by Judith Curry
Taking climate change seriously doesn’t mean you cannot joke about it. That’s the idea behind the exhibition Facing the Climate where Swedish cartoonists have their take at one of our time’s greatest challenges.
Sweden Sustainability blog has a post Making Fun of Climate Change:
Since opening in Belgrade in the fall of 2010, the Swedish Institute exhibition Facing the Climate has been shown in many places around the world. In each country, local cartoonists were invited to add contributions of their own, and these helped to raise awareness of national and global issues relating to the environment and climate.
The Swedish Institute is proud to present an international selection of the hundreds of amusing and alarming contributions submitted by these cartoonists over the past 18 months as the exhibition toured the world.
During this year, Facing the Climate will travel the world and be displayed in Rio, Athens, Tirana, Tel Aviv, Johannesburg, , Novosibirsk and other cities. But the idea isn’t just to make others watch. By Swedish cartoonists holding workshops and seminars, and also taking part in environment-related events, they inspire local cartoonists, students and others good at drawing to make their own interpretations.
The complete collection of cartoons can be downloaded from Cartoons from Facing the Climate. Here are a few of my favorites:
Riber Hansonn – Sweden
Riber Hansonn – Sweden
Syergey Volkau – Belarus
Agim Sulaj – Albania
Mikhail Zlatkovsky – Russia
JC comment: I am a big fan of using cartoons to communicate, and have been experimenting with using cartoons in my public talks. Most of these cartoons aren’t humorous, but all are provocative; through artistry, these cartoonists make us reflect and think. I encourage you to download the entire collection of cartoons.
When you talk about “one of our time’s greatest challenges” you must mean that we need to avoid destroying our economy to solve a non existing problem.
Check.
http://info.publicintelligence.net/USArmy-InternmentResettlement.pdf
More papers please.
Even the NGO’s get a piece of you.
PROVOST MARSHAL GENERAL
3-8. The Secretary of the Army further designates the PMG as the Secretary of the Army action agent to
exercise the executive agent role for detainee operations and long-term confinement of U.S. military
prisoners. The PMG develops and disseminates policy guidance for the treatment, care, accountability,
legal status, and processing of detainees. The PMG provides Headquarters, DA, staff supervision for the
DOD and ensures that plans are developed for providing ISNs to the TDRC and replenishing ISNs.
3-9. The PMG provides staff assistance and technical advice to various agencies, including—
Office of the Secretary of Defense.
Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Military departments.
Combatant commands.
Department of State and other federal agencies.
NGOs.
chain of command
Funny?
Tom,
It isn’t saying NGO’s are part of the chain of command. They are listed as one of the orgs that the Army can be expected to have to interact with and hence provide assistence and advice to.
The sad truth is that there is no organization in the world that is better capable of handling disaster relief – whether natural or man-made – than the branches of the US DoD.
With what I know. You are making a very dangerous assumption.
Tom,
??? I didn’t understand your reply.
I’m sorry.
Thank you, Professor Curry, for this topic. Humor may be the most effective, if not the only, weapon with which to oppose bureaucratic ignorance.
Thank you, Alexej Buergin, for reminding us again of the danger of “destroying our economy to solve a non existing problem.”
Thank you, Tom, for confirming the same inherent bureaucratic stupidity in all organizations. They are not at fault.
The protracted debate over global warming has exposed another inherent problem: Selfishness, self-centeredness – a natural development stage at ~ 2 years of age – may be a common handicap in leaders and critics of nations, movements and organizations, with a few rare exceptions.
Oliver K. Manuel
http://www.omatumr.com
http://omanuel.wordpress.com/about/
“Humor may be the most effective, if not the only, weapon with which to oppose bureaucratic ignorance.”
is that why every one of your posts is a joke?
Funny too. What’s in a name, when you are Left with lol-wot?
timg56, do you think a movie would help you?
http://www.prisonplanet.com/obama-mentor-wanted-americans-put-in-re-education-camps.html
still funny after all these years
in Red Dawn Too
Summer climate is better than winter climate. If any of the Warmist, or fake Skeptics can demonstrate, if they can prevent from summer going into winter climate- should be taken as grown up people. Otherwise, they should stop playing with their own water pistols. .
A low point for this blog. The cartoon were meant to be “fun” but most fail spectacularly at that.
They are also based on myths, distortions, and all the silly weapons of the worst climate change propaganda.
There is nothing challenging about them apart from having to come to terms with the fact that the authors are human beings too.
Cartoons are a brilliant way of getting over a point succinctly. Perhaps the most famous examples are those by the satirical magazine Punch.
http://punch.photoshelter.com/index
Hogarth also made some savage satire through the medium.
tonyb
+1 on Hogarth
-1 for balance
+10. Casting and final vote.
Tonyb
Agreed, 100% negative.
Agree. Feeble distortions; unfunny and hectoring nonsense.
“Cartoons” not “cartoon”
Here is a ‘cartoon’ which may surprise number of solar and climate scientists as well as geophysicists
http://www.vukcevic.talktalk.net/SSN-dBzAa.htm
Nice try Vuk
tonyb
The ‘ heliospheric gate keeper of the WUWT ‘ revising the historic sunspot record to a ‘flat line’ isn’t amused.
Judith
Cartoons? You obviously havent been paying attention to the last thread on your own blog which has turned into the one liner comedy club of the climate world with- in the intervals -large doses of poetry-some of it relevant.
tonyb
Heh, one of my lines is worth a thousand of these pictures.
================
Kim, I fully agree
Write it on a US $20 bill and send it to me and I will also concur.
http://elfael.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/biofuels-cartoon.gif
http://co2insanity.com/2011/05/12/global-warming-fraud-creates-third-world-food-crisis/
Climate change fraud is not very funny when you look at the effects this is having on the world’s poor!
