We mentioned before how we thought John Cook’s Hiroshima bomb global warming comparator sidebar widget for websites was ridiculous propaganda. True to form, yesterday the SkS Kidz tried to elevate the application status by creating what appears to be a fake “hack”, complete with a gussied up timeline of them supposedly solving the issue.
Of course, from my viewpoint, there was no hack at all, it was simply a juvenile attempt to draw attention to their widget by adding a collection of bogus metrics such as kitten sneezes, bovine flatulence, Santa chimney excursions, cheeseburgers, and yes, even “twerking” as these energy expenditures supposedly relate to heat collecting in the atmosphere. The hope was that it would generate some concern, maybe some outrage, which would translate to some news coverage. I’ve seen PR tricks like this before, and this wasn’t even a good one.
The dead giveaway is the way they describe the hack in the post about it. Gone are the concerned, simmering hushed condemnations we are used to hearing with their last embarrassment on the Internet, instead we get descriptions of each metric added with this bit of praise:
The bovine flatulence metric appears to get the total methane production from Methane Emissions from Cattle, by Johnson and Johnson, 1995, which puts the figure at 80 teragrams per year. The energy released by combusting methane is easy to find. Of course, this doesn’t account for increases in cattle populations in the past twenty years.
Other figures are easier to verify. The hacker at least seems to have done his (or her) homework.
But twerking by itself is just plain wrong. Mixing twerking with science is an abomination.
The comments left on the post also indicate some, but not all, figured out this “hack” was bogus. This was co-written by the same Bob Lacatena that supposedly had the previous SkS hack all figured out, only to be mocked by Lucia in six parts.
As Mark Steyn described in his uncertainty over Bill McKibben’s recent call for climate scientists to go on strike:
But I had to read this piece twice just to make sure it wasn’t one of those leaden April Fool’s jests the author can’t quite pull off.
In the case of this post from the SkS kids “…leaden April Fool’s jests the author can’t quite pull off.” sums it up pretty well in my opinion.
This PR widget was already ridiculous with Hiroshima bombs, now this lame attempt to bring attention to it on April Fools Day simply elevates their work to desperation status.
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Crook’s Hiroshima bomb & kitten sneeze widget is a joke every day of the year, not just April fools.
http://hockeyschtick.blogspot.com/search?q=hiroshima
I am left without words . ;>(
Sorry I will still Not Bother to visits SS.
There is enough rubbish in my life already.
Humor has to have a degree of truth to it. That is why it failed.
We need a widget for “missing Hiroshima Bombs”. The amounts that climate science originally forecast to be accumulating each year versus the amount that is actually happening and is then “missing”. Like most things in climate science, the amount missing is about 70% of that forecasted.
What is SkS? I did a search and couldn’t find anything credible via the results. Is there something I am missing here on page 30 or something?
If you convert Hiroshimas to W/m^2 it comes out to only 0.5 for the last 17 years, or only about 25% of the direct forcing of 1.94W/m^2 since preindustrial. This is NOT a widget for alarm, it is one for low sensitivity.
Sounds like 234,198.09878 Tempests in a Teapot to me.
I believe SkS inadvertently laid bear the ludicrousness of his H. bombs of energy by the equally acceptable kitten sneezes. Hey, why not. At least it would give them a human heart.
WUWT, Why draw attention to the SS kids?
Anthony/Mods… Delete this post after reading. Just an fyi…
Extra letter in word in first sentence: “Hiromshima” Drop middle “m”
[Done. Thank you. Mod]
There is a Russian saying that goes along the lines;
“A good joke is 10% joke and 90% true.”
This is not even 1% true which is why it fails as a joke.
Every day is April Fools at SkS.
Why is this website along with other alarmists bullshit always featured here?
“Mixing twerking with science is an abomination.”
Probably, but then there’s very little science at Skeptical Science to mix it with.
I’m Skeptical that man made CO2 is causing global warming, Climate Change is NOT exclusively anthropogenic.
When you’re as irrelevant as SkS, it can seem like you’re on your own planet in a foreign reality … and looney can seem sane … this AGW cult is really out there.
high-brow PR antics!
VIDEO 14.33: 1 April: Bloomberg TV: Global Warming Effects: Jeffrey Sachs, Michael Mann
On today’s “Charlie Rose,” a look at global warming and its effects which recently made headlines. Penn State professor Michael Mann, director of the Earth Institute Jeffrey Sachs and Princeton professor Michael Oppenheimer speak…
http://www.bloomberg.com/video/global-warming-effects-charlie-rose-04-01-8yMvdUaoT6Kt9Zd4WWiz7Q.html
Yup. Arrested puberty
SkS- hmmm… sounds like a Communist- developed weapon of conquest.
