UPDATE! See this new press release: AGU backs away from “climate rapid response team” citing faulty reporting
Gosh. A “Climate rapid response team” from Minnesota? What will they be armed with? Wits and a hockey stick? So far that hasn’t worked out too well. From the Chicago Tribune:
Climate scientists plan campaign against global-warming skeptics
The American Geophysical Union plans to announce Monday that 700 researchers have agreed to speak out on the issue. The effort is a pushback against congressional conservatives who have vowed to kill regulations on greenhouse gas emissions.
Faced with rising political attacks, hundreds of climate scientists are joining a broad campaign to push back against congressional conservatives who have threatened prominent researchers with investigations and vowed to kill regulations to rein in man-made greenhouse gas emissions.
The still-evolving efforts reveal a shift among climate scientists, many of whom have traditionally stayed out of politics and avoided the news media. Many now say they are willing to go toe-to-toe with their critics, some of whom gained new power after the Republicans won control of the House in last Tuesday’s election.
On Monday, the American Geophysical Union, the country’s largest association of climate scientists, plans to announce that 700 climate scientists have agreed to speak out as experts on questions about global warming and the role of man-made air pollution.
Some are prepared to go before what they consider potentially hostile audiences on conservative talk-radio and television shows.
John Abraham of St. Thomas University in Minnesota, who last May wrote a widely disseminated response to climate-change skeptics, is pulling together a “Climate Rapid Response Team,” which so far has more than three dozen leading scientists to defend the consensus on global warming in the scientific community. Some are also pulling together a handbook on the human causes of climate change, which they plan to start sending to U.S. high schools as early as this fall.
“This group feels strongly that science and politics can’t be divorced and that we need to take bold measures to not only communicate science but also to aggressively engage the denialists and politicians who attack climate science and its scientists,” said Scott Mandia, professor of physical sciences at Suffolk County Community College in New York.
“We are taking the fight to them because we are … tired of taking the hits. The notion that truth will prevail is not working. The truth has been out there for the past two decades, and nothing has changed.”
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Heh, that last sentence pretty well sums it up. Read the whole article here.
I find the phrase “climate rapid response team” a bit of an oxymoron. Given the speed of climate change, did they mean “weather response team”? 😉
Well it looks like I and many of my associates be traveling more. When these guys come to your town, demand some equal time to present the skeptic side of the story.
h/t to WUWT Reader “Craig” in tips and notes.
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John P. Abraham
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Associate Professor Email: jpabraham@stthomas.edu Phone: 651-962-5766 Toll Free: (800) 328-6819, Ext. 651-962-5766 Mail OSS101 2115 Summit Ave. St. Paul, MN 55105 Office Location: OSS 107 |
Lulo says:
November 8, 2010 at 9:33 am
Some think that science and politics are each others’ servants, apparently, based on this following comment, as a matter of feeling.
“This group feels strongly that science and politics can’t be divorced and that we need to take bold measures to not only communicate science but also to aggressively engage the denialists and politicians who attack climate science and its scientists,” said Scott Mandia, professor of physical sciences at Suffolk County Community College in New York.
Science however is very cold, impartial and clinical, has nothing to do with politics or group feeling. This is where Galileo incurred the wrath of the church for being a renegade against what that group happened to feel, and this is what we have had to start again today, after some 250 years of impartial scientific thinking, which shows signs of going into abeyance.
Oh, I forgot! the murder robot from out of space is called Gorth, or was it Goreth? 😉 Only one thing can stop it:
This made the front page of the Sacramento Bee. I think this is the first time I have seen any newspaper article discussing the Climategate scandal on the front page. Phrases like “unabashed activists, climate misinformation, and scientist surpressed information, make me , if you pardon the expression, feel warm all over!!
I’ll be interested in seeing what t
Here is John Abraham on the Guardian- 8th November 2010
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/cif-green/2010/nov/08/climate-science-bad-information
I’ve been a member of AGU for 35 years. In recent years I have observed that the organization was becoming somewhat political. I never expected this but in hindsight I’m not much surprised. It’s distressing.
Food prices have almost doubled due to the ethanol craze, which was promoted by Abraham types: click.
Abraham is a complete coward, taking pot shots from the safety of his ivory tower and protected by tenure. Those agreeing with him aren't much different in their character.
Vince Causey says:
November 8, 2010 at 9:32 am
Number 7 IT IS NOT A “MYSTIC” NUMBER, 1/7=0.142857
Now divide Sin y (between 0 and 90 degrees) /0.142857 and you will get pH ! at the correspondent angle (the same angle at which ANION and CATION actually ARE at that pH in the solution).
See: http://www.scribd.com/doc/40514613/Unified-Field-Explained-8
There is no MYSTICS behind, but lack of knowledge.
It sounds like you dislike a certain segment of society. I can see no other reason for such ad hominem. This indicates intolerance towards others. But please, lets hear what you have to say…
Scientists are human beings like anyone else. They require air to breathe, and food to eat. They also, just like any other human being, love the easy life if they can get it; nice homes, quiet neighborhoods, and the right kind of intellectual fame wherever they can grab it. This isn’t a fault on them as much as it is human nature. The history of science is full of examples of good scientists/mathematicians being ignored by history because a bigger-ego scientist pushed his name on slight changes of what was mostly someone else’s work.