The latest release of HadCRUT3 March 2012 now posted on
http://www.climate4you.com shows that even the IPCC data shows that the world has been cooling since 2002 and is still continuing to cool in spite of the 35% increase in global CO2 emissions yet the wealthy in poor countries are still getting wealthier fraudulently recieving carbon credits for initiatives that make the lives of the poor even more miserable.
It is no stretch referring to the Kyoto Accord atrocity as a crime against humanity and the cartoon linked above depicts this well
They’re very suggestive of an Anthropogenic catastrophe. it gives us a good look into the artists misanthropic mindset, ‘all humans are bad and destroying the planet’ art can be creepy.
I noticed that as well.
But then one would have to be blind not too.
Where’s the balance, Prof. Curry? A selection of cartoons by Josh and Fenbeagle would correct the balance somewhat.
Actually, my favourite “Climate Change” cartoon is this:
Picture a climate conference. On the podium a pointy-haired intellectual is rabbiting on about electric vehicles, solar panels, water conservation, high speed trains, etc etc.
From the audience an irate guy jumps to his feet and says “But – but – supposing climate change is a big hoax, and we make the world a better place for nothing!”
Whether you agree with AGW theory or not, you have to admit that is pretty clever…….
The fallacy in that is the idea that all machinations of the planners actually would make the world better. It ignores the Bastiat lesson of “the seen and the unseen.” http://bastiat.org/en/twisatwins.html
All such claims that the results of the changes will be only positive do so only by ignoring all the negative effects of imposed changes upon those who do not directly benefit from the largess of crony interventionism for those deemed more politically correct.
A few more:
http://wattsupwiththat.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/suggestions_scr.jpg
http://rogerpielkejr.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/nyt-puts-hit-on.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/neil-wagner
Josh just has the knack of capturing all of the pertinent points in a single picture. By far the most influential cartoonist in the field today.
Yeah, I was expecting some Josh or In-The-Style-Of-Josh gigglies.
I guess not.
Andrew
More (also edgy): http://cartoonsbyjosh.com/
Do not forget the hilarious contributions by Josh…climatology and politics from a sceptical British perspective.
http://www.cartoonsbyjosh.com/
Note to those of a nervous disposition…some well known climate ‘personalities’ are not always portrayed in the reverent light that they believe they deserve. Viewer discretion is advised. Tee Hee :-)
I downloaded them all and thought the majority very heavy handed and preachy. I don’t think many of them got the message over at all because personally I would have just sighed and turned away.
tonyb
Purchased propaganda, the iron fist in a velvet glove.
=================
More like an iron glove that, when opened, was empty. All glove, no fist. But the glove had cartoons on it.
Excellent.
That’s not so funny. reality ;(
Latest UK activist group (just a rehash of all the old ones, climate camp, ukuncut, Campaign against Climate Change, Rising Tide, etc)
Has a clenched fist graphic front and centre (and is also anti-capitalist)
they were trying to storm a UK energy meeting yesterday (and it got rough)
http://climatejusticecollective.org/
and they wonder why most people reject them…
Barry
I’m with the climate collective. Fuel is far too expensive in the UK. What we need are more coal fired power stations, nuclear, fracking and…Oh…I see they don’t want ANY of those things. Quite how we can get the cheap energy we need to prevent fuel poverty and keep our economy competitive they don’t seem to mention.
Tonyb
So, what is the situation with coal reserves in the UK?
Further, the only oil in the area is extracted from the North Sea. Take a look at my projections for UK and Norway oil from five years ago and see how they are turning out. Now you know why fossil fuel energy is expensive.
Pielke Jr. had a cartoon here…
Pielke Jr. had a cartoon here…
http://rogerpielkejr.blogspot.com/2012/05/nyt-puts-hit-on.html
which prompted Josh to draw…
http://bishophill.squarespace.com/blog/2012/5/2/cartoon-the-cartoon-josh-164.html
Click on my name for my collection of favourite climate change cartoons, which I think are better, though I may be biased.
Thanks Paul. They are very good – and amusing!
Paul
As a historical climatologist I thought the last one especially good.
tonyb
Clippy is my favorite!
I fear that in my mind the ‘cartoons’ in JC’s link only reinforced the stereotype of Scandiwegians as being a rather dour, depressed and gloomy folk. .
And a bunch of them convinced of imminent thermageddon do not make ribtickling company. They may be very earnest but they are unlikely to attract the crowds.
This answers the question what comes after Soviet Realism.
There is also the immortally funny XKCD cartoon:
Someone is *WRONG* on the internet :!: .
Ouch! :smile: :grin: :lol: :mrgreen:
Joy
Nice one
tonyb
Joy,
GREAT web link- Thanks I saved it to favorites. Your timing is perfect- for a need of mine!!!!
I was having a discussion yesterday with one of the experts on how to keep the grid up and running out here in CA as we add in a bit more RE. His presentation for a technical audience was spot on. I was a bit worried as he moves the presentation to an of audience of policy makers, and the general public it might be a tad to detailed. Without some levity and analogies mixed in with all that detail I was concerned that the take away message might get lost. So far we have come up with a few idea’s- Our biggest problem is most folks aren’t aware of the details of how electricity gets to their wall switch. The complexity of the middle of the process (i.e. the grid- the part of the process that takes the electrons from the generation source to the wall switch) has been so robust that no one even thinks about it. Any ideas on ways we can pictorially cover the any of this?
I was thinking of a couple things- The old Maytag repair man ad (and why we don’t see him on the TV anymore) or one of my personal favorites dropped calls (you can probably tell I have AT&T as my service provider). Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated?
I thought maybe a picture of lights on and lights off that happen all the time in Pakistan, Bagdad, etc. But I think this might be a bit to political in flavor and botch the message.
“I thought maybe a picture of lights on and lights off that happen all the time in Pakistan, Bagdad, etc.”
Kakatoa, Are you suggesting that PG&E, is heading the way of Bagdad?
This may have been the wrong thread perhaps? Prepare us all to get less for more?
This does not sound good.
