perfect squares are extremely rare in nature. Squares are human constructs. We imagine Pythagoras and the Greek philosophers drawing their squares in the sand, dividing the sides equally, connecting the divisions, and counting the resulting smaller squares to develop … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthropology, History, What's going on here? | 2 Comments

Spreadsheet of Human History

Posted on May 24, 2012 by gymnosperm

Spreadsheet of human history Spreadsheets are really graphs. This one has time on one axis and space on the other. The space geography is arbitrary but intended to sequence human dispersion from Africa. I have lots of Teaching Company timelines … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthropology, Climate, Geography, History, History of Life, Religion | Leave a comment

Explaining Milankovitch to a Barmaid.

Posted on April 10, 2012 by gymnosperm

I had been drinking. And thinking, and remembering Einstein once said no scientific theory was any good unless you could explain it to a barmaid. Well, Albert, good luck with special relativity on a napkin, but Milankovitch? A barmaid brought me … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthropology, Climate, Climate Change | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

An exceptional walk across the Golden Gate Bridge

Posted on March 24, 2012 by gymnosperm

An exceptional walk required exceptional procedures. Picture ID, affidavit signed and cosigned, hard hats issued. Ancient key inserted, old bolts grudgingly lifted, a tiny passageway to the innards of the south tower. Three human sardines at a time, an elevator … Continue reading →

Posted in Geography | Tagged | 1 Comment

Skepticism

Posted on March 22, 2012 by gymnosperm

You know what skepticism is? Skepticism is doing yoga in your socks because it is cold and you didn’t start the fire soon enough. You know darned well it will be fine, you’ve even done it before when it was … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthropology, Climate, Religion | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Please Don’t Feed the Feedbacks

Posted on March 20, 2012 by gymnosperm

Feedback is central to the alarmist narrative on several levels. Negative feedback seven times more powerful for CO2 loss (from pre-industrial level, it is non-linear) than positive feedback for an equal gain is critical for the hypothesis that Milankovitch cycles … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate, Climate Change, Geography, Global Warming, Paleoclimate | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Reblogg

Posted on March 14, 2012 by gymnosperm

I’d actually written this as a reply on Dr. Roy Spencer’s Blog but there seemed some sort of enfarction and the beauty of having your own is I can just post it here… “And I still think a photon emitted … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Too Much on my Plate

Posted on March 13, 2012 by gymnosperm

I’ve been getting annoyed with the grade school conception of “plate” tectonics where everyone is identifying plates and their relative motions and saying stuff like the Japan Earthquake of 2011 was caused by the Pacific Plate sliding under Japan. It … Continue reading →

Posted in Geography, Geology, Oceanography | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment