What have we learned from Climategate? Part II

Posted on November 22, 2010 by | 510 comments

by Judith Curry

The previous thread is getting unwieldly, there seems to still be much interest in discussing this, and there are some new interesting articles that I’ve spotted:

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510 Comments

Posted in Ethics

Principles of Reasoning. Part I: Abstraction

Posted on November 22, 2010 by | 161 comments

By Terry Oldberg

Introduction

In building climate models, climatologists generalize. Can the means by which they generalize be improved?

Yes they can. The means can be improved by replacement of intuitive rules of thumb called “heuristics” by the principles of reasoning.

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161 Comments

Posted in Scientific method

What have we learned from Climategate?

Posted on November 19, 2010 by | 725 comments

by Judith Curry

On this one year anniversary of the unauthorized release of the emails from the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia, there have been a number of articles reflecting on what the impact of this has been on both science and policy, and what we might have learned.

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725 Comments

Posted in Ethics

Michael’s controversial testimony: Part II

Posted on November 19, 2010 by | 348 comments

by Judith Curry

Here is further explanation why I think Michael’s testimony is significant, and why I think the issue of the attribution since 1950 will be the battleground in U.S. CO2 policy.  Michaell’s stated purpose for conducting this analysis was:

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348 Comments

Posted in Attribution

Michael’s controversial testimony

Posted on November 18, 2010 by | 239 comments

by Judith Curry

Pat Michael’s testimony has been generating significant controversy, both in the hearing and in the blogosphere.

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239 Comments

Posted in Attribution

Uncertainty gets a seat at the “big table.” Part V

Posted on November 18, 2010 by | 79 comments

At the end of the Hearing Charter, under The Response section, is the following statement:

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79 Comments

Posted in Policy

Uncertainty gets a seat at the “big table:” Part IV

Posted on November 17, 2010 by | 222 comments

STATEMENT TO THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT OF THE UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Hearing on “Rational Discussion of Climate Change: the Science, the Evidence, the Response”

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222 Comments

Posted in Policy, Uncertainty

Open thread: 11/15/10

Posted on November 15, 2010 by | 204 comments

Several people have asked  for a new open thread.  I hope that people can bring me up to date with what is going on elsewhere in the blogosphere, since I haven’t had time to check.   I will have time starting next Friday to engage more in the comments and get back to writing some technical threads.

204 Comments

Posted in Open thread

Uncertainty gets a seat at the big table: Part III

Posted on November 15, 2010 by | 71 comments

by Judith Curry

Ok, here it is, the final program:

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71 Comments

Posted in Policy

What we know with confidence

Posted on November 14, 2010 by | 390 comments

by Judith Curry

Of the four IPCC assessment reports, I  think the first assessment report (FAR) presents the case with the greatest clarity.

Since the FAR was published 20 years ago, it is worth taking a look to see how their conclusions and levels of confidence and uncertainty have stood up to the test of time.

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390 Comments

Posted in Uncertainty

Uncertainty gets a seat at the “big table.” Part II

Posted on November 12, 2010 by | 261 comments

by Judith Curry

Some breaking news.  I received an email from the House of Representatives staffer who invited me to participate:

Just an FYI – Republicans will be inviting a witness for each panel.  This is a change from the usual practice of one witness per hearing, regardless of the number of panels.

Now this makes it much more interesting.  I have no idea who else has been asked.  Place your bets, make your recommendations!

261 Comments

Posted in Policy

The denizens of Climate Etc.

Posted on November 12, 2010 by | 256 comments

Climate Etc. has now attracted a critical (and growing) mass of “regulars.” I would like to try what Jeff Id did over at the Air Vent on his Reader Background thread. I will eventually provide a button for this thread on the top bar (next to blog rules), so it is easy to refer to (and add to).

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256 Comments

Posted in Welcome

Uncertainty gets a seat at the “big table”

Posted on November 10, 2010 by | 454 comments

by Judith Curry

On Nov 17, the U.S. House of Representative’s Committee on Science and Technology Subcommittee on Energy and Environment is holding a hearing on “Rational Discussion of Climate Change: the Science, the Evidence, the Response.”