Lights off to come:
http://www.powermag.com/POWERnews/4624.html?hq_e=el&hq_m=2437042&hq_l=5&hq_v=c598e2bb44
Tom,
PG&E is in good shape near term supply and infrastructure (i.e. grid) wise from what I can tell. I haven’t followed up with an ISO request that we not let a Nat gas plant get shuttered in the northern central valley as we need it in about 2 years for grid stability: for when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow. Long term you need to ask someone a lot more familiar with those really detailed slides then me as far as the lights on side of things. As to costs we already know they have to go up- as noted in the Future of Nat Gas Post: PV cost more (a lot more) and we are adding it to meet the RE standard. Someone has to pay the bill. I asked Joy for help on trying to figure out how to allocate those costs in the moral judgment thread………
As necessity is the mother of many an invention we are going to get to see how well DR is at reducing peak load down in the San Diego area (as the nuc plant is off line until they figure out what is going on with some corrosion). With the summer approaching it sounds like the military is going to help out with keeping their load off line when needed. It’s funny that we are back to the San Diego area being the test area for things. They were at the forefront- 1st area really effected by our botched effort at deregulation a decade and a half ago.
Back to weed eating. And yes, I will be getting a back up power system in place.
kakatoa,
“Someone has to pay the bill.” Are you really suggesting that we take money from government pension plans to make up the difference? That comes as a surprise to me.
Why don’t the Chinese just wheel some of their surplus power out ot Long Beach, CA, to our military in San Diego? Two birds with one stone.
And you haven’t yet gotten to the issue of distributed generation. As I understand it, increasing the number of micro gen points – customers who have surplus electrons to send back to the system – has the potential to be a grid stability nightmare. Smart grid technology is being counted on to manage it, but utilities are finding they have problems getting customers to accept the technology.
Tom,
I don’t think the pensions are up for discussion at the moment. New public employees don’t get the same benefits as existing, or retired, employees. This doesn’t seem that fair to me but that’s what has been decided. The honorable Mr. Steinberg supports all things union based- http://www.calwatchdog.com/2012/05/02/darrell-steinberg-wants-you-in-an-ant-farm/?utm_source=CalWatchdog+May+3%2C+2012&utm_campaign=CALWATCHDOG+EBLAST&utm_medium=email so I think he will keep things pretty much the way they stand now.
As to an innovative way to raise some $ for mandated activities-
History first- my local town was required to put in a very nice new water treatment facility. The state was kind enough to line up the bonds to pay for the project- which was kind of them as they are the ones that required the new facility. The timing of the project was a bit of the pits- at the peak of the housing boom (now bust) which meant the cost estimates were just a tad off (say by 40%). A modest request by the town to the contractors and the suppliers of materials to do their work for say 40% less was turned down. Luckily for everyone (except the ratepayer who have to pay off the bonds) the project was completed (about a year into the housing bubble collapse) and a big celebration was had on the accomplishment. Two months later the rates went up 50%. As you might imagine the ratepayers were not to pleased about this. Unfortunately the bond holders weren’t willing to take a haircut so they were stuck with the bill.
Now to the innovative approach to paying off a mandated activity. A sales tax increase was put in place to help offset some of the rate increase. So far this has worked out fairly well.
kakatoa,
Good luck, and I would start the educational campaign with the State legislature. They seem to think that they can flap their arms and 33% RPS can just happen. The grid is actually a coupled electro-mechanical system of rotating machines. Power flows due to differences in phase angle among machines or points in the system. You are right, most have no idea how electrons actually end up at your wall outlet.
You are also right to intimate that we are driving towards a third-world power system with the RPS nonsense. Right now, Southern California is cutting a deal with the military to keep the lights on with SONGS off-line.
Hi Arcs,
Sorry I missed your post before leaving my last one above. I stop in at my PC between refilling the weed eater. I almost hired someone to do a this chore, but alas my disposable income has taken a hit waiting for the “affordable” part of the affordable health care act to kick in. I planned on 10% increases per year in our health insurance premium. I should of known better…… 58% in the last three years with a mandatory increase in our deductable of another 20% has played havoc with things. Do you even wonder how they calculate inflation?
I think the powers that be will do everything they can to keep the lights on- the folks in the legislature and governors office are well aware of the corrective feedback given to Gov Davis the last time the lights went out in the state. Worst case, the can do the unthinkable (air quality wise) have the hospitals and other large mission critical facilities turn their back up power capabilities on to take their load off to the grid (kind of like the micro grids we are just getting reading the put in place up in SMUD’s territory). In the best of all worlds the concept of smart meters to smart grid would of been worked out before the experiments we forced into place.
As LADWP never did any RE so to speak of they may be able to tap into some of their generation sources in the 4 corners area (ie coal fired plants) IF the grid can get the power to the right locations. I would be more then happy if some of the PV plants that just came on line down south (Boulder City, NV, etc) that PG&E is contracted to receive could be sent elsewhere;).
LLNL is using big computers to model and improve grid response to renewables. Lots of wind on the coast, inland mountains and potential for solar in the Barstow desert or Mohave. Lets try these energy sources. Altamont pass is filled with wind turbines. Hope they can keep operating once subsidies dry up. The nice thing about federalism is it allows CA to develop our sytems with 33% renewables and we can compare that to Georgia with coal fired and texas with oil and natural gas fired energy. See who spends the most and let the market evolve. Sad things happened with too controlled regulations like ENRON in texas taking advantage of us naive CA people the last time we regulated pricing under Gray Davis, Gov of CA. But to let renewables simply cost more here allows first costs to be discounted over the lifetime of the asset. I think the environmental costs of coal are borne by society as a entity. So we can pay more for electricity here that does not impose environmental costs on society. We have too many residents anyway so some can move to Texas with the jobs.
