Posts tagged…Science
Let’s look at the data
Fri, Oct 30 2009
This is a very fine summary of the case that nothing very unusual is happening to the global climate and of the evidence—direct data, not proxies—that the IPCC projections are simply wrong about the key factor they say will result in alarming climate change (by the way that's not CO2)
Lindzen has a record that calls for attention. He has researched and taught atmospheric and climate science for…
Read more…Plimer review: more from G Schmidt
Sat, May 23 2009Dr Gavin Schmidt has further criticisms of my review of Plimer (and of Plimer's book). I'm happy to reproduce them as emailed (presuming again that he has no objection). He has three main points concerning the Wegman 'cluster' analysis of the Mann authorial relationships; whether the Hockey Stick article was a 'fraud', and; whether Plimer's account of paleo-climate variability matters to current…
Evidence and muddling through
Wed, Apr 15 2009The difference is that 'muddling through' is a strategy bound to evidence, evaluation, and adaptation. In policy as in business entreprise, grand visions and definitive models, like 'settled science', call for commitment and resist new enquiry or contrary fact.
"Prof Lindblom contrasted what he called the ‘root’ method of decision-making with the ‘branch’ approach. The root method required…
Time, void? They’re 4-letter words!
Fri, Apr 10 2009Is there such a thing as taking the simplification of science too far? Of course there is! Relatively oulipian; a marvellous—but mildly monontonous—monosyllabary.
"Say you woke up one day and your bed was gone. Your room, too. Gone. It's all gone. You wake up in an inky void." Extract from Relativity explained in words of 4 letters or less
A climate rebuttal
Wed, Apr 01 2009
A strong message with good science behind it.
Climate ‘tipping’ points fall down
Thu, Feb 19 2009If you're alarmed by claims—sometimes from official sources—about CO2 from thawing permafrost or cataclysms caused by a slowing or reversal of the "Meridional Overturning Circulation", then relax!
It looks like neither one nor the other of these exotic risks stands up to scientific scrutiny.
Obama’s science advisor hates science
Tue, Feb 17 2009
Second update: I have to revise my assessment—made after reviewing his publication history—that Dr John Holdren is 'something of a crackpot' (now over the fold).
This transcript shows that Holdren is a publicist for fashionable apocalypses with little sense of proportion or respect for evidence that might get in the way of his hyperbole. He could reasonably ask, of course, to be excused for…
No need for alarm about diet
Sun, Aug 03 2008Sandy Szwarc analyses the data from the latest NHANES survey of US dietary trends (ignored by most media).
"The new data doesnt support the need for public policies to address unhealthy gluttonous eating, and prohibit access to fattening foods. It does, however, provide clues that the anti-obesity hysteria might be contributing to risks for adverse effects, especially for young people."…
The ‘fat bomb’
Wed, Jun 25 2008Australians are not even near the top ranks of the world's fatties, despite the alarmist claims in the press. Here is the latest data from the World Health Organization. There's much more on Sandy Szwarc's Junkfood Science blog
| Obese Males (BMI 30): Latest Year | % | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nauru | 79.3 |
| 2 | French Polynesia | 36.4 |
| 3 | United States of America | 31.1 |
| 4 | Kuwait | 27.5 |
| 5 | Saudi Arabia | …
The Garnaut Climate Review Interim Report—I’m not convinced
Fri, Feb 22 2008
My difficulty with the Interim report of the Garnaut Climate Change Review is that it is headed toward a recommendation that looks disproportionate to the climate risk.
Publicly available data on climate change does not seem to call for extreme measures such as a 70% to 90% cut in Australia's carbon emissions. This data has not been examined by the Garnaut team because it's not their business to…