It is easy to go see climate talks at Berkeley and as a social scientist I have to say that they usually make me uncomfortable. If you go to an astronomy or physics talk, nobody bats an eyelash when people question the evidence for, say, Dark Energy. (Criticizing the idea that speed of light sets an absolute limit on velocity definitely will encounter … Continue reading »
Emails are normal conversation–rough, off the cuff, and even crude–but they are not the issue
The thousands of stolen emails and documents (http://www.filedropper.com/foi2009 (61 mb)) do not negate global warming. Mostly they are the usual kinds of emails between collaborating or inquiring scientists, exchanging data, ideas, friendship, and criticism of other’s ideas and papers. Most are between scientists that share the idea that global warming is taking place. However, they are … Continue reading »
Climategate is, unfortunately, serious
The emails that were exposed are not trivial, and because of that, they do throw some doubt on our knowledge of the severity of human-caused global warming. The problem is that they indicate that some of the top researchers in the field have not been following the norms of correct scientific behavior. The comments in … Continue reading »
We’re all victims of narrative
When climate scientists, in their emails to each other, discuss ‘tricking’ the data, what they are really doing is betraying a generalized fear of complexity, and a lack of faith in the lay audience. The public, one assumes, hates complexity: witness modern political campaigns, or your basic hollywood blockbuster. And this is America: we like … Continue reading »