by Judith Curry
What can public and private decisionmakers learn from a wide-ranging look at the social sciences and the issue of human choice and climate change that illuminates the evaluation of policy goals, implementation strategies, and choices about paths forward?
Posted in Policy
It has been claimed that energy security and climate policy should be considered “two sides of the same coin.” In 2006, former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair said, “We must treat energy security and climate security as two sides of the same coin.” Other leaders in Europe, members of the United States Congress and many commentators have echoed Blair’s statement.
Are both energy security and climate policy best addressed by the same policies, or do policies that are best for one goal possibly compromise attainment of the other goal?
Posted in Policy
by Judith Curry
The opinion pieces published in the WSJ continue to be discussed, and perhaps finally they are stimulating some useful insights.
Posted in Skeptics
by Judith Curry
Do you consult with your dentist about your heart condition? In science, as in any area, reputations are based on knowledge and expertise in a field and on published, peer-reviewed work. If you need surgery, you want a highly experienced expert in the field who has done a number of the proposed operations.
Posted in Uncategorized
Posted in Prediction
by Judith Curry
Climate change presents us with a pressing challenge. A global consensus accepts that human activity is responsible for climate change and its associated dangers. However, there is disagreement on how best to address this challenge. The essay argues that leading proposals are unsatisfactory, such as the ecological footprint and polluter pays principle. The reasons include that they do not effectively manage climate change and may contribute to further problems. We require a new approach to address climate change.
Posted in Policy
by Judith Curry
This proposal by John Bates of NOAA NCDC nails what is needed in terms of climate data records.
Posted in Data and observations
by Judith Curry
Keith Seitter is Executive Director of the American Meteorological Society.
Posted in Uncertainty
by Judith Curry
Here is the content of my presentation to the UN InterAcademy Council Project on Research Integrity and Scientific Responsibility.
Posted in Ethics
by Judith Curry
In many large ensembles, the property of the system as a whole cannot be understood from studying the individual entities alone. The past decade has seen important progress in our fundamental understanding of what such seemingly disparate ‘complex systems’ have in common; some of these advances are surveyed here.
Posted in Uncategorized
by Judith Curry
Earth’s “missing heat” might not be missing after all.
That’s the conclusion of a new study that examines how accurately satellites and floating ocean instruments track the flow of energy from the sun to Earth and back again.
Posted in Attribution, Data and observations
by Judith Curry
Naomi Oreskes:
When it comes to climate change, openmindedness is the wrong approach.
Posted in Sociology of science
Posted in Communication
by Judith Curry
The drunk notoriously searches for his keys not in the dark where he dropped them, but under the lamp-post where he can see. This is an apt metaphor for much of what is written on the subject of risk management.
Posted in Communication, Uncertainty
by Judith Curry
Earlier today via email, I received the following list of questions on research integrity and scientific responsibility.
Posted in Ethics
by Judith Curry
This past week, two climate scientists have presented different perspectives on communicating climate science: Richard Betts and Gavin Schmidt.
Posted in Communication
by Judith Curry
The Dublin based Livewire Publications has produced a new collection of essays titled Science & Capital – Radical Essays on Science & Technology, with the intention to;
“bring together some of the more radical essays on science and technology written over the years – so as to highlight some of the dangers inherent in the blind trust we are often encouraged to place in science and scientific experts”.
Posted in Scientific method, Sociology of science
by Paul Farquharson
From about the fifth century A.D. onwards, the Western tradition of history writing preserves abundant descriptions of weather and climate phenomena in sources such as Chronicles, Annals and Histories. If this material is left out of our understanding and memory of climate, then contemporary extreme events may be mistaken for unique or unprecedented events.
Posted in History
by Judith Curry
In many cases, a researcher is more likely to falsely find evidence that an effect exists than to correctly find evidence that it does not.
Posted in Scientific method
by Judith Curry
The most fundamental argument for R&D on geoengineering is that those decision makers should not be put in a position of either letting dangerous climate change occur or deploying poorly evaluated, untested technologies at scale. At the very least, we need to learn what approaches to avoid even if desperate.
Posted in Policy
by Judith Curry
Albert Einstein on thermodynamics:
A theory is more impressive the greater the simplicity of its premises, the more different are the kinds of things it relates, and the more extended its range of applicability. Therefore, the deep impression which classical thermodynamics made on me. It is the only physical theory of universal content, which I am convinced, that within the framework of applicability of its basic concepts will never be overthrown.
Posted in Sensitivity & feedbacks
by Judith Curry
Update: see new cartoon by Josh at the bottom of the post
the massive amounts of data necessary to deal with complex phenomena exceed any single brain’s ability to grasp, yet networked science rolls on.
Posted in Scientific method
by Judith Curry
The rise of digital media has revolutionized the management of information and created opportunities for broader involvement in science’s production.
Posted in Open knowledge
by John C.K. Daly of Oilprice.com
Ever since the global recession began in 2008, suggestions of an imminent trade war erupting between China and its trading partners have been increasingly rising.
Now the first shot in trade disputes has been fired. By China.
Posted in Energy