I think Gov Davis got the raw end of the deal as far as how we set up our deregulation efforts in Ca for the electrical market. He didn’t have much, if anything, to do with the design of the system (which in retrospect was a tad flawed). The flaws led in a large part to opening up the market for the traders to manipulate. On the other hand, I am not happy with his response to the lights on, lights off problem that folks experienced. Every time I pay my electrical bill I am still paying for the long term contracts he had the Department of Water put in place to ensure supply- if your a PG&E customer see the DWR bond payment part of your bill; that’s your allocation to pay off the contracts. If he would of asked I would of said I’d rather go without the electricity, at that price, then pay for it. Smart meters will allow one to say this by the way- if and only if you get the rest of the infrastructure to work. Back then I lived in an super temperate area south of San Jose. We didn’t have air conditioning as we could deal with the 2 to 3 weeks out of the year that it would of been nice to have. Heck we even had single pane windows as it never really got cold either.
I 100% concur with you that there is lots to be learned from how other areas in this state, other states, and countries do things. For the life of me I can’t find my reference to how an ISO in Illinois was getting their customers involved with dynamic pricing but it was really a great experiment. Actually, I would of signed up for it if I had a chance. If recollection serves me correctly if you signed up to take the risk of having your retail electric prices following the wholesale prices your would also get the benefit when the price was low at the wholesale level. I had read this article in the winter and I was paying something like $.22 a kwh for my electricity at the time. I checked out the web site and low and behold if I was a customer of this Illinois firm I could of paid $.04 kwh. Now getting those electrons to me might of been a bit of an issue.
I am a glutton for punishment- I am trying to figure out some of the details of what our poor regulators have to sort through in regards to the direction(s) they receive from our elected bodies. I really don’t enjoy reading legalize! Somehow the poor regulations have to fill in the details that were not noted- delineated specifically that is- into rules and regulations. From what I can tell of the Warren Alquist Act http://www.energy.ca.gov/2009publications/CEC-140-2009-001/CEC-140-2009-001-REV1.PDF your concerns about coal fired plants have been completely addressed for instate generation and now that LADWP (which you might call a freeloader under certain thought processes) is mandated to meet a RE standard (the newly passed 33%RES; they were not required to meet the 20%RES- nor were any of the public electrical companies) their supply from coal fired facilities will be nixed. I can only take a very small amount of the legalize at a time so I need to check out what exactly what they (our elected bodies) meant by “It is necessary that California both protect environmental quality and site new power plants to ensure electricity reliability, improve the environmental performance of the current electricity industry and reduce consumer costs.”- see”§ 25009. Modification of need determination.” Being a PG&E consumer I don’t think the last part of the requirements was given much weight in the decision making process.
That was pretty good.
I find it hard to laugh at what I consider dangerous propaganda.
Poor darling.
Idea for a cartoon:
Speaking of “Where’s Waldo”, can anyone find the following on the UN Org. Chart?
UN 2011 Org. Chart: http://www.un.org/en/aboutun/structure/pdfs/un_system_chart_colour_large.pdf
UNFCCC, IPCC, UNCSD, UNEP-WCMC, or related to Agenda 21: ICLEI, Countdown 2010, Local Action for Biodiversity, European Center for Nature Conservation, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, etc…
Quite the “Rabbit Hole” or is there a more detailed chart available?
Climate Model
Nice : )
Under Environment (bottom right mouse over), I really liked this one with the farmers chatting over the farm fence with windmills in the background and the caption: What I Miss Most Is The Mooing.
It’s a good thing those skeptical of CAGW are a reasonable, rational bunch- haven’t heard a single call to have these cartoonists “terminated with extreme prejudice” for their stance and artwork. As we all are aware, cartooning can be a dangerous occupation.
I do recall hearing, quite recently, that someone wants to let burn down the houses of “skeptics”….. Hmmm.
It is interesting that there is a notable weather feature at play in all of these cartoons. It’s this: Scandinavian winters are long, cold, dark and extraordinarily depressing.The response, “Guess I’ll stay inside, draw and depress myself further.”
Personally, if I want satirical cartoons on any subject, I don’t think there’s anything that can touch the Oracle of South Park. Yes, sometimes they disgust me. I won’t go into my response to the “cartoons” above other than my previous note on Scandinavian seasonal weather trends. Offered as only one of many AGW examples: http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/103844/we-didnt-listen
Hilarious South Park clip jbmckim
South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone understand global warming and what motivates Al Gore perfectly.
http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/155237/al-gore-is-super-awesome
Dr Curry, your selection of cartoons seems somewhat unbalanced. I am confident that you will present Josh’s collection in your next post to offset the bias in todays post.
I have frequently featured Josh’s posts at Climate Etc.
Probably instructive to consider the biggest difference between JOsh’s cartoons and today’s selection. which is that the latter aren’t funny. Nor are they meant to be. These are tools of propaganda, which by definition isn’t funny. All the respect in the world for you Dr. C, but you seem a bit tin-eared in this case.
pokerguy,
Just because we don’t find them funny doesn’t mean they are ineffective as humor from a cultural perspective. To impose our views, as right or wrong on the artifacts of other cultures, is pure ignorance and is exactly what the UN is currently doing wrong.
I suspect Curry is pointing out cultural bias and its influence interpretation of “global” topics. Its actually quite insightful when one realizes we aren’t raised the same, aren’t exposed to the same influences, and in extreme instances do not perceive the same illusions (environmental effect on human perception).
I honestly like all of the examples but artistically realize none of them represents a Gestalt.
And Josh returns compliments
http://www.cartoonsbyjosh.com/BEST_PRscr.jpg
And very kind of you too!
Lovely work here and in the pdf – some brilliant and clever visuals, and the workshops looked fun. I might, of course, draw things slightly differently but I wholeheartedly approve of using illustration, cartoons and visuals – they don’t just entertain or communicate they get people talking, asking questions and hopefully finding answers ;-)
Yeah. These cartoons are all drawn by commies and socialists! How’s that for your international conspiracy, Mandrake, that seeks to sap and impurity, our precious carbon energy-economy! :smile: :grin: :lol: :mrgreen:
Something else that isn’t funny are those tedious happy faces. Is it just me, or does anyone else find them off-putting?
