'Too young to have breast cancer': Rates among young Canadian women rising
Breast cancer rates are rising in Canada among women in their 20s, 30s and 40s, according to research by the University of Ottawa (uOttawa).
As podcaster Joe Rogan faces condemnation from medical scientists for spreading misinformation about vaccines and COVID-19, another interview by the controversial host this week has become the subject of mockery -- this time among climate scientists.
Canadian clinical psychologist Jordan Peterson appeared on "The Joe Rogan Experience" on Monday, making false and generalized claims that the modeling scientists use to project climate change and its impacts are flawed.
In waffling remarks, Peterson said that "there's no such thing as climate, right?" He then went on to mock "climate types," who he said typically suggest that "climate is about everything."
"But your models aren't based on everything. Your models are based on a set number of variables. So that means you've reduced the variables -- which are everything -- to that set. But how did you decide which set of variables to include in the equation if it's about everything?"
Rogan, whose podcast is hosted on Spotify, did little to challenge the unsubstantiated comments.
Peterson's remarks show a general misunderstanding of how scientific modeling works. Scientists use models, or simulations, to project particular aspects of climate change, such as the rise in global temperatures, changes in rainfall patterns and the likelihood of drought.
Climate scientists are now ridiculing Peterson's claims.
"Such seemingly-comic nihilism would be funny if it weren't so dangerous," Michael E. Mann, a climate scientist at Pennsylvania State University, told CNN.
"Similar anti-science spread by these two individuals about COVID-19 likely has and will continue to lead to fatalities. Even more will perish from extremely dangerous and deadly weather extremes if we fail to act on the climate crisis. So the promotion of misinformation about climate change is in some ways even more dangerous."
Mann said that Peterson's claims were "nonsensical and false," and seems to boil down to the idea that climate science is so complicated that scientists could never model it or understand it.
"Such an absurd argument leads to a dismissal of physics, chemistry, biology, and every other field of science where one formulates (and tests—that's the critical part Peterson seems to fail to understand) conceptual models that attempt to simplify the system and distill the key components and their interactions," Mann said.
"Every great discovery in science has arisen this way. Including the physics of electromagnetism that allowed Peterson and Rogan to record and broadcast this silly and absurd conversation."
Spotify declined to comment on the criticism. CNN has reached out to "The Joe Rogan Experience" for comment.
NASA climate scientist Gavin Schmidt shared similar views on Twitter, pointing out that Peterson didn't appear to understand how climate models work.
Zeke Hausfather, a research scientist at Berkeley Earth, tweeted graph showing how accurate scientists' projections of global warming have been over several decades.
"For what it's worth, we have been projecting future warming since the first climate models in the late 1960s/early 1970s. We can look back to see how well they have performed. It turns out our models generally did a good job," he wrote.
The backlash comes as musician Neil Young told audio streaming giant Spotify he no longer wanted his music to be featured on on the service because of Rogan's frequent false claims around COVID-19 and vaccines.
Spotify announced on Wednesday it would no longer stream the music of Neil Young, according to a Washington Post report.
Breast cancer rates are rising in Canada among women in their 20s, 30s and 40s, according to research by the University of Ottawa (uOttawa).
The federal minister of Crown-Indigenous relations is calling on Air Canada to 'make things right' with the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, who said her headdress was removed from an airplane cabin during a flight this week.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
Charlie Woods failed to advance in a U.S. Open local qualifying event Thursday, shooting a 9-over 81 at Legacy Golf & Tennis Club.
As more Canadians find themselves struggling to afford or find housing, the country's smallest province is the only one that can point to legislation recognizing housing as a human right.
Why is H5N1, or bird flu, a concern, how does it spread, and is there a vaccine? Here are the answers to some frequently asked questions about avian influenza.
A CSIS officer's allegations that she was raped repeatedly by a superior in agency vehicles set off a harassment inquiry, but also triggered an investigation into her that concluded the alleged attacks were a “misuse” of agency vehicles by the woman.
Environmentalist groups are sounding the alarm about a steep increase in the number of pro-plastic lobbyists at the UN pollution talks taking place this week.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.