Can seasonal and interannual variation in landscape CO2 fluxes be detected by atmospheric observations of CO2 concentrations made at a tall tower?

The coupled numerical weather model WRF-SPA (Weather Research and Forecasting model and Soil-Plant-Atmosphere model) has been used to investigate a 3 yr time series of observed atmospheric CO₂ concentrations from a tall tower in Scotland, UK. Ecosystem-specific tracers of net CO₂ uptake and net CO₂ release were used to investigate the contributions to the tower signal of key land covers within its footprint, and how contributions varied at seasonal and interannual timescales. In addition, WRF-SPA simulated atmospheric CO₂ concentrations were compared with two coarse global inversion models, CarbonTrackerEurope and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's CarbonTracker (CTE-CT). WRF-SPA realistically modelled both seasonal (except post harvest) and daily cycles seen in observed atmospheric CO₂ at the tall tower (<i>R</i>² = 0.67, rmse = 3.5 ppm, bias = 0.58 ppm). Atmospheric CO₂ concentrations from the tall tower were well simulated by CTE-CT, but the inverse model showed a poorer representation of diurnal variation and simulated a larger bias from observations (up to 1.9 ppm) at seasonal timescales, compared to the forward modelling of WRF-SPA. However, we have highlighted a consistent post-harvest increase in the seasonal bias between WRF-SPA and observations. Ecosystem-specific tracers of CO₂ exchange indicate that the increased bias is potentially due to the representation of agricultural processes within SPA and/or biases in land cover maps. The ecosystem-specific tracers also indicate that the majority of seasonal variation in CO₂ uptake for Scotland's dominant ecosystems (forests, cropland and managed grassland) is detectable in observations within the footprint of the tall tower; however, the amount of variation explained varies between years. The between years variation in detectability of Scotland's ecosystems is potentially due to seasonal and interannual variation in the simulated prevailing wind direction. This result highlights the importance of accurately representing atmospheric transport used within atmospheric inversion models used to estimate terrestrial source/sink distribution and magnitude

Book Review of, Nazis and Good Neighbors: the United States’ Campaign against the Germans of Latin America in World War Two

Reviews the book Nazis & Good Neighbors: The United States Campaign Against the Germans of Latin America in World War II, by Max Paul Friedman

Language, Power and Public Engagement

In the early twenty-first century we have seen a shift in science communication from explaining science to the public to ‘engaging’ the public in discussions and debate. In this chapter, I will argue that moving to dialogue and public engagement has to be understood as a shift in power, not just in communication. Drawing on my recent research comparing the discourses and vocabulary within public and expert discussions of science and technology in the UK over the past ten years, I describe how key features of the public vocabulary work to undermine the power of public perspectives, making them appear non-rational, emotional, and easily influenced. At the same time rhetorical devices within the expert discussions have the effect of adding power to the scientific viewpoints and framing public discussions in a way that gives the public little choice but to support the scientific narrative of progress being presented to them

Science to the rescue or contingent progress? Comparing 10 years of public, expert and policy discourses on new and emerging science and technology in the United Kingdom

Over the past 10 years, numerous public debates on new and emerging science and technologies have taken place in the United Kingdom. In this article, we characterise the discourses emerging from these debates and compare them to the discourses in analogous expert scientific and policy reports. We find that while the public is broadly supportive of new scientific developments, they see the risks and social and ethical issues associated with them as unpredictable but inherent parts of the developments. In contrast, the scientific experts and policymakers see risks and social and ethical issues as manageable and quantifiable with more research and knowledge. We argue that these differences amount to two different sociotechnical imaginaries or views of science and how it shapes our world – an elite imaginary of ‘science to the rescue’ shared by scientists and policymakers and public counter-imaginary of ‘contingent progress’. We argue that these two imaginaries indicate that, but also help explain why, public dialogue has had limited impact on public policy

Science to the Rescue?