No. I like Smileys.
They give an opportunity for a bit of personality to shine through.
The question is, what kind of personality finds the need to repeat the same thing over and over and over again. I find them patronizing at best, and quite tedious. Of course, maybe that says more about my personality than Joy’s.
@pokerguy
:-)
Yes Latimer, it’s sadly true, Which made me laugh. Big difference in usage of a tool available to all.
pokerguy,
When the oppo is busy shooting them-self in the foot, leave them to their shooting practice. Joy is at least a friendly troll.
Anybody up for butt-icons?
Yet another celebrated xkcd cartoon that incorporates energy themes is XKCD 980: Money Chart, which is a giant (and click-able!) cartoon that purports to encompass all the information about all the money in the world. Example (from the far right “trillions” area):
• Ten years of electricity if the surface of Texas were
converted to photovoltaics: $89,240,000,000,000
• World proven oil reserves: $131,960,000,000,000
This particular xkcd packs more information than (perhaps) any other single cartoon in history, and the xkcd forum comments are worth reading too!
As for smilies, this one’s for you, pokerguy! :wink:
Whoops … here’s a working xkcd link! :oops:
@joy
I don’t think that the poster you link to is indeed a cartoon at all. It ain’t funny and it don’t tell a story.
A much better way to shows stats is the great method of Hans Rosling.
http://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_shows_the_best_stats_you_ve_ever_seen.html
Its amusing and the numbers he shows are interesting too.
Latimer, that Hans Rosling link is terrific!
Regarding “funny”, it’s not clear to me that even immortal cartoons like Calvin & Hobbs and The Far Side are “funny”. Rather, the truths these cartoons show us are so profound as to compel us to laugh … even when these truths are disturbing!
So what I look for in a cartoon is not “funny”, but rather courage, compassion, and a big-hearted love of all the world and all the creatures in it. :smile:
A favorite site of the moment – sympatico.
http://thepeoplescube.com/current-truth/pascal-s-global-warming-wager-amen-and-hallelujah-t1140.html
Chief, your cartoon pessimistically denies — even as a logical possibilitynbsp;— a world in which:
ª AGW is real, and
• there are liberty-respecting responses to it.
And yet, increasingly many folks are embracing (1–2) combined as a happy, prosperous, enterprise-driven reality.
For me and many, that’s a *great* outcome. So who needs gloomy, narrow-minded, cartoon realities? When there are *terrific* realities heading our way. :smile:
Joy Black,
No where are any AGW inspired policies working. Period.
“The Swedish Institute is proud to present an international selection of the hundreds of amusing and alarming contributions submitted by these cartoonists over the past 18 months as the exhibition toured the world.”
“In each country, local cartoonists were invited to add contributions of their own, and these helped to raise awareness of national and global issues relating to the environment and climate.”
LOL, this sounds like the nonsense from the IPCC who, presumably accepts research without fee and judges its “merit” in relation to UN policy intent.
First information missing that needs to be defined:
– who judged the local contributions and edited the entries
– was there any predefined basis for judging
– was there any governance in choosing the judges
– what was the invited statement presented for artistic resolution
The context of the Swedish Institute’s attempt at raising awareness of national and global issues relating to the environment and climate appears to be as slanted and warped as the UN attempt?
I like the art work on some of them. And they all show imagination.
It’s just a personal quirk of mine but the one I didn’t particularly like was the clock one. It is easily the poorest for quality of art and imagination. As if no one else has ever used a doomsday clock. My quirk has to do with what a piece of garbage the original “Doomday Clock” that the Union of Concerned Scientists developed. Introduced back in the 50’s, it still has us seconds away from extinction.
Want a sure sign of something with a poor basis in science? It’s supportted by the UoCS.
http://0.tqn.com/d/politicalhumor/1/0/6/p/3/Climate-Abyss.jpg
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/tomtoles/2010/06/17/c_06182010.gif
http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Toles.gif
The productive are fast approaching a point of no return. That is when the physical strength of society has been sapped to such an extent that a generation finally is born that glorifies in production of inactivity and the rest of humanity simply cannot afford it; and, that’s when the Greece hits the Spain and California goes BK.
Of the four cartoonists shown above Riber Hansonn is the only Skandinavian. He shows how to preserve Saab cars; and the rich guy, who does not like the poor woman to eat cooked food, uses his left hand to try to starve her.
The others remind me of a book I once read: “Propaganda in the Third Reich”. Maybe they learned their job at the time when their countries were still communist.
Electrons at the outlet:
They are always there; what one needs to transport is the ability to move them.
Proverbs help too:
Do you think the tree one was drawn on paper?
I would like to draw attention to the fabulous fenbeagle cartoons
http://fenbeagleblog.wordpress.com/
Awesome!
Some day these AGW “cartoons” will be considered sad artifacts of a benighted age..
@Joy
I reference a great deal of science – Anastasios Tsonis, Kyle Swanson, the NAS commmitte on Abrupt Climate Change, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, Noel Keenleyside, Takashi Mochizukia and a dozen colleagues, Stewart Franks, Robin Warner and Wayne Erskine, Mojib Latif, Amy Clement, Robert Burgman, James McWilliams – amongst many favourites. These are full of models and numbers despuite Webby’s inane hand waving. Most of these people are concerned with ocean variability or hydrological phenomenon that arise from oceans. James McWilliams is as well but in his 2007 PNAS paper discussed ‘irreducible imprecision on atmospheric and oceanic simulations’. Irreducible imprecision arises from the underlying dynamic nature of the Navier-Stokes fluid flow equations coupled with plausible values for initial and boundary conditions. There is a limit of imprecision for AOS that is not known because the limits over systematically designed model families have not been tested. I have linked to CERES data, SORCE, studies using ARGO, ERBS and ISCCP-FD data.
