As many of you know, the Weblog Awards ended Tuesday. Today WUWT was certified as the winner in the “Best Science Blog” category. The vote totals were unchanged from 5PM EST Tuesday. I had thought perhaps the last minute surges drummed up on Daily Kos and Huffington Post might have changed the outcome, be we persevered.
I’d like to sincerely thank all of you in the WUWT community of readers, contributors, and moderators, for creating (and maintaining) an atmosphere in which this could happen. Thanks also go to many friends who run other blogs and websites whom network and share content with us.
There are two other people I’d like to thank and to congratulate. Steve McIntyre of Climate Audit, who won last year and made a strong third place showing this year. Steve has been an inspiration to me in the last year.
I’d also like to congratulate Dr. James Hansen, of NASA GISS, whom was recently awarded the 2009 Carl-Gustaf Rossby Research Medal, the highest honor bestowed by the American Meteorological Society (AMS).
The award states: The Carl-Gustaf Rossby Research Medal is presented by AMS to researchers making outstanding contributions to the understanding of the structure or behavior of the atmosphere.
I may disagree with some of Dr. Hansen’s methods and findings, but the above is certainly true. Congratulations are in order to him.
Yay! You deserve it.
Congratulations, Anthony. I also want to commend you on the civility that you maintain on this blog, including with those with whom you may have disagreements. It makes it exceptional. I enjoy this blog not only because of the civility and the opportunity of expression that it provides to alternative viewpoints, but also because it is very educational. I wish you continued success.
Congratulations to Anthony and to the moderators who give their time to help maintain the decorum here.
As I have said before, congratulations. We are all very proud of you.
Congrats! Best site on the planet!! Special thanks go to Al Gore for giving us a reason to get interested in Weather and Climate
Let my first comment on WUWT be a hearty congrats to Anthony on his award. I make this site a daily place to visit. I only wish you served coffee here. THEN this place would be perfect!
Well done Anthony, Steve and James.
A justified acknowledgment of the ‘science’ one can find here. Congrats !
No, Hansen’s rigid, inadequate CO2 paradigm has actively hampered efforts to understand climate. Well intentioned though he may be, he’s just way wrong, and obstructive.
===============================================
congrats Anthony–now back to my vacation
Whooohooo!!!
Does AMS in giving out the Carl-Gustaf Rossby award, spell out what they regard as Hansen’s contribution to the understanding of the structure or behavior the atmosphere?
Congratulations Anthony.
This is a well deserved award.
Congrats Anthony — you do a great job running this top notch site.
I recommend it to everyone I run into.
Congratulations Anthony and WUWT
Congratulations on a well deserved recognition and in operating a site where science, learning, and disagreements function under an umbrella of civility.
WOOT!
High fives all around, and congrats to Anthony for a great site, and for making this community a *civil* place to discuss the science behind the climate.
Well done Anthony and team for winning this award! This site is an inspiration to all who care about the truth and how weather is recorded.
But I think you have been a bit too kind to James Hansen. He may be a great scientist – or not – but his contempt for those who see things differently should disqualify him for such an honour. My take on all this here:
http://tinyurl.com/7yzoz4
http://jennifermarohasy.com/blog/2009/01/valuing-passion-over-wisdom-hansen-awarded-highest-honour-by-american-meteorologists/
And congrats to you Jennifer, for your strong #2 showing in your category. Though I never quite figured out why there is not a “Best Australian Blog” category such as there is for the UK. Perhaps you should petition for such a category next year. – Anthony
Congrats Anthony.
I would also like to see the specifics for Dr Hansen receiving his award.
And just to lighten the mood:
It was April and the Aboriginals in a remote part of Northern Australia asked their new elder if the coming winter was going to be cold or mild.
Since he was an elder in a modern community he had never been taught the old secrets. When he looked at the sky he couldn’t tell what the winter was going to be like.
Nevertheless, to be on the safe side, he told his tribe that the winter was indeed going to be cold and that the members of the tribe should collect firewood to be prepared.
But being a practical leader, after several days he had an idea.
He walked out to the telephone booth on the highway, called the Bureau of Meteorology and asked, ‘Is the coming winter in this area going to be cold?’
The meteorologist responded, ‘It looks like this winter is going to be quite cold.’
So the elder went back to his people and told them to collect even more wood in order to be prepared.
A week later he called the Bureau of Meteorology again. ‘Does it still look like it is going to be a very cold winter?’
The meteorologist again replied, ‘Yes, it’s going to be a very cold winter.’
The elder again went back to his community and ordered them to collect every scrap of firewood they could find.
Two weeks later the elder called the Bureau again. ‘Are you absolutely sure that the winter is going to be very cold?’ he asked.
‘Absolutely,’ the man replied. ‘It’s looking more and more like it is going to be one of the coldest winters ever.’
‘How can you be so sure?’ the elder asked.
