Our addiction to P

Joining the dots of P addiction and overdosing. Over at the new Crikey Creek.

On the move to Sciblogs.co.nz

The Science Media Centre has done a wonderful thing. They have created science blogging community over at Sciblogs.co.nz. Around 30 NZ bloggers are there, including myself.

Crikey Creek's new home is: http://sciblogs.co.nz/crikey-creek/.

Sciblogs is modelled after ScienceBlogs.com. It's hosted by the Science Media Centre, the arm of the Royal Society of New Zealand that focuses on science communication.

With a shift to a new community, I will also be evolving my blogging style. Less echoing of news articles, and more original content of my own, including interviews with water experts. There will be an overt NZ bias, but international contexts will still get through. I'm looking forward to it.

So, update your RSS feeds, and check out the new posts. There's even new research on the water-media cycle for your entertainment.

This week in water

After a prolonged sabbatical, we now return to regular programming with a condensed account of events that transpired in the last week or so.

Bangladesh's first lifeguards are being trained by Australian counterparts. 17,000 children drown each year in the country, out of a total population of 133 million. Adding some perspective, perhaps 3,000 people (adults included) die each year from arsenic poisoning, though living with arsenic poisoning isn't too great either.

A Waikato cheese factory has been accused of releasing deactivated sludge into the Waitoa River, instead of onto farms as required. The worker's union, which is in a pay dispute with the company, blamed poor staffing by temps brought in during the dispute. The company blames a disgruntled employee.

Spreading waste on farms can, however, cause a stink. Wisconsin has a lot of cows, and a lot of manure to deal with. Most of this gets sprayed onto fields. Come spring, when the snow melts, E. Coli gets into drinking water supplies. Early spring is also that time of year to see a pulse of nitrogen and phosphorus get into streams and lakes, feeding the regular algal blooms in Lake Mendota.

Greenpeace NZ protested about the importation of palm kernel animal feed, because of deforestation in South East Asia. While NZ's dairy cows are 95% grass-fed, animal feed is used in times of drought. I expect greater use of local and imported grain as feed supplement as stocking rates increase and water supplies become less reliable.

The Royal Society of New Zealand called water footprints the next food miles. While NZ is relatively well off in terms of water, the high water content of its agricultural exports may pose an economic risk as consumers seek to reduce their water footprints. The downside with this metric, of course, is that the volume of water used to produce a product says very little about the sustainability of the practice. The report can be found here. (Disclaimer: I was one of the contributors of the report.)

Landslide Prediction Gone to the Birds

Both earthquakes and heavy rainfall are typical triggers of landslides. But if you want to know when the hills are safe again, attach tracking sensors to the birds. The beak knows.

"GNS Science specialists carried out an examination of the Hipaua thermal area this morning.

Eleven metal pins were placed in historically unstable parts of the hill yesterday to monitor for any signs of movement, and several more were to be put in today.

GNS Science said no significant signs of cracking or fallen rocks had been sighted, and birdlife had returned to the area."

I Report, I Decide

If journalists covered hydrological science here in NZ, either insightfully or ineptly, I'd observe that. But since they don't (much), I am forced - forced, I tell you - to observe how they cover climate change.

Now don't get me wrong. I will happily give kudos do those who cover science well. But I am also quite happy to point out when science is not covered well. My reasoning is not to merely point a finger and roll my eyes, but to highlight a failure. Acknowledging and understanding failure is an excellent way of achieving success - a standard philosophy in engineering, and much else.

So it is with this mindset that I observe two journalistic failures in the coverage of climate change.

One, relayed by Hot Topic, of TV3's kowtowing to the climate change denialists's disinformation campaign, and declaring that the reality of climate change is still in dispute.

And another of NBR's editor, Nevil Gibson, picking up a WSJ piece in claiming climate change is also undecided.

Now here's me thinking the media is supposed to cover relevant events accurately. But when they claim "the science isn't settled", do they actually check the science? You know, what's been tested under the crucible of sceptical peer review? No, journalists aren't obliged to do that (the WSJ didn't actually seem to). But the good ones do.

NZ Science Blog Rankings

Halfdone has listed its June assessment of NZ blog rankings. Since I'm all about measurements being the basis of knowledge, I find it of some interest. But popularity or accidental web visits do not translate into successful communication, and that's what I care about in terms of blogging.

In any case, this being a science blog, here's what I think are the ranked science or science journalism blogs. It's not a long list.

14 - Open Parachute
44 - Hot Topic
80 - Cr!key Creek

That's all folks! Out of 283 listed blogs. Oy vey.

New Poll: Is water footprinting a threat to NZ trade?

Following on from the previous poll, which asked whether virtual water accounting helped consumers make sustainable choices (most said "yes"), I am now interested in your thoughts on the risks to trade - New Zealand trade.

Again, share your thoughts in the comments, both Kiwis and internationals, farmers and others.