There are a few things in here that confound simple analysis – but it all comes back to natural variability. ‘Anastasios Tsonis, of the Atmospheric Sciences Group at University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, and colleagues used a mathematical network approach to analyse abrupt climate change on decadal timescales. Ocean and atmospheric indices – in this case the El Niño Southern Oscillation, the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, the North Atlantic Oscillation and the North Pacific Oscillation – can be thought of as chaotic oscillators that capture the major modes of climate variability. Tsonis and colleagues calculated the ‘distance’ between the indices. It was found that they would synchronise at certain times and then shift into a new state.
It is no coincidence that shifts in ocean and atmospheric indices occur at the same time as changes in the trajectory of global surface temperature. Our ‘interest is to understand – first the natural variability of climate – and then take it from there. So we were very excited when we realized a lot of changes in the past century from warmer to cooler and then back to warmer were all natural,’ Tsonis said.
So there are the two things. Indices that capture most of global climate variability and which shift on decadal scales as dynamically complex (spatio-temporally chaotic in theoretical physics) systems. That they shift on longer scales is easily demonstrated in this ENSO proxy – http://s1114.photobucket.com/albums/k538/Chief_Hydrologist/?action=view¤t=ENSO11000.gif
ENSO is a big component of an interactive global climate system – with multiple effects and feedbacks. So here in the proxy you can see the drying of the Sahel starting 5,000 years ago, the demise of the Minoan civilisation starting about 3,500 years ago, super El Niño bigger by far than anything we have ever seen, hundreds of years of droughts or flooding rains.
So there are 3 things.
1. We haven’t seen anywhere near the variability that climate is capable of.
2. It will be cooler for a decade or three more since the shift to a cool Pacific decadal mode in 1998/2001.
3. The outcome of the next climate shift is unpredictable.
I am far from being of the opinion that we should continue an open ended increase in carbon emissions – but most of the options presented seem less than satisfactory. In one way it seems more inspired by a negative growth/resource limited philosophy. Something that I find profoundly disquieting. It is always some potentate with chess board – and my response is always to keep piling on the grain until there are no more hungry people. The objective is to legislate to increase the cost of carbon based power sources until substitution is feasible. Even with so called tax and fee – when substitution is made the tax is no longer payable and the fee disappears leaving higher costs and lower growth always a disaster for the millions at the margins of economic activity. It is a stupendously unpractical proposal from the pissant left that in the remote chance that anyone pursued this path would lead horrendous consequences for the least advantaged.
We have proposed alternatives – dealing first with black carbon, sulphides, tropospheric ozone, development, democracy, the rule of law, health, education, safe water and sanitation, restoration of farming lands, conservation of ecosystems and in investment in energy innovation. This is where the world can find a place in the Sun – through achieving the obvious, practical and simple things. These truly progressive programs are those advocated through the Millennium Development Goals, The Copenhagen Consensus and the Breakthrough Institute amongst others over many years. At the end this is all you can hope for because you have lost the argument for your simple minded global warming meme. I resile not a millimetre. You and your whole bunch of sycophantic warministas have got it wrong. The world is not warming for another decade or three.
And I will tell you another thing – if I show to your satisfaction that there is a fundamental reason to doubt the theory of evolution will that shut you up or at least stop you using silly emoticons to irritating effect?
Robert I Ellison
Chief Hydrologist
Climate change according to the New York Times and The Time=>http://bit.ly/KyLHrE
24-Feb-1895, N. Y. TIMES
Geologists think the world may be frozen up again
15-May-1932, N. Y. TIMES
Earth is steadily growing warmer
21-May-1975, TIME
A major cooling is widely considered inevitable
3-Apr-2005. TIME
Special Report On Global Warming
Be worried
Be very worried
When implacable Nature speaks, ya better listen.
There’s no such thing as the innocent eye, innocent clmate model or cartoon* either…(either / or, neither/ nor? )
*Hmm, I have a great cartoon on peception, if I can jest find it.
“Perception.” (Some people can’t edit.) Moi.
Here’s the cartoon:
http://imgc.allpostersimages.com/images/P-473-488-90/61/6146/NN4G100Z/posters/alain-egyptian-art-students-drawing-woman-in-hieroglyphic-pose-new-yorker-cartoon.jpg
Talking about perception…here is my favourite Climategate cartoon
http://climategate.nl/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/091206beelertoon_c.jpg
Funny? Funny??
I have stared long and hard at those pictures but didn’t feel the slightest inclination to laugh.
They try all to vehiculate some kind of message of doom and fail so spectacularly that one finishes by laughing at them on second thought.
Perhaps the most ridiculous is the Belarus one.
Do you know who Lukachenko is?
If you do, then you will explode from laughter realising that one Sergey Volkau (supposedly from Belarus) thinks that their otherwise radious future is threatened by … industry :))
Funny!
Heartland’s attempt at humour or just sick?
http://climateconference.heartland.org/our-billboards/
Unbelievable, will be featuring this in week in review.
Dr Roger Pielke Jr twittered “Heartland invited me to debate a skeptic at their mtg, I declined due to a conflict if I accepted, would have canceled after new ad campaign”
I wonder if any speakers will pull out.
This is very objectionable propaganda. Hard to see how they imagined that this could be effective or responsible PR.
http://www.crikey.com.au/2011/07/26/the-breivik-manifesto-and-the-monckton-connection/
http://grist.org/climate-skeptics/2011-07-25-norway-terrorist-is-a-climate-change-denier/
http://www.desmogblog.com/norwegian-terrorist-anders-breivik-reveals-climate-denial-influences
Have Heartland taken leave of their senses? This is in very poor taste and very ill judged. I assume its not a hoax?
tonyb
This is for real, shows up on their website
What on earth was going through their brains? They should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves. In this instance Joshua is right but I hope he will be as outraged when it happens the other way round.
tonyb
A minor correction, tony. I’m not outraged. This is pretty much to be expected. I’m no more or less outraged when this type of over the top rhetoric occurs on the other side.
I think I’m more or less equally disappointed when people on both sides fail to marginalize the over-the-top rhetoric.