The weatherman replied, ‘Our satellites have reported that the Aboriginals in the north are collecting firewood like crazy, and that’s always a sure sign.’
You are a class act, Anthony, thanks for all the effort you put in here.
Aussie John said:
Boom, boom!
However, have you ever lived in the north of Australia? They don’t have winter, just a dry season. Of course, depending on where you are, it can get cold during the dry season, but then, it can get cold over night inland in the northern parts of Australia anyway.
Congrats Anthony on the Weblog award! Well deserved!
Re the AMS award:
One wonders whether James Hansen has made any successful technical predictions in his career – he certainly has failed to date with his global warming alarmist nonsense.
Re successful predictions, here is one that the Europeans should have heeded, as cold sets in and their inadequate alterantive energy systems fail to keep them from freezing this winter.
This disastrous scenario was predicted by Sallie Baliunas, Tim Patterson and me in September 2002, at:
http://www.apegga.org/Members/Publications/peggs/WEB11_02/kyoto_pt.htm
“The ultimate agenda of pro-Kyoto advocates is to eliminate fossil fuels, but this would result in a catastrophic shortfall in global energy supply – the wasteful, inefficient energy solutions proposed by Kyoto advocates simply cannot replace fossil fuels.”
Regards, Allan
Agreed.
Hansen has made enormous contributions to the understanding of the atmosphere … by inspiring people to study climate and atmospheric physics in order to refute his hysterical claims.
The Loser is the Winner!
Jolly good show Anthony; well deserved.
I confess I didn’t vote.
Well I did; actually; I voted long ago, by coming here to learn something, and maybe possibly teach some.
I’m always amazed by what you dig up, to dig into; and it is all germane.
Your expose of the lack of rigor in the surface station methodology, is a testament to the power of low budget science.
IMHO the 150 year old methodology of “climate science”, is a good part of the reason why we are in this fix; the biggest science scandal in history; and it isn’t likely to get fixed any time soon; but throwing the public light on it can only help.
I care only that we get the science right; who does that is not important, so long as it gets done.
You’re entitled to your opinion on Dr Hansen. If the AMS is rewarding him for causing the spending of more taxpayer funds for climate research; sadly much of it totally misspent; I can’t go along.
Each person who chooses to call him/erself a scientist has to live with their own conscience.
Frankly, those who for their own reasons choose to mislead a public, who cannot be expected to be conversant with the complexities of much of science, are not much different from bank robbers to me.
In the end, the integrity of science is the victim.
But you have a winner here Anthony, and congratulations.
George
Congratulations! Do me a favor and don’t run next year. It was a real nuisance to vote on the desktop and two laptops every day for a week!
Kudos big guy!!
And I agree that kudos are in order for Dr. Hansen. He has been an inspiration to many of us, including myself. He has inspired us to better understand the dire predictions and underlying data.
Congratulations to Anthony for a clear win over not only his direct competitors, but also over the Daily Kos, Grist, the DU, and the many other sites that were urging their readers to specifically vote against WUWT.
Now, as far as Hansen’s award goes, I’ll withhold judgement until I find out how the recipient was selected: Who were the other nominees, if any? Who made the selection, the membership? Or a hand-picked committee, like the rubber stamp committees that have previously given Hansen the $250,000 Heinz Award in 2001, and made him co-winner of the $1 million Dan David Prize.
If Hansen didn’t win the award by a secret ballot vote of the membership, or in a head-to-head contest like Anthony’s award, IMHO it’s just more AGW spin, like science illiterate Al Gore’s Nobel prize.
I agree with Jennifer. A more appropriate award for him would be “Best Con-Artist of the Year,” or “Worst Scientist of the Year.”
Oh, and congrats, Anthony. I have to admit that I split my votes between you and CA, because I value both very much.
Wonderful news, well done! A well deserved award indeed.
Congratulations Anthony and all Contributors.
Your insightful posts for the scientifically challenged (moi!) are a blessing in helping me understand the climate and open my eyes to the possible world wide fraud that is being perpetuated on us.
Richard Sharpe: I am currently in north WA, it is 43c (we had thunderstorms yesterday which has cooled it down a tad) outside at the moment, in August we had to wear jackets in the morning as the temperature was 8c, oh and it rained as well!
I’ll add my congratulations to the others. Your focus on science, civility and integrity will keep attracting people to this site. Anthony, the moderators, the contributors and the commenters all bring value to this large banquet. So much here to chew on, ingest and digest… and no heartburn! Thanks for all you guys and gals do. I and a growing readership are very appreciative.
Mike Bryant
I hope I didn’t forget anybody…
Well done and congratulations for winning an award – I am sure that it will not be your last.
Thank you other bloggers for being so informative, fair, respectful and tolerant to all others who may not always understand the maths and physics but have a deep desire to see climate change fairly examined. My biggest wish is that the media begin to give scientists such as frequent this website the coverage they deserve. If they do not, then I am sure that cyberspace will.
