Category Archives: Communication

The Goldilocks Principle

Posted on December 22, 2012 by curryja | 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 by curryja | 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

Why climate disasters might not increase concern about climate change

Posted on November 23, 2012 by curryja | 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

Policy, rhetoric and public bewilderment

Posted on November 14, 2012 by curryja | 493 comments

by Judith Curry

Science is the most formidable intellectual force of our age, perhaps any age. The irony is that, without the insights of the humanities, it may still find itself without words. – Mark Thompson

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493 Comments

Posted in Communication, Policy

Should scientists promote results over process?

Posted on November 11, 2012 by curryja | 531 comments

by Judith Curry

Science is the most powerful tool we have for understanding the natural world. Its power stems from the very nuance that forceful slogans typically gloss over. But with this power comes great liability: the potential to be wrong. – Tania Lombrozo

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531 Comments

Posted in Communication

Italian seismologists: guilty(?)

Posted on October 23, 2012 by curryja | 188 comments

by Judith Curry

Six Italian scientists and an ex-government official have been sentenced to six years in prison over the 2009 deadly earthquake in L’Aquila. – BBC

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188 Comments

Posted in Communication, Ethics, Uncertainty

Sunday Mail . . . again

Posted on October 21, 2012 by curryja | 1,040 comments

by Judith Curry

The MSM and blogosphere are still roiling over David Rose’s article last Sunday, here is the latest, including a new article by David Rose.

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1,040 Comments

Posted in Attribution, Communication, Data and observations

Communicating uncertainties in natural hazards research

Posted on October 10, 2012 by curryja | 141 comments

by Judith Curry

Tell me what you know. Tell me what you don’t know. Then tell me what you think. Always distinguish which is which. – Colin Powell

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141 Comments

Posted in Communication, Uncertainty

Why communicate science?

Posted on October 9, 2012 by curryja | 242 comments

by Judith Curry

Don’t think you need to teach the public a lot of science facts. Instead, show what science is, what it means, why we need it. Find a way to have a presence. Choose what to comment on, how to be involved, and what actions and issues to engage in. Be a source of wisdom. – Carl Safina

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242 Comments

Posted in Communication

What are blogs good for anyways?

Posted on September 29, 2012 by curryja | 532 comments

by Judith Curry

We are starting to see blog discourse making it into academic papers, being the subject of presentations and conference sessions, and the development of blogs specifically to analyze the dynamics of other blogs. So, lets address the question raised in the recent presentation by Franziska Hollender:

What are blogs good for anyways?

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532 Comments

Posted in Communication, Open knowledge, Sociology of science

The ‘hard won’ consensus

Posted on September 3, 2012 by curryja | 913 comments

by Judith Curry

The extent to which a consensus is “hard won” can be understood to depend on the personal qualities of the participating experts.” Brent Ranalli

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913 Comments

Posted in Communication, Consensus, Skeptics

Rhetoric and rafts

Posted on September 1, 2012 by curryja | 398 comments

by Judith Curry

The warning signals from the planet are clear. Now is the moment for our commu- nity to adopt the rallying cry of sea kayakers confronted with conditions too challenging to handle alone: “Time to raft up!”. – Chris Rapley

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398 Comments

Posted in Communication

Just the facts, please

Posted on July 12, 2012 by curryja | 632 comments

by Judith Curry

“Get your facts first; then you can distort them as you please” – Mark Twain

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632 Comments

Posted in Communication

Gamesmanship

Posted on June 1, 2012 by curryja | 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

Climate science in public schools

Posted on May 12, 2012 by curryja | 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

Climate change cartoons

Posted on May 3, 2012 by curryja | 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

Perils of apocalyptic thinking

Posted on April 26, 2012 by curryja | 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

Demon Coal

Posted on March 12, 2012 by curryja | 626 comments

by Judith Curry

Last week I conducted an extensive interview with Max Allen of the Canadian Broadcast Corporation.

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626 Comments

Posted in Communication, Policy

Should we tell the whole truth about climate change?

Posted on March 8, 2012 by curryja | 416 comments

by Judith Curry

In principle, yes of course. In practice, many journalists, scientists and government officials are not so certain as to how to balance telling the whole truth and being truthful in an “effective” way.

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416 Comments

Posted in Communication, Ethics

Teaching (?) the controversy

Posted on February 22, 2012 by curryja | 758 comments

by Judith Curry

One of the most important issues raised by the Heartland affair is what should be taught to students in K-12. On the one hand, we have the efforts of the NCSE (where Peter Gleick was a board member). On the other hand, Heartland is funding David Wojick to develop curricula that teaches the controversy.

So, should we teach the consensus, the controversy, or none of the above?

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758 Comments

Posted in Communication

Climate Classroom

Posted on January 20, 2012 by curryja | 442 comments

by Judith Curry

Some news from the climate education front this week.

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442 Comments

Posted in Communication

Not 100% sure?

Posted on January 19, 2012 by curryja | 221 comments

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.

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221 Comments

Posted in Communication, Uncertainty