Joshua
Don’t you agree that some of the over the top claims from those who believe in cAGW seem to wind up in the IPCC’s reports? You can’t make the same claim in reverse. If Heartland publishes something dumb or poor humor all it impacts is their own image and a few dimwits who may change their opinion based on the ad.
Glad to see that.
That would be worth coming back to read. Hopefully, you’ll discuss in some detail the political dimensions of this.
And speaking of the political dimensions:
http://www.sciencefriday.com/program/archives/201205043
http://environment.yale.edu/climate/
http://environment.yale.edu/climate/news/Policy-Support-March-2012/
And here I came over to post about this for my ol’ buds at Climate Etc.
Nice to know that you’re still here keeping them honest, Louise.
I wonder if that’s part of David’s efforts at creating an “educational curriculum?”
No Joshua, it has nothing to do with my curriculum project. I agree it is outrageous but it will probably get their conference a lot of local press coverage, to say the least. Pushing big green buttons is part of the political game.
Ironically, my concern is that motorists speeding by will only read the headline: “I still believe in global warming,” which is the wrong message. Skeptics have a silly tendency to title their books this way, using irony that tends to convey AGW instead. Examples include “Satanic Gases,” “Trashing the Planet” and others.
Dude, did you look at the picture?
You think that someone driving by is going to read the headline and ignore the picture?
And David – you can try to disassociate from the political rhetoric there, but:
(1) You have stated a primary focus on the political dimensions of the debate (not sure whether you said it is “the” primary focus or “a” primary focus of yours)
(2) Your name is inextricably linked to this type of political rhetorical approach to the debate.
Funny thing about the “I still believe in global warming” billboard,
I thought skeptics DID believe in global warming.
I mean I am sure I’ve been told off before for referring to them as “global warming skeptics”, because apparently that’s a strawman and deeply deceptive as skeptics accept “global warming”, they just question whether it is human caused, or something….
Oh well. I guess I am corrected. Back to calling them global warming skeptics. Bookmarked for future reference.
‘The new paradigm of an abruptly changing climatic system has been well established by research over the last decade, but this new thinking is little known and scarcely appreciated in the wider community of natural and social scientists and policy-makers.’ NAS 2002
‘Thinking is centered around slow changes to our climate and how they will affect humans and the habitability of our planet. Yet this thinking is flawed: It ignores the well-established fact that Earth’s climate has changed rapidly in the past and could change rapidly in the future. The issue centers around the paradox that global warming could instigate a new Little Ice Age in the northern hemisphere.’ WHOI
As usual things are a ittle more dynamically complex than you have ever dreamed – Numbnut.
At the political level global warming means CAGW.
So does that mean you believe in global warming or not?
Assuming that is true….
That means that your colleagues at the HI are deliberately furthering that misconception to serve a political end. If there concept of educating the public about global warming involves perpetuating misunderstandings, are there any implications to your accepting their money to develop curriculum?
Louise,
As badly conceived as eartland’s campaign is, it is no worse than skeptics being comapred to nazis.
Until I see your outrage over skeptics being comapred to nazis, I can only invite you and all of you true believers to stfu.
Still with the “Mommy, mommy, they did it firrssssttt” line of argumentation, eh?
Joshua,
I see you are still the infantile pointless lying hypocritical twit you awlays were. And a coward, to boot- when Gleick blew up in your face, you slithered away.
You seem angry, hunter.
My lack of posting here has nothing to do with Gleick.
Do you understand the difference between correlation and causation? Do you ever tire of drawing conclusions without having the data to support your conclusions?
Given how you proudly and frequently violate one of the must fundamental principles of scientific analysis, it does lead me to wonder why you are so focused on complicated scientific issues.
Joshua,
I am angry: Heartland was victimized by your pal, and they have hurt the advantage that gave them.
I am not surprised that you are still stuck clinging to your “mommy mommy’ skirts as some sort of shield. How old were you, by the way, when you stopped hiding behind your mommy?
Hunter –
This, like the Gleick incident, has no significant impact outside of fueling the vitriol for blogosphere climate debate fanatics. These incidents are symptomatic of the underlying dynamics of a much larger phenomenon of how tribes debate controversial social, cultural, and political issues. Any real developments in the climate debate will be contingent upon much more complex dynamics.
The real world doesn’t care much. But you’re cute when you’re angry.
Get back to us when the billboards go up.
Now there’s an interesting take on accountability.
Nice:
Joshua,
Sadly, Heartland is telling truth. Your movement is supported by some of the worst killers and terrorists of history. Deal with it. However, they are are telling the truth very badly. I just got off the phone with Heartland telling them how offensive and iineffective these billboards are.
But if you choose to pursue the facts of the case, you will find your self losing.
It is interesting that you would slither out from under your rock only after a mis-step by the victimof your pal Gleick.
Right. I got it.
Lysenko.
Eugenicists.
Not one sliver of difference between Gore and Kaczynski.
Yup.
Joshua, your retention skills are good, what gives?
Joshua
In a poll a heartening 81% at WUWT think its a blunder. I just voted with
the sane majority. Heres the poll
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/05/04/heartlands-billboards-and-joe-romms-stunning-hypocrisy/#more-62901
tonyb
tonyb – the poll has only been up for 10 minutes, I don’t think you can cite any result just yet. The end result could be a much larger % thinking its an own goal (bit worrying that, so far, 27 people think its OK)
tony –
Having visited WUWT many times in the past, my guess is that the reasoning for the majority is one of political expediency, as we see in a couple of responses here.
I don’t see that as particularly heartening, but just same old, same old.
If the objections are based on the reasoning that the analogy is flat out absurd, that would be heartening.
I don’t have time to check, but I’d be willing to bet that the former is the case, and I’d even give odds.
Louise
Yes of course that is ‘to date.’ It may change. I hope not
tonyb
Joshua,
Yes, you do get it. You just don’t like it.
that is why you slunk away when Glecik comitte dhis crime, and why you slither back when Heartland screws up.
hunter, you say “Heartland is telling truth. Your movement is supported by some of the worst killers and terrorists of history.” So you agree with the Heartland Institute but you recognise that they shouldn’t be making their beliefs public. What does that make you?