Congratulations and thanks for running this wonderful site.
Well deserved — takes several dedicated people working every day to make a site like this one a success.
Sincerely interesting to me that the leading agw proponents are not as well attended/thought-of as the leading agw sceptics. Perhaps there is hope after all.
Aussie John (17:11:03)
Great story. LOL
Is this the analogy to the CO2 – water vapor feedback cycle?
Nobody beats the Rev!
Hank (16:49:41) :
Does AMS in giving out the Carl-Gustaf Rossby award, spell out what they regard as Hansen’s contribution to the understanding of the structure or behavior the atmosphere?
Now class, what have we learned from Mr. Hansen? 😉
(joke from another thread…)
Congratulations Anthony!! You desrve the win.
I also wish to thank the contributors on this blog. I have learned so much since making WUWT a daily (ok, sometimes several times a day) visit for the past year. I hope traffic increases because of this recognition and more people wake up from their slumber.
Perhaps this site should be recommended to the president elect so he could learn a few things, too!
Congratulations Anthony! WUWT is my go to site when I get up every morning and to check before hitting the sack every night. I must thank your for editing my guest posts to reduce the temperature of my prose to keep it consistent with the level headed analysis that is your signature. Well Done!
Congratulations; keep up the great work!
Congratulations! As far as Hansen’s award, my father used to say, his best professor was the one that was usually wrong. He had to spend so much time and energy proving him wrong, he learned the subject inside and out.
Anthony:
Congratulations, and well deserved. Still hope to get to those deep South Texas stations, but other things kep interfering.
Congratulations WUWT.
I voted you everyday for your good work.
Keep it going please.
I’d award hansen the Karl Gustav Largest Railroad Gun Award, for being the biggest blow-hard in climate science (he would have to split it with Al Gore, of course).
Oh, and congratulations!
A relevant post at Icecap: http://icecap.us/index.php/go/political-climate
Anthony, congratulations on your win, and my thanks for your having such a good site.
I got interested in global warming because it was such a threat. That being the case, I wanted to get a better understanding of it. And the more I looked into it, the less sense it made. The more I tried to figure out how CO2 was causing so much trouble, the more I got the feeling that it wasn’t.
It was from links from Andrew Bolt’s (blogger/journalist) site that I got onto WUWT and Climate Audit. Your sites, and a few others, go to the nitty gritty of how it all works, and have been very educational.
Its not the quality of the argument that has convinced me we do not face a CO2-induced disaster, but the lack of argument, and the persistence with facts on your sites. Its something that is lacking on the Gore/Hanson/Mann etc side of the debate, which gets vitriolic at times. They tell me what I should be thinking, while you and Steve McIntyre and others give me the information to allow me to decide for myself.
Re James Hansen: Your response is very gracious, but I doubt he would reciprocate. He has made an enormous contribution, along with Gore, Mann and others of the clique, by spurring others on to prove they are sprouting rubbish. I feel quite strongly about this because these are the people I should be able to believe. I’ve taken notice of what they have said, checked it out myself (over a few years) and found it sadly wanting. Initially they were guilty of exaggeration, but now its something else, something deliberately deceptive. To reward it (again) is just fundamentally wrong.
Way to go!
The Icecap post references Jennifer Marohasy’s post here:
http://jennifermarohasy.com/blog/2009/01/valuing-passion-over-wisdom-hansen-awarded-highest-honour-by-american-meteorologists/
I’m sorry and maybe I shouldn’t say this but Big Jim reminds me of someone…
http://www.markpascua.com/wp-content/real-homer-simpson.jpg
Well done Anthony, keep up the good work.
Congratulations to Anthony. This blog, and a few others, have provided an opportunity to discuss science in a respectful, intellectually open, and diverse atmosphere – which is a rarity these days.
One of the most important quotes I have seen recently was from former NASA atmospheric scientist, Dr. Joanne Simpson, after she retired.
Since I am no longer affiliated with any organization nor receive any funding, I can speak quite frankly.
http://climatesci.org/2008/02/27/trmm-tropical-rainfall-measuring-mission-data-set-potential-in-climate-controversy-by-joanne-simpson-private-citizen/
Anthony,
A fantastic and well deserved recognition. Your honor is deserved, I think many in the blog world underestimate your talent for presentation. Thank you for your efforts and I look forward to consecutive years.
Jeff
Stephen Hill said:
“Congrats! Best site on the planet!! Special thanks go to Al Gore for giving us a reason to get interested in Weather and Climate”
Don’t forget, also for inventing the internet, without which this website would not be possible.