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454 Comments

Posted in Policy

The Scientific Method

Posted on November 9, 2010 by | 346 comments

by Mike Zajko

This post addresses an issue that has been coming up recurrently since the start of this blog. I hope it might be a way to step back and reflect on the nature of science in general, as well as a place where we can think about the methods applied in climate science more specifically. I’ve broken the following down into sections that can be read together or individually. I’m hoping for come good discussion of these and additional approaches to the scientific method.

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346 Comments

Posted in Scientific method

Why engage with skeptics?

Posted on November 8, 2010 by | 556 comments

by Judith Curry

Many climate scientists have stopped engaging with skeptics, because they think it is either pointless or they don’t want to lend legitimacy to the skepticism. Those who think it is pointless seem mostly interested in protecting their time.  Those who view this as lending legitimacy to skeptics would seem to be acting in accord with IPCC/UNFCCC ideology.

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556 Comments

Posted in Ethics, Skeptics

No ideologues: Part III

Posted on November 7, 2010 by | 380 comments

by Judith Curry

Some very constructive dialogue on the previous two threads.  The use of the word “heretic” in the Scientific American article just begged for the word “dogma” to be used.  Given its range of connotations, it seems that dogma or even dogmatism doesn’t really convey what I am intending to for many people.

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380 Comments

Posted in Ethics

No dogma(tism): Part II

Posted on November 7, 2010 by | 275 comments

by Judith Curry

The dogma post seems to have a struck a nerve, but both sides seem be talking past each other.  One side sees the dogma as self-evident, the other side wants evidence.

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275 Comments

Posted in Ethics

Ending the war with skeptics

Posted on November 6, 2010 by | 281 comments

by Judith Curry

As we approach the anniversary of Climategate, I am getting a lot of queries from reporters, which invariably includes the following question:

Is there any hope for ending the war between climate scientists that support the IPCC and skeptics?

My answer is “yes.”

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281 Comments

Posted in Ethics, Skeptics

No dogma

Posted on November 5, 2010 by | 531 comments

by Judith Curry

My posts on positive feedback loops (here and here) have engendered some interesting discussions, particularly at Collide-a-scape and Die Klimazweibel.  While many are pondering the points I raise, most of the “insiders” don’t like the idea of “IPCC dogma.”

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531 Comments

Posted in Ethics

Reversing the direction of the positive feedback loop: Part II

Posted on November 4, 2010 by | 380 comments

by Judith Curry

I can’t predict in advance when a thread will generate a lot of activity; I’m learning that anything with “climategate” in it is likely to have a lot of traffic.  Since the first thread  has almost 500 comments, I would like to address some of the questions and issues raised, and redirect the discussion.

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380 Comments

Posted in Ethics

Reversing the direction of the positive feedback loop

Posted on November 3, 2010 by | 613 comments

by Judith Curry

I’m at Purdue University, preparing for a panel discussion with Andy Revkin and Roger Pielke Jr. on “Beyond Climategate.”  The following three questions have been posed:

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613 Comments

Posted in Ethics

The balancing heretic

Posted on November 2, 2010 by | 45 comments

by Judith Curry

I like cartoons (which is why I have cartoonsbyjosh on the blogroll).   I received this new cartoon via email from France:

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45 Comments

Posted in Sociology of science

Decision making under climate uncertainty: Part I

Posted on October 31, 2010 by | 203 comments

by Judith Curry

Based upon the precautionary principle, the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) established a qualitative climate goal for the long term: stabilization of the concentrations of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere. The view of climate change held by the UNFCCC regards both the problem and solution as irreducibly global. This view of the problem has framed the IPCC’s assessment and national funding priorities on the subject of climate science.

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203 Comments

Posted in Policy, Uncertainty

Extended peer community

Posted on October 30, 2010 by | 176 comments

by Judith Curry

Michael Lowe posted this comment on the Disagreement  thread:

Wouldn’t it be great if more science was like this – hundreds of interested bloggers, laypeople and scientist interracting, arguing, disagreeing, learning. Maybe this is the real postnormal science!

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176 Comments

Posted in Open knowledge

Uncertainty and the IPCC AR5

Posted on October 29, 2010 by | 138 comments

by  Judith Curry

I am starting to see some encouraging signs that people (including the IPCC) are paying more attention to the uncertainty issue as it relates to climate change.  Nature has an editorial on this issue that summarizes the situation as:

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138 Comments

Posted in IPCC, Uncertainty