The observed global warming record: what does it tell us?

Global temperature evolution: recent trends and some pitfalls

Global surface temperatures continue to rise. In most surface temperature data sets, the years 2014, 2015 and again 2016 set new global heat records since the start of regular measurements. Never before have three record years occurred in a row. We show that this recent streak of record heat does not in itself provide statistical evidence for an acceleration of global warming, nor was it preced...

The Increase in Global Temperature: What it Does and Does Not Tell Us

The global temperature record is often used to support the claim that the Earth is warming at a rate that is “reasonably consistent” with predictions for warming due to the buildup of greenhouse gases. This paper examines how the Earth’s temperature is taken, examines the reliability of those measurements, and highlights several factors that affect temperature trends and variation. No matter ho...

The Global Burden of Disease 2010 Study: what does it tell us about mental disorders in Latin America?

On the Social Construction of Overdiagnosis; Comment on “Medicalisation and Overdiagnosis: What Society Does to Medicine”

In an interesting article Wieteke van Dijk and colleagues argue that societal developments and values influence the practice of medicine, and thus can result in both medicalisation and overdiagnosis. They provide a convincing argument that overdiagnosis emerges in a social context and that it has socially constructed implications. However, they fail to show that overdiagnosis per se is socially...

The Natural Rights of Children

What does libertarian theory, Murray Rothbard’s theory in particular, tell us about the rights of children? The two foundational principles of Rothbardian libertarianism are the sanctity of private property and the rule of non-aggression. Persons, including children, are “self-owners”. Yet children, at a young age, are not yet capable of functioning fully as “self-owners.” They must be cared fo...