Thank you , Anthony and moderators ( and anyone behind the scenes) for your efforts. An accolade well deserved !! The best “edutainment” around !!! 2 years ago I would never have believed we could leave the pro-AGW blogs in the dust. Even DeSmogblog was left standing at the starting line this year. The media is starting to pick up on the realities of the C02 myth-conception. Regarding Hansen, I must fervently disagree. When he said that those who disagree with him should be jailed was the clincher for me. That is unforgivable and very revealing. In keeping with the civil nature of this blog, perhaps a thread on what we (pro and anti-AGW’rs) agree upon (sustainability and stewardship) instead of what we disagree on (climate drivers, etc.). My goal is a bright future where no one suffers and wants. Clean water, healthy food should be available to all. I think many pro- AGW supporters would be surprised at how environmentally friendly many of us live. Perhaps we could open the door to some great dialogue. We should all take the high road as you do, Anthony .
David Ball,
“perhaps a thread on what we (pro and anti-AGW’rs) agree upon”
That’s a good idea… Anyone with a single brain cell working wants clean air, water and sustenance… An article that details the points of agreement (there are many) would be nice every month or two… I don’t think anyone here would argue about the great strides that have been made against that good old fashioned pollution since the 60s.
Mike Bryant
Congratulations, Anthony. You’ve come a long ways since my first visit in the early months of the blog when a long thread was 5 or 6 comments.
As I head to bed, it’s 13 below zero in northeastern Indiana with a wind chill of -39. Please ask Dr. Hansen to blow some of that global warming up our way.
Congrats! Next year, Watts for 2010 Carl-Gustaf Rossby Research Medal!
Aussie John,
We in the northern hemisphere have our own reliance upon native intuition. If you want to watch a Yankee warmer trying to come to grips with the recent “cool” news (e.g., recent NCDC releases), look at the facts amassed by Robert Hotz in his article in the WSJ, “The Warming Earth Blows Hot, Cold and Chaotic”.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123085070980447477.html?mod=todays_asia_marketplace
But, alas, science is… mere fact. Note the last paragraph.
There seems to be a theme here.
Anthony,
Well-done, and thanks for the great web site, done in a civilized manner.
To mangle a poem by John Keats:
Congratulations on your win! I’ve been a lurker for over a year now and have thoroughly enjoyed the educations provided by you and your posters. This is the type of forum that I imaged was necessary for the advancement of science back when I started studying engineering. As climate is not my field, I haven’t posted until now as I couldn’t add anything constructive and pertinent.
Geologic modeling and the economic recovery of minerals therefrom is my field. As such, I have a taste of how mathematical models work, how fussy they can be, and how difficult it can be to tease the “right” answers from them. Thanks to all of the regular posters for helping to teach me so many of the right questions to ask in testing the climatic (climactic?) models.
And to think, it all came from a question of whether heat was retained more by a type of paint or whitewash…. long live the questioning, inquisitive mind!
Ouch. the eyes can really mislead…. I imaged nothing, but I did imagine.
Also congratulations on a wonderful year, Anthony, and the recognition you deserve.
Hansen is the proverbial curate’s egg: good in parts. He has done lots of worthwhile science and no doubt had to fight his own detractors very hard in the early days. Unfortunately, he doesn’t seem to have had the breadth of vision to value open science but merely sought to close minds in his own direction. That deficiency may cost the world a lot of money and a lot of lives but it will be a while before history writes its assessment.
“One of the most important quotes I have seen recently was from former NASA atmospheric scientist, Dr. Joanne Simpson, after she retired.”
Oh, really?
Quoting Dr. Simpson: “Decisions have to be made on incomplete information. In this case, we must act on the recommendations of Gore and the IPCC because if we do not reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and the climate models are right, the planet as we know it will in this century become unsustainable.”
Simplistic nonsense. I’d remind Dr. Simpson that making decisions on incomplete information is what got us into Iraq. Ignorance is neither bliss nor a sound basis for precipitous action. Fear is not per se a valid argument.
Congratulations and well done to Anthony and everyone associated with this blog. The award and recognition is richly deserved.
I’d like to say, congrats are in order. And as a long time ‘lurker’ (hate the expression, even when spelt right!) I believe is well deserved! As a person somewhat amature in the science and mathematics involved but intuitavely aware and, therefore, wary, of the extra heat involved in the discussion, I think I, along with many others, are gratefull to you and CA and many others (Lubos anyone) for bringing some good sense and, to tautologise latin, some sanity to the discussion. You, along with CA and others, and with my porridge (yes, I do eat the stuff!), allow me to smile and restore my confidence in the rationality of good people, people with bon voluntas, My field is history and, therefore, from the long perspective that gives me, I see the mad and damaging delusions mankind has afflicted itself with. Recently, very bad. Therefore, it is not the science, conditioned one hopes to rational argument, that worries me but its’ abuse. Anyway, congratulations, Lewis.
Congratulations, Anthony!