During difficult times, many argue that science will come to our rescue. Investment in science, technology, data, and innovation is seen to be vital if we are to tackle the most pressing concerns facing society. But not everyone shares this enthusiasm: Whether it be anti-vaxxers or climate change deniers, there has been an increased adoption of populist views that seemingly reject the rationalism of science. This rise is not evidence of a public rejection of rational thinking, however, but rather a growing difference in the way people experience the effects of science and technology. Rather than a perceived crisis of trust, our biggest source of concern should be the different ways that technology shapes our worlds

Canada’s New Role in North American Energy Security

Energy analysts have given renewed attention to Canada\u27s position in the North American energy market since the September 11th attacks, because of fear that conflict might interrupt the flow of oil from the Middle East. There are currently $30 billion (U.S.) in projects to develop the Alberta oil sands, in addition to new petroleum projects in Newfoundland, and major natural gas finds off the Atlantic coast. While Canada is already the single major oil exporter to the United States (ahead of both Saudi Arabia and Venezuela), its production could double by 2010. Canada’s rapidly increasing energy production has major implications both for hemispheric relations and for the United States’ strategic position. In the aftermath of September 11th energy security has become a key concern for the United States. After the attacks many commentators argued that the United States relied too heavily on Middle Eastern sources of supply, and that this factor not only limited U.S. actions, but also obliged the U.S. to engage with regimes that it found to be distasteful if not dangerous. Newspaper columnists decried America’s reliance on Saudi Arabia for energy, and some called for the United States to increase its energy self-sufficiency by opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska to drilling. Richard Holbrook, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, stated that Americans\u27 greatest single failure over the last twenty five years was our failure to reduce our dependence on foreign oil . . . which would have reduced the leverage of Saudi Arabia. Yet in fact the United States\u27 energy position is now stronger than it appears, and there is reason to believe that it will improve in the future, because of the growing importance of Canada as a source of petroleum

John Smallman to Dear Jimmy (4 October 1962)

https://egrove.olemiss.edu/mercorr_pro/1965/thumbnail.jp

Multi Scale Ethics—Why We Need to Consider the Ethics of AI in Healthcare at Different Scales

Many researchers have documented how AI and data driven technologies have the potential to have profound effects on our lives—in ways that make these technologies stand out from those that went before. Around the world, we are seeing a significant growth in interest and investment in AI in healthcare. This has been coupled with rising concerns about the ethical implications of these technologies and an array of ethical guidelines for the use of AI and data in healthcare has arisen. Nevertheless, the question of if and how AI and data technologies can be ethical remains open to debate. This paper aims to contribute to this debate by considering the wide range of implications that have been attributed to these technologies and asking whether current ethical guidelines take these factors into account. In particular, the paper argues that while current ethics guidelines for AI in healthcare effectively account for the four key issues identified in the ethics literature (transparency; fairness; responsibility and privacy), they have largely neglected wider issues relating to the way in which these technologies shape institutional and social arrangements. This, I argue, has given current ethics guidelines a strong focus on evaluating the impact of these technologies on the individual, while not accounting for the powerful social shaping effects of these technologies. To address this, the paper proposes a Multiscale Ethics Framework, which aims to help technology developers and ethical evaluations to consider the wider implications of these technologies

Furthering the understanding of interstitial glucose on ECG metrics in people with type 1 diabetes

Cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy is a common complication of type 1 diabetes and can be considered the leading cause of mortality. It is increasingly important to detect early ECG alterations in healthy individuals with type 1 diabetes to help prevent the future onset of cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy and reduce mortality. This thesis aims to further understand the effect interstitial glucose has on ECG parameters during an eight-hour resting period, a novel low-intensity twenty-watt exercise test and a six-hour nocturnal period in individuals with type 1 diabetes. This thesis is a secondary analysis study including sixteen individuals absent of disease with generally well-controlled type 1 diabetes. Results revealed a reduction in QT (ms), QTc (ms) and HF (ms2) during the low-intensity exercise test during hyperglycaemia compared to euglycaemia. The increased rate of decline in interstitial glucose reduced heart rate (bpm), rMSSD (ms) and pNN50 (%) during the 6-hour nocturnal period. This thesis concludes that interstitial glucose results in some ECG alterations during parasympathetic withdrawal and the nocturnal period in a healthy disease-free cohort of individuals with type 1 diabetes. There was no effect of relatively similar interstitial glucose levels on ECG parameters during the 8-hour resting period