Irregular Climate Episode 20: Dead trees make for good reading

This episode: Extreme weather, Wegman strikes again, conservative science vs liberal science, no science in science class, climategate still nothing to see here, blame Canada, self-debunking deniers tie themselves in knots, renewable energy and a book with John Cook, bad news from the melting arctic, and a bunch of foul-mouthed rapping climate scientists.

How it’s done

How to argue for climate science in a hostile environment: John Abraham, on a right wing radio news program, is polite but manages to get his point across very effectively. Hopefully he will be invited back to discuss the CO2 lags temperature crock that the host brought up right at the end.

Economists are not the enemy

Far too often economists are pitted against environmentalist, when in reality basic economic theory supports strong action on global warming and other environmental issues. The sooner the wider environmental community realizes this the sooner real progress will be made. (h/t Michael Tobis)

65 Years

The universe is probably littered with the one-planet graves of cultures which made the sensible economic decision that there's no good reason to go into space--each discovered, studied, and remembered by the ones who made the irrational decision.

About that left wing media bias

The Globe and Mail has officially endorsed Stephen Harper: Whom should Canadians turn to?... Only Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party have shown the leadership, the bullheadedness (let's call it what it is) and the discipline this country needs. He has built the Conservatives into arguably the only truly national party, and during his five... Continue Reading →

Conservative conservationist

From a very uplifting article on the conservative website FrumForum by D.R. Tucker we get a clear, concise conservative/libertarian argument to tackle our GHG emissions: conservatives and libertarians should strongly support regulation to reduce carbon pollution, since pollution by one entity invariably infringes upon the rights of others (including property rights), and no entity has... Continue Reading →

Endangered wolves and the budget… huh?

What does taking wolves off the endangered species list have to do with the US federal budget? A rider to the Congressional budget measure agreed to last weekend dictates that wolves in Montana and Idaho be taken off the endangered species list

Climate change solved by legislators [part 2]

More on the attempt to legislate away global warming, this time in a must-read Nature editorial [cached]: The legislation is fundamentally anti-science, just as the rhetoric that supports it is grounded in wilful ignorance. One lawmaker last week described scientists as “elitist” and “arrogant” creatures who hide behind “discredited” institutions. Another propagated the myth that... Continue Reading →

Climate change solved by legislators

Global warming has been legislated out of existence: House Republicans rejected amendments offered Tuesday by Democrats that called on Congress to accept the scientific consensus that climate change is occurring, it is caused in large part by human activity and it is a threat to human health. The amendments, offered at an Energy and Commerce... Continue Reading →

Irregular Climate Episode 18: The stupid show

This episode: Climategate again, stupidity from elected officials who are absolutely certainly wrong, against adaptation, and who think their legislative powers can repeal the laws of nature. Also Styrofoam is back, mega-droughts , the loss of Glory, un-skeptical skeptics, and bad reporting from Grist

The journalism problem

Much has recently been written on various climate blogs about the problem with journalism. But I think this is the crux of the issue: Passive news reporting that doesn’t attempt to resolve factual disputes in politics may have detrimental effects on readers, new research suggests. The study found that people are more likely to doubt... Continue Reading →

Bah Humbug!

Physicists who want to protect traditional Christmas realize that the only way to keep from changing Christmas is not to observe it. (via xkcd) That is all.

Irregular Climate Episode 14

This week: A long political rant on the recent US midterm elections, the war on science in Canada, the scientific consensus continues to strengthen, new efforts to communicate it, and a reminder that real experts don't know everything.

I am now officially a big shot

It took lots of hard work, but I finally did it. I finally made it. I am officially a big shot. I have a new swagger in my walk. What catapulted me to stardom? It was none other than the world famous Michigan Skeptics Association, and the brilliant Chris Lindsey, who interviewed me last week. And now... Continue Reading →

Irregular Climate Episode 13

This week: The most important news in the history of the universe, the simple reason why we should deal with environmental degradation, how CO2 controls the planet’s temperature, a denier distraction, Micheal Mann fights anti-science, the University of Virginia fights the Cuccinelli witch hunt, and the skeptic debunk of the week.

Irregular Climate Episode 12

This week: The curious incident of Edward Wegman, and the copied report, the non-significance of the hockey stick, Cuccinelli and the witch, CRU cleared again, exploding deniers, and the importance of coherence.

Irregular Climate Episode 11

This week: A recap of climate news that happened during Iregular Climate’s summer hiatus including the Russsian fires, and Pakistani floods, the Inter Academy report on the IPCC, The Lomborg u-turn, More Monckton madness, Cuccinelli is thrown out of court, and the icy skeptic debunk of the week.

The dog days of summer

Those of you paying attention have noticed a distinctive lack of anything here for the past week or so. Those of you who follow my tweets have noticed that I have been travelling for the past week. Those of you who are especially clever have already put both together. But why not make it official. ... Continue Reading →

Irregular Climate Episode 10

This week: The US Senate surrender, denynig the undeniable, deniers turn on each other, more blacklist hypocrisy, where has all the phytoplankton gone?, happy 35th birthday global warming, and the skeptic debunk of the week.

Denier denies climate change!

Did you hear? A denier has denied climate change! Shocking isn’t it? Well, no not really. In fact it is entirely predictable, and hardly worth a blog post. If only I had the skills of a professional spin doctor, then I could turn this into something news worthy. For example look how Marc Morano spun... Continue Reading →

The Laughlin contradiction

When I first wrote about Laughlin’s essay What the Earth Knows, I focused entirely on the foolishness of equating the survival of the earth with the survival of human civilization, and that the phrase Save the Planet was never meant to be taken literally. But I missed Laughlin’s contradiction. Thankfully Friends of Gin and Tonic... Continue Reading →

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