Congratulations Anthony on both the win and the manner in which you conducted the contest. I confess to mainly voting for CA (cause I enjoy the detailed stats stuff) but I did break ranks and slip WUWT a sly vote one day 🙂
Congratulations Anthony-very well deserved.
I have checked back through my historic records to 1660 and you are definitely the first web site with ‘Watts’ in the name to win the award within that period. However, obviously that does not mean it is ‘ unprecedented’ merely that our records prior to that date are fragmented. If anyone can find references earlier than 1660 please let me know…
TonyB
Compliments to all – except JH.
Whilst attempting to find where our esteemed Ministry of Truth has buried the CET record that used to reside here;
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/fourofour/hadleyredirect.html#/CR_data/Daily/HadCET_act.txt
we found this from 1973;
http://www.rmets.org/pdf/qj74manley.pdf
Page 4 (392)
“A further reason for bringing theis Table up to date lies in the fact that careful cross-comparison indicates that temperatures observed at the long-standing and well-regarded Radcliffe Observatory at Oxford are gradually becoming less representative, notably since 1960; this is probably in the main attributable to the growth of the city.”
The more I read this the more I wonder what hidden gems lie within. I wish I could trust my OCR software to reproduce this table from the images, as scanned, as it hails form 1973 and we could easily see any “future ” adjustments.
http://www.rmets.org/pdf/qj74manley.pdf
It would appear that the CET text is now available by request. So, this once great nation’s entire temperature record is no longer available for public consumption?
congratulations
This is certainly deserved.
You made a fantastic effort with this site.
Well done Anthony
Hope next year there will be at least 100 000 votes needed for you to win again and it will as more people will open eyes.
To mr, J Hansen award ?
I put it this way . Bad dog owners when their pet barks on visitors before they even knock the door then try to kill the visitor are calmed down by the owner by patting them over head and back . That means to the the dog , good boy do it again next time…..
Best present for Mr. J Hansen would be a book about meteorology and climatology
Many congratulations: The 2009 Nobel Prize follows!
Massive congratulations to you for this wonderful blog. It is a superb body of work with references to many many other fine studies.
And despite disagreeing with much of the information that Dr Hansen has produced, I share your congratulations to him for his award.
Dr Hansen et al have undoubtedly advanced the understanding of how the atmosphere and climate work massively. How? Well many more scientists are involved in climate research and they are discovering a massive amount of new information whilst debunking some of the more outlandish rubbish produced in favour of AGW by Hansen and his acolytes. If not for Hansen’s alarmism, we would not have produced so much more better science with which to discredit him with.
I agree that he should receive some credit for waking people up and advancing the science, even if it is in a direction that he vehemently opposes.
“Quoting Dr. Simpson: “Decisions have to be made on incomplete information. In this case, we must act on the recommendations of Gore and the IPCC because if we do not reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and the climate models are right, the planet as we know it will in this century become unsustainable.””
I would argue that we already know that the climate models are wrong, as none of them predicted the cooling phase we are currently in, nor are they correct in predicting a high level tropospheric heat island that in reality does not exist. The tropospheric heat island being an essential central mechanism in creating the positive feedback loop that leads to the tipping point of critical warming scenarios. This high level atmospheric heat island was an essential part of the mechanism in these models according to the alarmists, right up until the Aqua satellite system proved that it does not exist. Now they claim it was never essential at all.
Aqua satellite 1 – alarmists 0.
Anthony,
Congratulations and thanks!
I usually agree with you 100%. This time is closer to 66%.
Congratulations are not due a proven fraud. Especially by those whom he would jail for the crime of pointing out his fraud.
Terry Ward
That was a great post.
Are you aware of this record? The met office keep trying to stop using it but I keep reminding them
http://hadobs.metoffice.com//hadcet/cetml1659on.dat
Looking through Callendars archives it is obvious he and Manley had a considerable collaboration and it appears that temperatures might have been adjusted as a result. What effect that has overall I can’t say at this stage as I am still ploughing through the digital documents.
TonyB
Congratulations, Anthony! And, I would like to second Phil’s statement about your civility. I think you set a high standard in that regard that those of us on both sides of the debates, including myself, would do well to work harder to try to emulate!
REPLY: Thank you Joel, the goal is to be able to disagree, without being disagreeable. – Anthony
Congratulations locally, Anthony, here again, although I may radically disagree with your opinion that James Hansen has made outstanding contributions to the understanding of the structure or behavior of the atmosphere. 😉
Congrats on this award. You earned it.
Mr.Watts, you are a scholar and a gentleman and a practitioner of good sportmanship. Unfortunately those people who suffer from CO2 phobia are unable to extent similar courtesies toward you and other skeptics.
Thanks for providing an awesome website.
I agree that Anthony is a stellar guide on the path of civility. I’ll testify to his inspiration to me in that regard.
Now, back to snark; when will you fools finally give up Hansen?
