Climate Etc.

Exploring controversy: NIPCC versus IPCC

Posted on July 17, 2014 by curryja | 205 comments

by Judith Curry

Who assesses the assessors of climate science research? A new paper reviews the climate change reviewers by comparing references in the NIPCC and IPCC reports.

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205 Comments

Posted in Skeptics, Sociology of science

Why scientists should talk to philosophers

Posted on July 16, 2014 by curryja | 295 comments

by Judith Curry

The divorce between philosophers and scientists is fairly recent. Its time for a reconciliation.

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295 Comments

Posted in Scientific method, Sociology of science, Uncertainty

‘Scientist’: the evolving story of a word

Posted on July 15, 2014 by curryja | 144 comments

by Judith Curry

Tracing the acceptance or rejection of “scientist” among researchers not only gives us a history of a word—it also provides insight into the self-image of scientific researchers in the English-speaking world in a time when the social and cultural status of “science” was undergoing tremendous changes. – Melinda Baldwin

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144 Comments

Posted in History, Sociology of science

IPCC and treatment of uncertainties

Posted on July 11, 2014 by curryja | 135 comments

by Judith Curry

A new review paper on the IPCC and treatment of uncertainties.

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135 Comments

Posted in Uncertainty

Disentangling forced from intrinsic climate variability

Posted on July 9, 2014 by curryja | 323 comments

by Marcia Wyatt

Implications for the “stadium wave” and Northern Hemisphere climate variability.

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323 Comments

Posted in Attribution

Understanding adjustments to temperature data

Posted on July 7, 2014 by curryja | 2,044 comments

by Zeke Hausfather

There has been much discussion of temperature adjustment of late in both climate blogs and in the media, but not much background on what specific adjustments are being made, why they are being made, and what effects they have. Adjustments have a big effect on temperature trends in the U.S., and a modest effect on global land trends. The large contribution of adjustments to century-scale U.S. temperature trends lends itself to an unfortunate narrative that “government bureaucrats are cooking the books”.

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2,044 Comments

Posted in Data and observations

Phunny Physics

Posted on July 6, 2014 by curryja | 303 comments

by Judith Curry

Newtons Laws of Expertise and the 4th Law of Thermodynamics.

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303 Comments

Posted in Sociology of science

Climate Smart Development

Posted on July 4, 2014 by curryja | 164 comments

by Judith Curry

With careful design, the same development projects that improve communities, save lives, and increase GDP can also fight climate change.

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164 Comments

Posted in Policy

Overconfidence(?)

Posted on July 2, 2014 by curryja | 803 comments

by Judith Curry

Yet not once has overconfidence by actual scientists been demonstrated. You just keep making that up. – Chris Colose

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803 Comments

Posted in Uncertainty

NCDC responds to concerns about surface temperature data set

Posted on July 1, 2014 by curryja | 465 comments

Our algorithm is working as designed. – NOAA NCDC

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465 Comments

Posted in Data and observations

Consensus angst

Posted on June 30, 2014 by curryja | 643 comments

by Judith Curry

The public seems to have gotten the memo that climate scientists believe that humans are warming the planet, and the warming is dangerous. They also don’t seem to care.

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643 Comments

Posted in Consensus

Model structural uncertainty – are GCMs the best tools?

Posted on June 25, 2014 by curryja | 385 comments

by Judith Curry

Rarely are the following questions asked: Is the approach that we are taking to climate modeling adequate? Could other model structural forms be more useful for advancing climate science and informing policy?

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385 Comments

Posted in climate models

Uneasy expertise

Posted on June 24, 2014 by curryja | 310 comments

by Judith Curry

Experts might instead need to pick a side, join the fight, and accept that their claims to knowledge and authority will always and everywhere be contested. – Jason Wilson

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310 Comments

Posted in Sociology of science

Pondering the anthropocene

Posted on June 22, 2014 by curryja | 360 comments

by Judith Curry

[H]ow we meet the needs and aspirations of all of humanity while sustaining the planet’s ecology, is what the Anthropocene is all about. – Keith Kloor

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360 Comments

Posted in Climate change impacts

Can we trust climate models?

Posted on June 20, 2014 by curryja | 361 comments

by Judith Curry

[W]e presently find little evidence of trustworthy predictions at fine spatial scale and annual to decadal timescale from climate models. – Hargreaves and Annan

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361 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Senate Hearing – Climate Change: The Need to Act Now

Posted on June 18, 2014 by curryja | 368 comments

by Judith Curry

The U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works is convening a Hearing today on Climate Change: The Need to Act Now.

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368 Comments

Posted in Policy

What can we expect for this year’s Arctic sea ice?

Posted on June 17, 2014 by curryja | 251 comments

by Judith Curry

The seasonal forecasts of Arctic sea ice minimum have been submitted to annual SEARCH Sea Ice Outlook

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251 Comments

Posted in Polar regions

What is the measure of scientific ‘success’?

Posted on June 16, 2014 by curryja | 193 comments

by Judith Curry

Science has been extraordinarily successful at taking the measure of the world, but paradoxically the world finds it extraordinarily difficult to take the measure of science — or any type of scholarship for that matter. – Stephen Curry

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193 Comments

Posted in Sociology of science

On the AR4’s projected 0.2C/decade temperature increase

Posted on June 15, 2014 by curryja | 431 comments

by Judith Curry

“For the next two decades a warming of about 0.2C per decade is expected for a range of emission scenarios.” – IPCC AR4

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431 Comments

Posted in climate models

Steven Hayward: Conservatism and Climate Science

Posted on June 13, 2014 by curryja | 670 comments

by Judith Curry

Liberals and environmentalists would do well to take on board the categorical imperative of climate policy from a conservative point of view, namely, that whatever policies are developed, they must be compatible with individual liberty and democratic institutions, and cannot rely on coercive or unaccountable bureaucratic administration. – Steven Hayward

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670 Comments

Posted in Communication, Skeptics

Climate adaptation – Bangladesh style

Posted on June 12, 2014 by curryja | 90 comments

by Judith Curry

With the Ganges–Brahmaputra delta sinking, the race is on to protect millions of people from future flooding. – Quirin Schirmeier

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90 Comments

Posted in South Asia

Clean(?) Coal

Posted on June 11, 2014 by curryja | 202 comments

by Rud Istvan

Many climate policy debates come down to coal as an electricity fuel, including the EPA’s proposed coal power plant CO₂ regulations.

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202 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

How ‘extreme’ can it get?

Posted on June 10, 2014 by curryja | 340 comments

by Judith Curry

When might we see Category 6 hurricanes? 60C surface temperatures?

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340 Comments

Posted in Hurricanes

Asymmetric responses of Arctic and Antarctic

Posted on June 9, 2014 by curryja | 205 comments

by Judith Curry

Rapidly melting Arctic sea ice, growing Antarctic sea ice, and concerns about the melting Thwaites glacier – can all of this be explained by anthropogenic global warming?

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205 Comments

Posted in Polar regions