Ad-hoc hacks from a bunch of hicks…. Hick hoc hacks.
Yes Alan Robertson, that’s true but the picture is a Chinese Copy of The Russian Developed, “Samozariadnyia Karabina Simonova” (translated as “Russian military carbine”). Of course SKS has other meanings, but Cook’s Skeptical Science rarely has any meaning for me.
Other verified meanings for the abbreviation SKS include ….
Abbr. Meaning
SKS Szkolny Klub Sportowy (Polish: School Sports Club)
SKS Some Kind Soul
SKS Vojens Lufthavn, Denmark – Jojens (Airport Code)
SKS Snow King Special (Polaris Snowmobiles)
SKS Suomen Kartografinen Seura (Cartographic Society of Finland)
SKS Syarikat Kejuruteraan Sistematik Sdn Bhd (Brunei)
SKS Strany Konzervativní Smlouvy
SKS St Kevin’s School (Gold Coast, Australia)
SKS Stanley Knowles School (Winnipeg, MB, Canada)
SKS Svalbard KLM SDS Station
SKS Sustainable Knowledge Society (information science)
SKS Swayam Krushi Sangha
SKS Shanghai Krupp Stainless (Shanghia, China)
SKS SIRS Knowledge Source (ProQuest software)
SKS Smart Key System (cars)
There are a host of other known casual or “unverified meanings”
Shelby Kate Schmitz
Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura
Self Knowledge Symposium
Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seuran
Satuan Kredit Semester
Sistem Kredit Semester
Storm King School
Sigma Kappa Sigma
Stock for Standard
Skaitos Kompiuteriu Servisas
Szkolnego Klubu Sportowego
South Kent School
Skandinaviska Killi Saellskapet
Same Key System
Storage Key Storage
Schiff Kreidler Shell
Swayam Krishi Sangam
Survival Knife System
Sintrale Kommisje Skûtsjesilen
Sistem Kebut Semalam
Samaj Kalyan Sangstha
Sate Khas Senayan
Suomen Kansan Sinivalkoiset
Svenska Kemistsamfundet Swedish
Solar King Supply
Superconducting Kaon Spectrometer
Shwachman-Kulczycki score
sulfated keratan sulfate
Synchronizing Key Server
Sistem Kebut Semalem
Straight Key Standard
Schweizer Kavallerie Schwadron
Smart Kids Software
Slovenski Katehetski Svet
Single Kernel Simulation
Stocks and Shotgun
swayam krishi sangham
Sigma Kappa Sorority
Stop Kindersex Stop
Stichting Karnaval Steenbergen
Samozaryadnyi Karabin Sistemi
Sayoc Kali Silak
Skandinavisk Killi Selskab
Stapler Kran Service
Sintrale Kommisje Skutsjesilen
Sea Kayak Specialists
Scanning Kinetic Spectroscopy
Special Knowledge and Skills
Studentpartiet Kommunpartiet Studenterna
SuRgiCaL KiLLinG SprEE
Shariket Kahraba Skikda
Spatial Knowledge Systems
Schlamm Kompostierungs System
Silent Killing Squad
Sena Kalyan Sangstha
Solar Kombi Speicher
Smart Kids Savers
Symmetric Key Services
Segel Kameradschaft Scheppen
sight korsak svd
Samaj Kallyan Samity
Samaj Kallyan Sangstha
Shearing Knife Sheath
Studencki Komitet Solidarnosci
Sealed Knot Society
Sacramento Kings Sports
Samuel Kass Sam
Senhit Keren Seraye
Shaikh Kahlifa bin Salman
Staceyjoy Knitting Stitch
Stunt Kites in Sweden
Sundance Kayak School
Suzuki Katana Specials
Switzerland Karten der Schweiz
Science Killing Scoundrel
No doubt there are further possibilities.
These boobs say:
Heh, some environmentalists. The USEPA just released an updated methane inventory, including enteric emissions from cattle, methane contributions from manure etc.
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/Downloads/ghgemissions/US-GHG-Inventory-2014-Main-Text.pdf
Just hack happy at SKS, the sound of one hand clapping or just heads exploding, situation as usual at the abnormal tree house, I feel another Josh cartoon coming on.
Could have been worse, their toy box might, maybe, perhaps, been broken into and their favourite dress up costumes taken.