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This is my official, on the record, not subject to change or update, congrats to Mr. Watts and everyone who contributes to Wattsupwiththat.
People eventually want to hear the truth, even though scientific-sounding assertions sound good for awhile.
This is a site where it’s all on the table. This is good. 😉
Andrew ♫
Congratulations Anthony! A good win for science.
As far as Hansen goes, he is not a good choice at all to win anything except a one way ticket to Palookaville. He is a disgrace to NASA and the US and should be gone, with prejudice, as far as I’m concerned.
I have statistically analyzed the regressed association between the bell-shaped increase in WUWT blog stats, the number of stoichastically obsessed alarmist WUWT contributors, and the vociferous late vote rally by Pharyrlrstywhatevr and determined, with a very high level of confidence, that WUWT will win in 2009. Therefore, I wish to express congratulations on 2008 and 2009, just to be the first to predict it.
However,
David Ball (20:56:08) :
Regarding Hansen, I must fervently disagree. When he said that those who disagree with him should be jailed was the clincher for me. That is unforgivable and very revealing.
When he stated to a British journalist that denialists would only go away when dead did it for me.
Outstanding! Congrats Anthony etal, This award will draw more well earned publicity to your site. A good thing.
Anthony,
As a long time silent student of your superb work, today I was delighted to see your post on receiving Best Science Blog in the 2008 Weblog awards.
Your germane (love that word) research, balanced findings and the respectful conversation forum that you evoke delivers important understanding of climate and related issues that we are all concerned about.
as I vist you site almost I am constantly inspired by the fact based rigor of your analytically succinct and enlightening writings. The great minds that respond to you are also a great testament to you too.
In time, I believe your legacy will be much greater than this truly momentous award to you that so many voted on. I also look forward to that day too.
We done and well deserved.
Sincerely
Gordon Wood
PS A quick note to Aussie John. I feel sure now that Indigo Jones must have used the same satellite.
Congratulations!
This column is always my first blog read of the day – always informative and entertaining.
Keep up the good work
Congratulations!!
Congratulations Anthony and team. A very well deserved win for both science and civility. Thank you for sharing your inquisitiveness with us and for creating such an excellent “must read” blog.
Tip of the hat to WUWT! You guys have done a phenomenal job at confronting the insanity that is AGW!
W00t!
Congratulations on the win, Anthony. I am still thinking “Must vote” every time I turn the PC on. Long may your site continue in its championing of accurate science.
TonyB (05:00:45)
That hadobs central England record is most interesting.
The early years the record is to the half-degree Celsius, abruptly changing to a tenth-degree in Jan 1699. It stays that way until it switches back to the half-degree in Jan 1707. It switches back (permanently) to tenth-degree in Nov 1722. Given that Anders Celsius did not even invent his scale until 1744, I wonder what sort of number crunching was involved to get the originally recorded figure to the nearest 0.5C, and why it was not all converted to the tenth-degree format. The modern style temperature measurement scales were not devised until the 1700s, starting with the Newton Scale, so I am curious as to how the earlier figures were arrived at in the first place.
An excellent post from Andy Revkin’s blog
January 14, 2009 9:44 pm
http://community.nytimes.com/blogs/comments/dotearth/2009/01/14/weather-mavens-honor-climate-maven.html?permid=17#comment17
I am a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society and have just recently retired after a 40 year career as a television meteorologist. For the last two years of my career, I wrote a blog from the skeptics point of view in regards to AGW.
I came to this position largely through the writings of Dr. Richard Lindzen from MIT, Dr. Roger Pielke Sr. from Colorado State, Dr. Roy Spencer from UAH and yes, Dr. Joe D’Aleo. I believe Dr. Hansen would label these people as “court jesters” as he does anyone who criticizes his work, although doesn’t science progress through critical evaluation of another’s work by such excellent scientists as those mentioned?
I agree with Dr. D’Aleo that it is indeed a sad day for the AMS when the society awards a man whose work has been shown to contain errors (such as proclaiming this past October the warmest October of record when September data was used). I believe Dr. Hansen’s political ideology has taken over his science and renders him no longer qualified to be the keeper of the global temperature data.
I have found it interesting that in my experience, many (if not a majority) of meteorologists involved in day to day operational forecasting question the catastrophic scenarios put forth by people like Dr. Hansen, whose educational background by the way is in physics and astronomy, not meteorology or climatology. Perhaps because the operational people live and die by the forecasts they make there has been a great distrust of computer models develop over the years. We need models that work and shun the climate models that we know don’t incorporate many of the driving forces behind the weather and ultimately climate, such as El Nino, the Pacific Decadal Oscillation and the Atlantic Multidecal Oscillation. Those climate models have certainly missed the cooling of this decade and Dr. Hansen’s forecast of a super El Nino for the 2006-07 winter turned out to be as wrong as if I had made of forecast of snow and it turned out to be sunny. But yet he never seems to be held accountable, unlike those of us who live and die daily by those wretched models.
