Author Archives: curryja

Macroweather, not climate, is what you expect

Posted on January 21, 2013 | 198 comments

by Shaun Lovejoy

When the International Meteorological Organization defined the first climate normal from 1900 to 1930, the belief was that the climate was constant, and that the newly defined climate ‘normal’ would give a close approximation to the climate.

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198 Comments

Posted in Attribution

Berkeley Earth Update

Posted on January 20, 2013 | 906 comments

by Steve Mosher

It has been a while since we’ve done an update and there is much to report on, including an update to the web site, some additional memos/papers to discuss and an update on the papers. Let’s start with the web site.

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906 Comments

Posted in Data and observations

Blog commenting etiquette

Posted on January 18, 2013 | 452 comments

by Judith Curry

There is a sad lack of etiquette guides for new media. Granted, Miss Manners and her brethren have started weighing in on the correct way of handling everything from Facebook snubs to Twitter meltdowns, but there is still no set of guidelines for the proper way to handle oneself while blogging. So, an unwritten etiquette has been created for blogging, but without the benefit of a rulebook that new bloggers can consult. – Emily

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452 Comments

Posted in Welcome

Hansen on the ‘standstill’

Posted on January 16, 2013 | 966 comments

by Judith Curry

The five-year mean global temperature has been flat for the last decade, which we interpret as a combination of natural variability and a slow down in the growth rate of net climate forcing.  – James Hansen et al.

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966 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Geek manifesto

Posted on January 14, 2013 | 144 comments

by Judith Curry

British journalist Mark Henderson makes a passionate case for why science and scientists deserve a greater role in politics in The Geek Manifesto. But he offers no discussion — much less remedy — for “geeks” who play politics via science. Increasing the influence of scientists won’t clean up our politics; for that, we simply need to practice better politics, which means holding institutions and authorities, including scientists, accountable to the public. – Roger Pielke Jr.

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144 Comments

Posted in Policy

Draft U.S. Climate Assessment Report

Posted on January 12, 2013 | 204 comments

by Judith Curry

The U.S. National Climate Assessment and Development Advisory Committee (NCADAC) has released a draft of its report for public comment.

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204 Comments

Posted in Climate change impacts

Trusting (?) the experts

Posted on January 10, 2013 | 972 comments

by Judith Curry

Mathbabe asks ‘Whom can you trust?’ and discusses trusting experts, climate change research, and scientific translators.

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972 Comments

Posted in Consensus, Sociology of science

Improving weather forecasts for the developing world

Posted on January 6, 2013 | 323 comments

by Judith Curry

Global prediction partnerships would cost little and reduce the regional carnage caused by floods, droughts and tropical cyclones. – Peter Webster

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323 Comments

Posted in Policy, South Asia

Peak (?) farmland

Posted on January 5, 2013 | 147 comments

by Judith Curry

We are confident that we stand on the peak of cropland use, gazing at a wide expanse of land that will be spared for Nature. – Ausubel, Werner and Waggoner

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147 Comments

Posted in Climate change impacts

Is fat good?

Posted on January 4, 2013 | 325 comments

by Judith Curry

Epidemiologists struggle to explain a study that challenges a core belief:  Fat will kill you. – William Saletan

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325 Comments

Posted in Climate change impacts, Scientific method

New Year’s resolution for scientists

Posted on January 3, 2013 | 552 comments

by Judith Curry

Here’s a New Year’s resolution for scientists, especially in the United States: gain the confidence of people and politicians across the political spectrum by demonstrating that science is bipartisan. – Daniel Sarewitz

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552 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Year in Review

Posted on December 30, 2012 | 561 comments

by Judith Curry

The end of year provides an opportunity to reflect on significant events of the past year.

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561 Comments

Posted in Week in review

Can we avoid fooling ourselves?

Posted on December 28, 2012 | 692 comments

by Judith Curry

The first principle is that you must not fool yourself and you are the easiest person to fool. – Richard Feynman

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692 Comments

Posted in Ethics, Scientific method

How might intellectual humility lead to scientific insight?

Posted on December 26, 2012 | 404 comments

by Judith Curry

Philosophers known as “virtue epistemologists” claim that the goods of the intellectual life—knowledge, wisdom, understanding, etc.—are more easily obtained by persons possessing mature traits of intellectual character, such as open-mindedness, teachability, and intellectual courage, than by persons who lack these virtues or who are marked by their opposing vices.  – Jay Wood

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404 Comments

Posted in Ethics

Cli-Fi

Posted on December 23, 2012 | 160 comments

by Judith Curry

There is a fledgling new genre in fiction.

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160 Comments

Posted in Communication

The Goldilocks Principle

Posted on December 22, 2012 | 271 comments

by Judith Curry

On what we can learn from Goldilocks and The Three Bears regarding our perceptions of climate, climate science, communication and policy.

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271 Comments

Posted in Communication, Sociology of science

Never look a polar bear in the eye

Posted on December 21, 2012 | 172 comments

by Judith Curry

Advocates and scientists have tied the Earth’s fate to that of the polar bear. But what happens if this lumbering giant proves more resilient than the rest of us? – Zac Unger

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172 Comments

Posted in Climate change impacts, Communication

20th century mean global sea level rise

Posted on December 20, 2012 | 246 comments

by Judith Curry

On the acceleration of sea level rise, the Gilligan effect, and the garbage solution.

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246 Comments

Posted in Attribution, Data and observations

Climate sensitivity in the AR5 SOD

Posted on December 19, 2012 | 437 comments

by Judith Curry

By far the most important debate about climate change is taking place among scientists, on the issue of climate sensitivity: How much warming will a doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide actually produce?  – Matt Ridley

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437 Comments

Posted in Sensitivity & feedbacks

Limits(?) of green energy: is the Earth f_ked?

Posted on December 17, 2012 | 575 comments

by Judith Curry

Whether the benefits of alternative energy outweigh its drawbacks depends on the policy context. – Ed Dolan

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575 Comments

Posted in Energy

Stratospheric uncertainty

Posted on December 9, 2012 | 495 comments

by Judith Curry

The new data call into question our understanding of observed stratospheric temperature trends and our ability to test simulations of the stratospheric response to emissions of greenhouse gases and ozone-depleting substances. – Thompson et al.

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495 Comments

Posted in Data and observations, Uncertainty

AGU highlights

Posted on December 6, 2012 | 343 comments

by Judith Curry

This week I am at the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco.

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343 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Multidecadal climate to within a millikelvin

Posted on December 4, 2012 | 2,430 comments

by Vaughan Pratt

The title of this post is taken from my AGU Fall Meeting poster presentation on the afternoon of Tuesday Dec. 4 (tomorrow).

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2,430 Comments

Posted in Attribution

Clouds and MAGIC

Posted on November 28, 2012 | 683 comments

by Judith Curry

Ocean clouds obscure warming’s fate, create ‘fundamental’ problems for models. – Paul Voosen
.

683 Comments

Posted in climate models, Data and observations, Sensitivity & feedbacks

Why climate disasters might not increase concern about climate change

Posted on November 23, 2012 | 494 comments

by Judith Curry

Climate change awareness is complex and strongly mediated by socially constructed attitudes.  It is important to recognise that many of the social and cultural obstacles to belief are not removed by major impacts and may, indeed, be reinforced. – George Marshall

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494 Comments

Posted in Communication