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Focus on Climate Change

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change today published the trailer for a the video of its fifth report, to be released at an international climate meeting in Lima next month. Its message: “We either continue on the path that we are on and possibly face catastrophic climate change, or we listen to the voice of science, and act accordingly. That’s really our choice.”   Here are related stories on F&O: How does the IPCC know climate change is happening? In Expert Witness, by Mark Maslin, November 4, 2014  Climate change challenges the very way we organise our society. It needs to be seen

Sherlock Holmes free and “fair game”

America’s highest court on Monday freed the character of Sherlock Holmes, from copyright restrictions sought by the estate of his late creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.  Holmes is now legally in the public domain, described by a judge as “fair game” for future creators who no longer need worry about paying a licence fee to, or obtaining permission from, Doyle’s estate. This Verbatim story provides a brief summary and excerpts the original court ruling that freed Holmes, a decision that now stands because of today’s refusal by the United States Supreme Court to hear an appeal  … read (no charge*) Verbatim: A

When going to work is a remarkable event

On Monday, a handful of New York media workers passed their first day in their new workplace, the tower that rose from the World Trade Center killing ground. The Conde Nast employees are the first men and women to occupy one of the tenancies in One World Trade Center. They, and others, more than rose to the occasion, and posted their historic presence on social media. Some images, from Instagram, follow: — Michael Sasges      

IPCC report sounds loudest alarm yet on climate change impacts

Climate change caused by humans will result in food shortages, mass extinctions and flooding, warns the world body of climate experts, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), in its most comprehensive report yet. The report, signed in Bonn today, says the science is now 95 per cent conclusive, that today’s climate change is unprecedented, and warns that the world must act, together and immediately, on adaptation and mitigation. It says some changes are already inevitable and the risk of not acting is extreme: “Without additional mitigation efforts beyond those in place today, and even with adaptation, warming by the end of the

The Week at F&O: From snake oil to Dumbledore

Introducing a new three-part series: The Global Implications of Oil Price Renormalization Part 1: A Quick Look at its History and Technology By Jim McNiven To understand the global oil market, it helps to grasp the history and makeup of the commodity. In North America, from time immemorial, the Indians in the Western Allegheny area had skimmed oil seepage off the surface of the water and used it as a medicine. The settlers called it ‘Seneca oil’ after the local tribe, and used woven cloths or skimming boards to get the seepage off the water’s surface. Some entrepreneurs began to

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