— Craig Woods, Grand Rapids
Take a bow, Anthony. A well-deserved win.
Can’t say the same for Mr. H, unfortunately, who seems to have forgotten what true science is. I doubt the thousands of AMS members had much, if any say in it.
Well done to all involved in making WUWT what it has become.
Anthony, your magnanimity to James Hansen is admirable, despite many reasons to be anything but that.
Oh Boy! I’ve got some quality reading tonight, having been too busy this week for anything but a quick nightly glance at all the posts (and voting of course).
Congratulations and well deserved, Anthony!
As to the good Dr. Hansen, I’d put his latest kudo right up there with Al Gore’s Nobel Prize; an embarrassment to anyone interested in “scientific truth” for its own sake.
Claude Harvey
Congratulations. Anthony & the community deserves it! We’re getting stronger each day!
Now, I cannot say the same about Hansen. His behaviour in the recent UK trial is all what is needed to classify him.
Ecotretas
TonyB (05:00:45) :
“Terry Ward
That was a great post.
Are you aware of this record? The met office keep trying to stop using it but I keep reminding them
http://hadobs.metoffice.com//hadcet/cetml1659on.dat”
Thanks for that link TonyB. Winston Smith obviously hasn’t reached that one yet.
I cannot quite believe the “New” Met Office site – even the colours make me feel ill. I had never been exposed to Manley’s connection to Callendar and am looking for all his work now. I am focussed on CO2 as I believe there should be far more science and far less “it was settled in the 19th century” bullying.
A recent find on “The Science Blog Of The Year” both outstanding and astounding –
http://www.globalwarmingskeptics.info/phpbb3/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=585&p=4175#p4175
:O
Terry
I have been contributing to that thread at globalwarmingsceptics as you may have noticed. If you click onto the web site graphs on that page you will see the readings that I plotted from Ernst Beck’s data. I have been corresponding with him for a couple of months and have done a lot of work on the history of its use during the 19th century and the stuff from Derek on that thread is very interesting.
Beck is definitely on to something. You may have missed the various threads re Beck and the co2 readings. Personally I think the modern co2 readings are much the same as they have always been and the ice cores are wrong at 280ppm.
I don’t know how much you know of the subject-let me know as I have a lot of references and you may have some I am unaware of. Anna V who often posts here has a particular interest in co2 as well.
TonyB
Tony – I was so excited I missed everyone’s names on that blog. I am just blotting paper for that stuff since I realized that water (present in ice at all temps/pressures has a vastly different affinity to CO2 than O” and N2 amongst others 😉
I have to put the kids to bed but will be back…..
Congratulations Anthony!
Also very magnanimous of you to recognize Hansens’ award.
I’m sure PZ Meyers will be along anytime now to congratulate you…
…right after the National Weather Service announces a flying pig advisory.
Patrick Henry (10:14:26)
I enjoyed the comments in that first link on Revkin’s thread about Hansen.
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Congratulations Anthony. You and the regular posters have taught me much about climate science and I greatly appreciate it.
Rich D.
Trenton, MI
Um, didn’t you call for Hansen to be fired for going to the U.K. to defend, in open court, enviro-thugs (plus a host of other sound reasons)? While it may be the high road to praise Hansen for winning this award, isn’t he the one who tells us to ignore meteorologists because they aren’t climatologists? Especially when those meteos balk at man-made GW? There is absolutely no reason, imho, to waste valuable web space in congratulating the man who stokes the very worst fears to further his own agenda.
I will tell you that I’m happy you won the science category. It’s nice to see someone I voted for actually win for a change! 🙂
Congratulations from a French WUWT addict.
Congratulations!
You thoroughly deserve it.
Congratulations on the win, Anthony. The compelling mix of general interest and more esoteric topics presented in a bright and breezy package makes for a winning formula.
I especially appreciate your recognition of James Hansen’s award. That was a highly magnanimous gesture.
Anthony. As a long time reader I find your site and most of your contributors to be truly fascinating.
However, I believe that most of you are wrong about Hansen. He has made an outstanding contribution to the structure of the atmosphere. He won’t shut up long enough to stop adding to it.
Kim: “:…when will you fools finally give up Hansen?”
When will you fools finally give up your cycles?
When will we fools finally give up our cycles?
When the wind don’t blow and the grass don’t grow, and the sun don’t shine . . .
wattsupwiththat (06:11:04) :
REPLY: Thank you Joel, the goal is to be able to disagree, without being disagreeable. – Anthony
That is the essence of what, (Watt), makes this blog great!
Thank you Anthony & congratulations. I know it’s just a bit of fun, but it must give you a nice warm feeling 🙂
DaveE.
Congratulations Anthony, you deserve the award.
Also congratulations to Dr. Hansen, bless his heart.
