Causality and the semantics of provenance

Provenance, or information about the sources, derivation, custody or history of data, has been studied recently in a number of contexts, including databases, scientific workflows and the Semantic Web. Many provenance mechanisms have been developed, motivated by informal notions such as influence, dependence, explanation and causality. However, there has been little study of whether these mechanisms formally satisfy appropriate policies or even how to formalize relevant motivating concepts such as causality. We contend that mathematical models of these concepts are needed to justify and compare provenance techniques. In this paper we review a theory of causality based on structural models that has been developed in artificial intelligence, and describe work in progress on a causal semantics for provenance graphs.Comment: Workshop submissio

Colonization of the Americas, 'Little Ice Age' climate, and bomb-produced carbon: their role in defining the Anthropocene

A recently published analysis by Lewis and Maslin (Lewis SL and Maslin MA (2015) Defining the Anthropocene. Nature 519: 171–180) has identified two new potential horizons for the Holocene−Anthropocene boundary: 1610 (associated with European colonization of the Americas), or 1964 (the peak of the excess radiocarbon signal arising from atom bomb tests). We discuss both of these novel suggestions, and consider that there is insufficient stratigraphic basis for the former, whereas placing the latter at the peak of the signal rather than at its inception does not follow normal stratigraphical practice. Wherever the boundary is eventually placed, it should be optimized to reflect stratigraphical evidence with the least possible ambiguity

Scale and diversity of the physical technosphere: a geological perspective

We assess the scale and extent of the physical technosphere, defined here as the summed material output of the contemporary human enterprise. It includes active urban, agricultural and marine components, used to sustain energy and material flow for current human life, and a growing residue layer, currently only in small part recycled back into the active component. Preliminary estimates suggest a technosphere mass of approximately 30 trillion tonnes (Tt), which helps support a human biomass that, despite recent growth, is ~5 orders of magnitude smaller. The physical technosphere includes a large, rapidly growing diversity of complex objects that are potential trace fossils or ‘technofossils’. If assessed on palaeontological criteria, technofossil diversity already exceeds known estimates of biological diversity as measured by richness, far exceeds recognized fossil diversity, and may exceed total biological diversity through Earth’s history. The rapid transformation of much of Earth’s surface mass into the technosphere and its myriad components underscores the novelty of the current planetary transformation

My Climate Change

Presented on March 27, 2018 from 3:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m. in the Reinsch-Pierce Family Auditorium, Architecture East Building, Georgia Tech.Andrew Revkin is among a handful of journalists who’ve been locked in on the story of the century since the greenhouse effect first hit front pages and the nightly news in 1988, when science magazines still ran cigarette ads. His coverage, in media old and new, has won the top awards in science journalism, but he’ll explain why no one should count on better science coverage to produce consensus on solutions. And he’ll explain why he sees merit in embracing the full scope of the “great acceleration” scientists have identified and mixing patience with urgency on that path ahead.Runtime: 68:44 minutesThirty years into reporting on global warming science and policy, from the North Pole to the White House, a leading environmental journalist lays out his biggest mistakes and most surprising insights and offers fresh strategies for effectively communicating climate risks and building a more sustainable relationship between people and this dynamic planet

An Inconvenient Mind : The Climate Challenge Within, and What To Do About It

Non UBCUnreviewedUnknow

Panel Data Analysis of Regulatory Factors Shaping Environmental Performance

This paper analyzes the regulatory factors shaping environmental performance at individual polluting facilities. In particular, it examines the influence of actual government interventions, namely, inspections and enforcement actions performed at specific facilities. This influence represents specific deterrence. This paper also examines general deterrence, that is, the threat of receiving an intervention. As important, it controls for differences in certain regulatory features of facility-specific pollution control permits. Unlike previous attempts to examine regulatory factors, this analysis uses panel data techniques to capture the heterogeneity across individual facilities, while exploring the dynamics of each facility; the analysis also captures heterogeneity across individual time periods. © 2004 President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

How to Fake a Moon Landing Exposing the Myths of Science Denial

Intro -- INTRODUCTION BY ANDREW C. REVKIN 4 -- PREFACE 6 -- The Moon Hoax 9 -- Homeopathy 24 -- Chiropractic 44 -- The MMR Vaccination Scandal 67 -- Evolution 83 -- Fracking 107 -- Climate Change 135 -- Science Denial 154 -- SOURCES 173Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, YYYY. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries