Author Archives: curryja

Gamesmanship

Posted on June 1, 2012 | 245 comments

by Judith Curry

“Extreme Event Learning Through Serious Fun”– a completely new way of engaging with the risks of climate change impacts and how we manage them.

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245 Comments

Posted in Communication, Policy, Uncategorized

What separates science from non-science?

Posted on May 31, 2012 | 284 comments

by Judith Curry

This past week, legislation was introduced in the U.S. Congress to cut NSF funding of political “science” .  This amendment . . .  brings to light an important debate on the more fundamental nature and scope of science itself.

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284 Comments

Posted in Scientific method, Sociology of science

Science is not about certainty

Posted on May 30, 2012 | 701 comments

by Judith Curry

I seem to be saying two things that contradict each other. On the one hand, we trust scientific knowledge, on the other hand, we are always ready to modify in-depth part of our conceptual structure about the world. But there is no contradiction, because the idea of a contradiction comes from what I see as the deepest misunderstanding about science: the idea that science is about certainty.     — Carlo Rovelli

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701 Comments

Posted in Scientific method, Uncertainty

2012 Atlantic Hurricane Season

Posted on May 28, 2012 | 117 comments

by Judith Curry

So, what can we expect for the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season?  All of the seasonal forecasts are coming in for a near or below normal year.  But already, we have seen two named storms, before the official start of the hurricane season on June 1.

What do I think the 2012 season holds?

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117 Comments

Posted in Hurricanes

Doubt has been eliminated (?)

Posted on May 26, 2012 | 710 comments

by Judith Curry

In a speech before the UN Commission on Sustainable Development, Gro Harlem Brundtland, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Climate Change, said:

So what is it that is new today? What is new is that doubt has been eliminated. The report of the International Panel on Climate Change is clear. And so is the Stern report. It is irresponsible, reckless and deeply immoral to question the seriousness of the situation. The time for diagnosis is over. Now it is time to act (Brundtland 2007).

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710 Comments

Posted in Uncertainty

Heartburn at Heartland

Posted on May 24, 2012 | 799 comments

by Judith Curry

UPDATE: Email from Joe Bast

“You can not simultaneously say that you want to promote a debate while equating the other side to terrorists and mass murderers.” — Ross McKitrick

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799 Comments

Posted in Skeptics

Time varying trend in global mean surface temperature

Posted on May 23, 2012 | 268 comments

by Judith Curry

“Our results also serve to highlight the importance of Atlantic multidecadal variability in mediating the rate of global warming, and they suggest that these variations deserve more explicit consideration in twentieth century climate simulations and in attribution studies based on recent observations of the rate of change of [global mean surface temperature]. — Wu et al. (2012)

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268 Comments

Posted in Attribution

Copenhagen Consensus 2012

Posted on May 20, 2012 | 727 comments

by David Hagen

The results of The Copenhagen Consensus 2012 have just been released. Bjørn Lomborg assembled a blue ribbon panel including Nobel Laureate economists. They ranked the top 30 most important humanitarian projects.

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727 Comments

Posted in Policy

CMIP5 decadal hindcasts

Posted on May 17, 2012 | 287 comments

by Judith Curry

The CMIP5 decadal simulations are now available for seven climate models.  The first intercomparison results have just been published.

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287 Comments

Posted in climate models

Climate science in public schools

Posted on May 12, 2012 | 914 comments

by Judith Curry

How the controversy over climate change affects America’s classrooms is receiving increasing attention.

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914 Comments

Posted in Communication

The Bias of Science

Posted on May 11, 2012 | 252 comments

by Judith Curry

Alarming cracks are starting to penetrate deep into the scientific edifice. They threaten the status of science and its value to society. And they cannot be blamed on the usual suspects — inadequate funding, misconduct, political interference, an illiterate public. Their cause is bias, and the threat they pose goes to the heart of research.

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252 Comments

Posted in Scientific method, Sociology of science

Climate sensitivity discussion thread

Posted on May 10, 2012 | 782 comments

by Judith Curry

There are several recent estimates of climate sensitivity that are worth taking a look at.

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782 Comments

Posted in Sensitivity & feedbacks

The legacy of climategate: Part II

Posted on May 9, 2012 | 317 comments

by Judith Curry

I’ve just been informed that WIREs Climate Change invited two articles on this topic, and also editorial commentary.

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317 Comments

Posted in Ethics

The legacy of climategate

Posted on May 7, 2012 | 669 comments

by Judith Curry

But when evaluating climategate, a variety of responses is seen, ranging from the apologetic to the highly critical. It is argued that reluctance to critically examine the climategate affair, including suspect practices of scientists, has to do with the nature of the debate which is highly politicized. A call is made for more reflection on this case which should not be closed off because of political expediency.

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669 Comments

Posted in Ethics

Energy supplies and climate policy

Posted on May 3, 2012 | 249 comments

by David Rutledge

Judy Curry has provided a remarkable forum for climate science and policy, and I appreciate the opportunity to continue the discussion on energy supplies that Rutt Bridges started with his post Wednesday on natural gas. In this post, I will consider the limited impacts of climate policy on fossil-fuel production and discuss ways to estimate fossil-fuel production in the long run.

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249 Comments

Posted in Energy

Climate change cartoons

Posted on May 3, 2012 | 178 comments

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. 

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178 Comments

Posted in Communication

The Future of Natural Gas

Posted on May 2, 2012 | 175 comments

by Rutt Bridges

Let me start by admitting that the future of natural gas is especially difficult to predict. Commodity forecasting is always a pseudo-science at best. At times it seems that its primary function is to make astrology look respectable.

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175 Comments

Posted in Energy

Climate change and moral judgement

Posted on April 28, 2012 | 1,270 comments

by Judith Curry

Converging evidence from the behavioural and brain sciences suggests that the human moral judgement system is not well equipped to identify climate change — a complex, large-scale and unintentionally caused phenomenon — as an important moral imperative. 

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1,270 Comments

Posted in Ethics

Perils of apocalyptic thinking

Posted on April 26, 2012 | 311 comments

by Judith Curry

The last time apocalyptic anxiety spilled into the mainstream to the extent that it altered the course of history — during the Reformation — it relied on a revolutionary new communications technology: the printing press. In a similar way, could the current surge in apocalyptic anxiety be attributed in part to our own revolution in communications technology?

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311 Comments

Posted in Attribution, Climate change impacts, Communication

Education and the Art of Uncertainty

Posted on April 25, 2012 | 156 comments

by Judith Curry

The quest for certainty blocks the search for meaning. Uncertainty is the very condition to impel man to unfold his powers. Erich Fromm

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156 Comments

Posted in Uncertainty

Evidence of nearby supernovae affecting life on Earth

Posted on April 24, 2012 | 148 comments

by Judith Curry

A very provocative paper by Henrik Svensmark has been published today by the Royal Astronomical Society.

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148 Comments

Posted in Solar

Ignorance: the true engine of science

Posted on April 23, 2012 | 345 comments

by Judith Curry

Ignorance is the true engine of science, according to a new book by Stuart Firestein, Chair of the Department of Biology at Columbia University.

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345 Comments

Posted in Scientific method

Climate change responses in the developing world

Posted on April 21, 2012 | 208 comments

by Judith Curry

This past week, there have been a number of articles describing a range of responses to climate change from different countries.

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208 Comments

Posted in Climate change impacts, Policy

The Righteous Mind

Posted on April 19, 2012 | 428 comments

by Judith Curry

Do you ever find yourself reading something by a commentator you disagree with and wanting to punch them in the face? Do you listen to people on the other side of the political debate and find yourself almost hating them?

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428 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Arctic warming opens region to new military activity

Posted on April 18, 2012 | 146 comments

by Judith Curry

[T]he world’s military leaders . .  are preparing for a new kind of Cold War in the Arctic, anticipating that rising temperatures there will open up a treasure trove of resources, long-dreamed-of sea lanes and a slew of potential conflicts.

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146 Comments

Posted in Polar regions