Graciousness toward Hansen is neither deserved nor appropriate. It is not a matter of disagreement. We are dealing with an individual who crossed the line from mere advocacy to obsessiveness some time ago. His testimony on behalf of vandals in the UK alone qualifies him as dangerous to the rule of law. His call for trials for those whose companies produce CO2 moved him toward ideological alignment with terrorists who seek to destroy us because of their disagreements with our way of life. His contempt for those who disagree with him puts him squarely in the tradition of the long human history of intolerance.
No, there is a point where well intended civility is no longer a reasonable course for civilized people. Self defense is.
Congratulations, of course!
And I have to say, I’m in agreement with Noblesse Oblige on the Hansen thing.
Have you guys seen this…
Ecofascists Losing War
http://giovanniworld.wordpress.com/2009/01/16/ecofascists-losing-war/
It seems as if the Alarmists are not happy!
Gio-
Ooh the irony! An anti-science wackaloon wins the award for “Best Science Blog”.
[REPLY – Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that both sides of the argument are freely allowed and (relatively speaking) respectfully debated. Just a thought. ~ Evan.]
Yes Sman almost as ironic as non scientists coming to this blog and telling the readers, who in large numbers are real scientists, that Anthony is a an anti-science wackaloon.
I am embarassed for the AMS for their choice of the great fabricator of the GISS data. Even though he did bring huge quantities of grant money into the field, it is sad that they were willing to sell their integrity. I wonder though was the choice made by a handful of political types or the actual membership? For the kind of bucks that is being thrown at AGW I wonder how many organizations would have problems with preserving their scientific integrity. Hmm… I wonder if APS gives him an award maybe we could afford a new building or better yet we could cut the price of our journals to something a person can afford even if his school doesn’t pay the bill.
Soon we will have the rediculous fraud of cap and trade right here in the USA thanks to Mr. Waxman and his whole crew; despite a brutal current winter which follows last winter which was the coldest in a generation. I wonder how clueles can they be?
I’m sorry but James Hansen getting a Carl-Gustaf Rossby Research Medal from the American Meteorological Society is like Trofim Lysenko receiving the USSR’s highest honor for his research into genetics.
If I was a member of the AMS, I’d be thoroughly embarassed.
Fantastic!
Congratulations!
We opened a bottle of MOËT & CHANDON in your honour. Félicitations!
J.K. said
I will tell you that I’m happy you won the science category. It’s nice to see someone I voted for actually win for a change! 🙂
Seconded. You received almost all my votes, though I must admit I voted for Mr McIntyre’s equally excellent site once I was sure that you were in an unbeatable position. A well-deserved win for an interesting, informative, instructive and above all civilized site. May it go from strength to strenth.
Ooh the irony! An anti-science wackaloon wins the award for “Best Science Blog”.
Actually Smantroll, if you want anti-science wackaloons you want to be over at DeSmugblinkered or any number of other pseudoscientific climate alarmist sites seething with rage now because they’re losing, and they know it. More and more people are waking up to the fact that AGW/CC is nothing but a huge fraud. This site is a testament to that fact, as well as the fact that here, unlike the alarmist sites, honest, respectful debate is welcomed, which is how science advances. But, I guess you wouldn’t know, or even care anything about that.
Congratulations Anthony and everyone here on the deserved award.
It can only be for the good of us all.
I can not agree with you regarding J Hansen though.
Surely that award is not for the good of science, or good science,
or how it will effect us all.
Which is the bigger picture surely.
An anti-science wackaloon wins the award for “Best Science Blog”.
M
Sman, I don’t think that a blog where the blogger writes about himself driving a nail through the eucharistia and throwing it in the wastebin has anything to do with the science as well. Maybe next time it should be nominated under the Atheism heading, but hardly under science as such.
They confuse AGW skepticism with creationism and flat earthers. Little do they understand that the AGW true believers are the new deniers of climate realism. It’s highly ironic.
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Congrats Anthony albeit late!
May your work be an inspiration to spawn more real science blogs next year, as Steve Mac’s was to you this year. After having surveyed all the runners-up, I’m awfully aware we need more real science!
An anti-science wackaloon Sman, if you are a scientist yourself I would expect you to start from the material to hand, to comment on the evidence. To me, your own words do not sound like a scientist’s observations. My observations show me that the scientific attitude is like Brighton rock: it goes right through the whole personality, wherever you cut it.
it goes right through TENDS to go right through, I should have said!
Well done Anthony.
While I disagree (with good reason) with much of what is said on your blog site, I recognize that WUWT is a place to get an alternative view to what the preponderance of research is saying about the phrase “climate change’ (popularised Frank Lundz).
I commend you for recognizing Jim Hansen; unfortunately this won’t go down well with many contributors here.
OT maybe, but let us (humanity) hope that Obama and his team take a more proactive approach to the real global issues of climate change.