Misrepresented?
Louise,
Are you disputing that ted, and Pol Pot, and Fidel and Osma said those things?
I was very honest, unlike you: I said the billboards were ill advised, inflammatory and counter productive.
So answer my question.
You and Joshua are rather disengenuous with your faux and highly selective outrage.
hunter – please point to where you have read my “outrage”
Do you still believe the world is round?
Hitler thought it was round…
Hunter
Are there ‘facts of the case’ we don’t know about? As far as I can see this is a spectacular own goal.
tonyb
Enjoy having you back too.
seems humorous
Louise, Joshua and others.
I note that you were silent when others linked denialism to the mass murder in norway. That inaction on your part means you dont get to comment on heartland.
For those of us who found the comparisons to the norweigen mass murdered stupid, we get to be consistent and honest when we criticize heartland.
You, you get to shut up. You get to shut up because you were silent before.
Those of us who object to both are the only floks who have any standing to deplore both heartland and joe romm
Steven – please point to where I have commented on this action by Heartland other than to request what other people make of this. As a psychologist, I am interested in people’s reactions.
BTW – Lubos Motl has said of Breivik “Considering Islam to be analogous to German Nazism and other ideologies that have declared jihad against the individual human rights, I would find such a development unacceptable and I would think that a war against this potentially different future of Europe would be totally necessary. Of course, in such a context, people like Breivik could play a totally different role. Instead of being lonely insanely looking killers, they could become natural authorities in a resistance movement” This seems to suggest that he approves of (some of) his views if not his methods. http://motls.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/rachel-marsden-on-multiculturalism.html#more
I don’t need to link ‘skeptics’ with Breivik, at least one seems to be happy to do so for himself.
‘At any rate, those are speculations about the future. Before he converted himself to a machine, Breivik himself had to rationally reach a different conclusion than I did. He thinks that the war for the civilized character of Europe has already begun. He believes many other things that I find either repulsive or bizarre – that includes his respect for Al Qaeda whom I consider a gang of wild animals with some semi-sophisticated, now largely defunct, leadership. Fights are often tough and symmetric but in a hypothetical defense of the Western civilization, I don’t want my side to resemble Al Qaeda.’
Quoting out of context does you little credit. Western civilisation and our enlightenment heritage – democracy, individual freedom, the rule of law
– is worth defending with our blood and tears. Breivik on the other hand is delusional and phychopathic.
I can’t help contrasting this with something I heard on the wireless just yesterday. The discussion was on Australia as a hugely successful multi-ethnic society but not multi-cultural at all. I hesitate to define this multi-ethnic culture at all. Here is one of our favourite Muslim comedians – Akmal doesn’t hesitate and makes us laugh a lot.
Steven,
The list of people who tell me what I can and can’t do is long. My girlfriend is at the top, and I hate to break it to ya’, but quite frankly you’re probably close to the very bottom.
Judith’s ranking is considerably above yours. Anytime she chooses to determine what I “get” to do, I will respect her decision.
It’s funny how not much changes here: Chief gets the hankies out as he decries his cruel treatment by insulting other commenters, hunter analogizes people he disagrees with to mass murderers, and you post your delusions of grandeur.
Joshua,
I note that you are still a science and policy free zone. You specialise in what – verbal gymnastics, cognitive tricks and self deception, pointless diversions and vacuous interjections. Well done.
I would like to think however that low brow insults – the you’re a (add typical unimaginative insult) imagined sleights – should be off limits. It is simply tedious, emotionally wearing and carried on to extremes. There was experimentation with Webby and Bart to see how far they would go. Far beyond any point of reason and civilised discourse it seems to the lowest forms of schoolyard bullying. I have advised them to attempt a little more subtlety in perjorative invention – but they seem sadly underperforming. They seem typical of the warmininsta ever ready with rehearsed sleights and insults – as you are – but always ready to bridle at comparisons to Lysenko, eugenics, space cadets or Le Pétomane.
I did think that one of Hunter’s replies to you might perhaps verge on ad hominem – but then it is not slander if it is true.
Best regards
Captain Kangaroo
Cap’t II
Your disdain for off-topic posts that concentrate on passing judgement on other individuals is duly noted. As are your skills for irony.
Why Joshua – I was simply responding in kind. Off topic, self parodying and let’s face it pointless, vacuous and utterly unmemorable comment is you’re especial – indeed only talent.
Chief is quite the “scientist” with his “experiments”. It’s only a game to him, as he keeps proving.
The mistaken ones are those who continue to insist that a warmer world is a worse world, and seek to lay the blame on humanity. A warmer world would sustain more life and more diversity of life. The range of those mistaken span the whole spectrums of sanity and polity.
They’ll learn. They won’t be able to help it.
================
A warmed world might be able to sustain more life, but that comes after the world has warmed. On the way life can reduce. There was a deep ocean extinction event at the PETM for example.
Good to see the denizens here, SM, tonyb, CH , critical of Heartland’s objectionable advocacy.
And there’s this on considered debate from a climate warrior:
‘I have advised them ( commenters here, ) to attempt a liitle more subtlelty in perjorative invention – they seem sadly underperforming…’
I was tempted to place a smiley here but there have been too many posted of late.
Ah, The Merry Basters!
==================
Kim: When was the photo – http://en.gravatar.com/kim2ooo – taken
a.) Recently at one of the “multiple investigations” of Climategate’s Nobel Prize-winning researchers? Or
b.) At a 1945 caucus of three of the UN’s five-member National Security Council to investigate the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
The start and the conclusion of Climategate were sixty-four years (64 yrs) apart, but remarkably similar.
http://omanuel.wordpress.com/about/#comment-55
I like this one http://metaclimate.org/2012/05/08/occams-razor/
Long, Long Ago, on a Billboard Far, Far Away…