Why is there so much Antarctic sea ice?

Posted on February 3, 2014 by | 779 comments

by Judith Curry

“It is very likely that the annual Antarctic sea ice extent increased at a rate of between 1.2 and 1.8% per decade between 1979 and 2012.” –  IPCC AR5 

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779 Comments

Posted in Polar regions

What scientific ideas are ready for retirement?

Posted on February 2, 2014 by | 383 comments

by Judith Curry

So, what scientific idea do YOU think is ready for retirement?

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383 Comments

Posted in Scientific method

Atlanta’s 2″ catastrophic snowfall

Posted on January 30, 2014 by | 398 comments

by Judith Curry

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398 Comments

Posted in Communication, Policy

The Big Question

Posted on January 29, 2014 by | 556 comments

by Dagfinn Reiersøl

The Big Question in the climate change debate, as traditionally and conventionally posed, is: “is global warming caused by humans?”

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556 Comments

Posted in Attribution

UK Parliamentary Hearing on the IPCC

Posted on January 28, 2014 by | 474 comments

by Judith Curry

A fascinating hearing on the IPCC was held today by the UK Parliament Energy and Climate Climate Change Committee.

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474 Comments

Posted in IPCC

Early 20th century Arctic warming

Posted on January 27, 2014 by | 508 comments

by Judith Curry

“Arctic temperature anomalies in the 1930s were apparently as large as those in the 1990s and 2000s. There is still considerable discussion of the ultimate causes of the warm temperature anomalies that occurred in the Arctic in the 1920s and 1930s.” – IPCC AR5 Chapter 10

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508 Comments

Posted in Polar regions

Mann versus Steyn

Posted on January 26, 2014 by | 541 comments

by Judith Curry

Some interesting developments and rhetoric in the Mann versus Steyn lawsuit.

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541 Comments

Posted in Ethics

Death(?) of expertise

Posted on January 25, 2014 by | 629 comments

by Judith Curry

I fear we are witnessing the “death of expertise”: a Google-fueled, Wikipedia-based, blog-sodden collapse of any division between professionals and laymen, students and teachers, knowers and wonderers – in other words, between those of any achievement in an area and those with none at all. – Tom Nicholls

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629 Comments

Posted in Sociology of science

The logic(?) of the IPCC’s attribution statement

Posted on January 23, 2014 by | 600 comments

by Judith Curry

How can the IPCC increase their confidence in anthropogenic global warming at the same time their model projections are diverging farther and farther from reality? – John Nielsen-Gammon

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600 Comments

Posted in Attribution

Ocean heat content uncertainties

Posted on January 21, 2014 by | 616 comments

by Judith Curry

Central to arguments related to the hiatus and the ‘missing heat’ is the assertion that unusual amounts of heat are being stored in the deep ocean, and that this heat will eventually reappear at the surface.  Exactly how good is the ocean heat content data on which this argument is based?

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616 Comments

Posted in Data and observations

The case of the missing heat

Posted on January 20, 2014 by | 793 comments

by Judith Curry

Sixteen years into the mysterious ‘global-warming hiatus’, scientists are piecing together an explanation. – Jeff Tollefson

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793 Comments

Posted in Attribution

Mann on advocacy and responsibility

Posted on January 18, 2014 by | 672 comments

by Judith Curry

 “If you see something, say something.”

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672 Comments

Posted in Ethics

Senate EPW Hearing on the President’s Climate Action Plan

Posted on January 16, 2014 by | 679 comments

by Judith Curry

The hearing is now concluded, I’m on a plane flying back to Atlanta.

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679 Comments

Posted in Policy

Forthcoming Senate EPW Hearing on President’s Climate Action Plan

Posted on January 13, 2014 by | 504 comments

by Judith Curry

The Hearing is scheduled for Jan 16, and I have been tapped to testify.

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504 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

The Fundamental Uncertainties of Climate Change

Posted on January 8, 2014 by | 772 comments

by Garth Paltridge

There is more than enough uncertainty about the forecasting of climate to allow normal human beings to be at least reasonably hopeful that global warming might not be nearly as bad as is currently touted.  Climate scientists, and indeed scientists in general, are not so lucky.  They have a lot to lose if time should prove them wrong.

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772 Comments

Posted in Uncertainty

Is global warming causing the polar vortex?

Posted on January 7, 2014 by | 332 comments

by Judith Curry

In a word, no.

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332 Comments

Posted in Attribution

IPCC AR5 weakens the case for AGW

Posted on January 6, 2014 by | 501 comments

by Judith Curry

Evidence reported by the IPCC AR5 weakens the case for anthropogenic factors dominating climate change in the 20th and early 21st centuries.

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501 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Blame game

Posted on January 2, 2014 by | 282 comments

by Judith Curry

 The scientific case is strengthening: developed countries are to blame for global warming – and there will soon be a legal reckoning.  – Chris Huhne

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282 Comments

Posted in Attribution, Policy

Antarctic sea ice saga

Posted on January 1, 2014 by | 473 comments

by Judith Curry

The drama and the irony of  the Antarctic expedition stuck in summertime sea ice.

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473 Comments

Posted in Polar regions

Scientific uncertainties and moral dilemmas

Posted on December 29, 2013 by | 389 comments

by Judith Curry

[P]utting adaptation and mitigation issues into the broader context of competing needs and limited resources raises moral problems that cannot be easily dismissed. – Hillerbrand and Ghil

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389 Comments

Posted in Ethics, Policy

The science and silence conundrum

Posted on December 27, 2013 by | 522 comments

by Judith Curry

[S]ilence is an advocacy for the status quo. – Kevin Anderson

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522 Comments

Posted in Communication

Seasonal radiative response

Posted on December 26, 2013 by | 169 comments

by Steve McGee

In science, one likes to have more examples than theories. – Dusan Djuric

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169 Comments

Posted in Sensitivity & feedbacks

Pretense of knowledge

Posted on December 25, 2013 by | 453 comments

by Judith Curry

I confess that I prefer true but imperfect knowledge, even if it leaves much indetermined and unpredictable, to a pretence of exact knowledge that is likely to be false. – Friedrich von Hayek

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453 Comments

Posted in Scientific method

JC interview on EconTalk

Posted on December 23, 2013 by | 170 comments

by Judith Curry

My interview with Russ Roberts of EconTalk is now online.

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170 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Rethinking climate advocacy

Posted on December 22, 2013 by | 407 comments

UPDATE:  twitter exchange with Gavin

by Judith Curry

The failures of climate advocacy – particularly in the US – are motivating reflection on responsible and effective advocacy.  Gavin Schmidt provides his thoughts on the topic of scientists and advocacy in his recent AGU talk.

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407 Comments

Posted in Communication, Ethics