Monthly Archives: December 2013

Scientific uncertainties and moral dilemmas

Posted on December 29, 2013 by | 389 comments

by Judith Curry

[P]utting adaptation and mitigation issues into the broader context of competing needs and limited resources raises moral problems that cannot be easily dismissed. – Hillerbrand and Ghil

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389 Comments

Posted in Ethics, Policy

The science and silence conundrum

Posted on December 27, 2013 by | 522 comments

by Judith Curry

[S]ilence is an advocacy for the status quo. – Kevin Anderson

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522 Comments

Posted in Communication

Seasonal radiative response

Posted on December 26, 2013 by | 169 comments

by Steve McGee

In science, one likes to have more examples than theories. – Dusan Djuric

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169 Comments

Posted in Sensitivity & feedbacks

Pretense of knowledge

Posted on December 25, 2013 by | 453 comments

by Judith Curry

I confess that I prefer true but imperfect knowledge, even if it leaves much indetermined and unpredictable, to a pretence of exact knowledge that is likely to be false. – Friedrich von Hayek

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453 Comments

Posted in Scientific method

JC interview on EconTalk

Posted on December 23, 2013 by | 170 comments

by Judith Curry

My interview with Russ Roberts of EconTalk is now online.

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170 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Rethinking climate advocacy

Posted on December 22, 2013 by | 407 comments

UPDATE:  twitter exchange with Gavin

by Judith Curry

The failures of climate advocacy – particularly in the US – are motivating reflection on responsible and effective advocacy.  Gavin Schmidt provides his thoughts on the topic of scientists and advocacy in his recent AGU talk.

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407 Comments

Posted in Communication, Ethics

Ringing out 2013

Posted on December 21, 2013 by | 356 comments

by Judith Curry

Some reflections on 2013 are coming online.

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356 Comments

Posted in Week in review

UK Parliament: IPCC 5th Assessment Review

Posted on December 18, 2013 by | 288 comments

by Judith Curry

The UK House of Commons Energy and Climate Change Committee has invited submissions to an inquiry on the IPCC 5th Assessment.

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288 Comments

Posted in IPCC

The blogosphere and thought leaders

Posted on December 17, 2013 by | 136 comments

by Judith Curry

Little boys and girls in ancient Athens grew up wanting to be philosophers. In Renaissance Florence they dreamed of becoming Humanists. But now a new phrase and a new intellectual paragon has emerged to command our admiration: The Thought Leader. – David Brooks

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136 Comments

Posted in Communication, Sociology of science

How far should we trust models?

Posted on December 16, 2013 by | 293 comments

by Judith Curry

In economics, climate science and public health, computer models help us decide how to act. But can we trust them? – Jon Turney

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293 Comments

Posted in climate models

Masters(?) of many trades

Posted on December 15, 2013 by | 179 comments

by Judith Curry

Our age reveres the specialist but humans are natural polymaths, at our best when we turn our minds to many things. – Robert Twigger

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179 Comments

Posted in Sociology of science

Taylor and Ravetz on the value of uncertainty

Posted on December 12, 2013 by | 276 comments

by Judith Curry

. . . this “crisp number” mode of thinking has promoted the use of over-simplistic models and masking of uncertainties that can in turn lead to incomplete understanding of problems and bad decisions. – Peter Taylor and Jerome Ravetz

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276 Comments

Posted in Uncertainty

Hearing: A Factual Look at the Relationship Between Climate and Weather

Posted on December 11, 2013 by | 241 comments

by Judith Curry

The U.S. House Subcommittee on  Environment is holding a Hearing today: A Factual Look at the Relationship Between Climate and Weather.

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241 Comments

Posted in Climate change impacts

Open thread

Posted on December 10, 2013 by | 198 comments

by Judith Curry

It’s your turn to introduce topics for discussion.

198 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Pathological altruism

Posted on December 9, 2013 by | 461 comments

by Judith Curry

Pathological altruism can be conceived as behavior in which attempts to promote the welfare of another, or others, results instead in harm that an external observer would conclude was reasonably foreseeable.

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461 Comments

Posted in Policy

Public engagement and communicating uncertainty

Posted on December 8, 2013 by | 349 comments

by Judith Curry

Some interesting discussion this past week on the topic of public engagement and communicating climate uncertainty.

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349 Comments

Posted in Communication, Uncertainty

Selection bias in climate model simulations

Posted on December 6, 2013 by | 162 comments

by Judith Curry

Selection biases in information processing occur when expectations affect behavior in a manner that makes those expectations come true.

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162 Comments

Posted in Climate change impacts

US Climate Variability and Predictability Program Science Plan

Posted on December 5, 2013 by | 119 comments

by Judith Curry

The US CLIVAR Program has published a Science plan that provides a roadmap for the next 15 years [link].

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119 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Open thread

Posted on December 4, 2013 by | 287 comments

by Judith Curry

It’s your turn to introduce topics into discussion; this thread will be more lightly moderated than topical threads.

287 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Blog commenting policy

Posted on December 3, 2013 by | 337 comments

by Judith Curry

It’s time for a discussion on blog commenting policy and moderation.

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337 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Has science lost its way?

Posted on December 1, 2013 by | 409 comments

by Judith Curry

“The journals want the papers that make the sexiest claims. And scientists believe that the way you succeed is having splashy papers in Science or Nature — it’s not bad for them if a paper turns out to be wrong, if it’s gotten a lot of attention.” – Michael Eisen

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409 Comments

Posted in Sociology of science