by Judith Curry
How can we cope with becoming more hyper-specialized and fragmented in our personal knowledge bases while at the same time being exposed to too much relevant formation on the internet for any of us to learn and process?
Michael Smithson provides a modest proposal for addressing this challenge: We should all become expert about experts and expertise. That is, we should develop meta-expertise.
Posted in Sociology of science
by Judith Curry
My paper “Reasoning about climate uncertainty” has now been published online at Climatic Change; it looks like mine is the first to make it online of the papers in the special issue entitled Framing and Communicating Uncertainty and Confidence Judgments by the IPCC.
Also of relevance, there is a new working paper from the LSE Grantham Research Institute entitled “Scientific uncertainty: a user’s guide” (h/t Bishop Hill).
Posted in Uncertainty
by Judith Curry
“Representative concentration pathways” is the new phrase for what the IPCC used to refer to as “emissions scenarios.” Lets take a look at the new RCP’s being used for the AR5.
Posted in Greenhouse effect, IPCC
by Judith Curry
Six months after the thread Slaying a Greenhouse Dragon, discussion still continues with well over 2000 comments.
Posted in Greenhouse effect
by Judith Curry
Over at BraveNewClimate, Ted Trainer provides the most detailed critique I’ve seen of the recent IPCC Report on Renewable Energy.
Posted in IPCC
by Judith Curry
Shakespeare’s writings are infused with with weather references, and even some that are arguably relevant to climate change. The insights, however, come from the academic debate surrounding the actual authorship of the Shakespearean opus.
Posted in Communication
by Judith Curry
In my congressional testimony, I discussed the idea of climate change winners and losers. In the Arctic, where climate is changing most rapidly, will there be winners or losers?
Posted in Climate change impacts, Polar regions, Policy
Posted in Polar regions
While I have culled considerably the previous thread, it is getting unwieldy for those of you that want to carry on extensive technical discussions. So here is another thread for extended technical discussion. Keep your more general comments on the previous thread. Thank you.
Posted in Uncategorized
by Judith Curry
I just finished listening to Murry Salby’s podcast on Climate Change and Carbon. Wow.
Posted in Greenhouse effect
by Judith Curry
The hypothesized link between a warming climate and increased frequency and magnitude of floods goes something like this: a warmer climate is associated with more water vapor in the atmosphere, which means more rainfall and more floods. Is there any observational support for this link?
Posted in Attribution
by Judith Curry
The viral “Climategate” has had a substantial impact on public perception of climate science and scientists. Several strategies have been tried to put the Climategate genie back in the bottle, without much success. An article by Peter Wood published in the Chronicle of Higher Education entitled “Climate Thuggery” describes one such strategy, which I don’t think is working too well.
Posted in Sociology of science
by Judith Curry
Climategate – where did this almost perfectly strategic — yet deeply unfortunate — catchphrase come from? Was the term the genius of a conservative think tank and industry-backed strategy or does evidence support an alternative explanation?
Posted in Sociology of science
by Judith Curry
[P]ublic support for the environment is at more than 30 year-low, cap and trade is dead, perhaps for good, and global warming has become as partisan and polarizing an issue as abortion and gun control.
Climate Pragmatism offers a framework for renewed American leadership on climate change that’s effectiveness, paradoxically, does not depend on any agreement about climate science or the risks posed by uncontrolled greenhouse gases.
Posted in Policy
by Judith Curry
There is much hype and debate surrounding Spencer and Bradwell’s new paper “On the misdiagnosis of surface temperature feedbacks from variations in earth’s radiant energy balance.” So lets sort through all this.
Posted in Sensitivity & feedbacks
Posted in Week in review
by Judith Curry
So, who are the “cool dudes”? Well, if you are reading this post, odds are that you are a “cool dude”.
Posted in Skeptics
by Judith Curry
Nature has just published an editorial on the Heartland Conference entitled “Heart of the Matter” with subtitle “The Heartland Institute’s climate conference reveals the motives of global warming skeptics.”
Posted in Skeptics
by Judith Curry
The thread on the recent Loehle and Scafetta paper (here and WUWT) have spawned the term “cyclomania” in the context of searches for natural cycles that can explain 20th century climate change and potentially predict climate change in the 21st century.
Posted in Attribution
by Judith Curry
So, when do you think America’s first climate debate took place, and who were the participants? Here is a hint:
As the tumultuous century was drawing to a close, the conservative Yale grad challenged the sitting vice president’s ideas about global warming. The vice president, a cerebral Southerner, was planning his own run for the presidency, and the fiery Connecticut native was eager to denounce the opposition party.
Posted in History
by Judith Curry
A Scientist’s Manifesto challenges scientists to think about their work in a broader context, and to engage more fully with the society that supports them and ultimately stands to be impacted by them – for good or bad.
Posted in Communication, Ethics
by Judith Curry
There is an interesting new article at boingboing entitled “Lowercase theories, uppercase Theories, and the myth of global cooling.” (h/t Keith Kloor).
Posted in Scientific method
Posted in Week in review
By Judith Curry
On the first anniversary of Steve Schneider’s untimely death, it is worth reflecting on his contributions at the intersection of climate science, policy, politics and media in the public communication of climate change. Schneider’s views on this topic are infamously characterized by his 1989 statement (page 5 of the link):
On the one hand, as scientists we are ethically bound to the scientific method, in effect promising to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but — which means that we must include all the doubts, the caveats, the ifs, ands, and buts. On the other hand, we are not just scientists but human beings as well. And like most people we’d like to see the world a better place, which in this context translates into our working to reduce the risk of potentially disastrous climatic change. To do that we need to get some broad based support, to capture the public’s imagination. That, of course, entails getting loads of media coverage. So we have to offer up scary scenarios, make simplified, dramatic statements, and make little mention of any doubts we might have. This ‘double ethical bind’ we frequently find ourselves in cannot be solved by any formula. Each of us has to decide what the right balance is between being effective and being honest. I hope that means being both.
Posted in Communication
by Judith Curry
This article aims to portray and communicate the important role played by natural variability in our evolving climate. Understanding and acknowledging these variations is important for society and policymakers. Much of this variability is chaotic and unpredictable but some significant fraction is potentially predictable, providing an opportunity to narrow the uncertainty in climate predictions of the coming decade.
Posted in Attribution