For a good example, See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gottfried_Leibniz
Or a better example, look up the history of the discovery of nuclear fission where a woman was FROZEN OUT of being awarded a prize for its discovery by egotistical men.
For a painful real-life example, try getting yourself a post-doc position at CERN. You’ll quickly see how political science can become.
Actually, this is entirely wrong, entirely. Anyone who has worked with PhD’s in a laboratory can tell you this: they are prone to the same mistakes as anyone else, but more often than with people with lesser-degrees, their ego wont let them ask for help or advice on how to take data. A great example from a friend is the PhD who upon not understanding how to get a fragile stainless-steel liquid helium transfer line into a dewar (because he was short and didn’t see the stepladder), decided that he would bend it to fit it down into the tank (that’s a true story). Of course he couldn’t do this when the real lab rats were around, that might make him look bad, so it was left for them to discover the next morning.
The reality is the human intellect is not unlike our own capacity for physical strength. It increases the more you use it, not necessarily because of how many pieces of paper you have on the wall. I’ve met some people that are clearly smarter than I am, who have no college degree or fewer degrees, and yes I defer to them on things they clearly understand better.
I will quote Tex Winter, and by proxy Phil Jackson who uses Tex’s wisdom in his book:
“You are only successful for that moment when you have completed a successful task.”
The point is, yes, achievements are commendable.. But, like glory, they are fleeting. For instance, America can wave a flag and cheer over the fact that we went to the moon through taxpayer funded efforts. However we’ve done nothing of any value to human inspiration on that scale (and subject) in going on 5 decades now. In short, the landing of men on the moon has quite sadly almost passed into irrelevance, and will soon. All that because America rested on its laurels and did not appreciate the very in-the-present nature of accomplishment.
We would all be wise to keep these things in mind..
Jeremy says:
November 8, 2010 at 10:42 am
You will find, someday of course, that there are big differences. A lot of stupids does not justifies stupidity but encourages us to diminish it. A lot of slaves does not justify slavery but encourages us to free them all.
OddSox says:
November 8, 2010 at 9:30 am
From the AGU web site: “AGU membership encompasses more than 58,000 individuals from over 135 countries.” Wow, 700 members out of 58,000! That’s more than one percent!
Indeed. But to repeat myself (from November 8, 2010 at 2:04 am) it isn’t 700. They just announced that bogus target number to fool people…
“In the week that Abraham and others have been marshaling the team, 39 scientists agreed to participate…”
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/la-na-climate-scientists-20101108,0,3784003.story
They should really call it the Climate Rapid Action Project (CRAP) to capture its full meaning.
P Wilson says:
November 8, 2010 at 10:02 am
Science however is very cold, impartial and clinical, has nothing to do with politics or group feeling. This is where Galileo incurred the wrath of the church for being a renegade against what that group happened to feel, and this is what we have had to start again today, after some 250 years of impartial scientific thinking, which shows signs of going into abeyance.
#
Not to be a contrarian, but your understanding of history bears the bias historians have passed down to you. It makes for a great Anti-Christian Anti-Catholic narrative. The whole Galileo thing was political. The Catholic Church of Rome was in a battle for the moral high ground with the Reformers, many of whom were more interested in power then piety. If the Church went along with the Helio-Centric solar system ( which many churchman including Cardinals would have liked), then the Protestants would have been all over them. The issue was engineered to go away, and to let science prevail quietly, but Galileo opened his big mouth, satirized the church, stabbed the Pope in the back, and made it a purely political issue.
Al Gored,
I am so stealing that acronym!☺
I believe “For The Truth” is correct, at least as far as I am concerned. I have achieved nothing compared to those climate scientists he supports.
I have not been prepared to sacrifice my integrity to foist junk science on the governements of the world.
I have not followed that up by demanding that the global populous have their pockets emptied in the name of that junk or have their quality of life destroyed for the same false claims.
Nor have I engaged them in debate as they are requesting but that is not for want of trying. Most here will know what happens to posts on realclimate when you dont stay “on message”
I have failed to get responses from two prime ministers, two energy ministers, the BBC, The Daily Telegraph, The Independant and most frustrating of all, from the chief scientific adviser to the governement on climate change. I caught him telling provable lies at a London debate and I asked him to bring a libel action against me or retract and of course I got neither.
John Abraham has the credibility of a Smurf. He’s the perfect poster child for the foolishness.
This statement is laughable:
“Some are also pulling together a handbook on the human causes of climate change, which they plan to start sending to U.S. high schools as early as this fall.”
K-12 requires educational material to be fact checked and aligned to State Standards. Unless they are going to pitch the literature as fiction, they can be sued for circulating propaganda to the K-12 class-room.
I’m looking forward to who they use to fact check the material but doubt any K-12 teacher in the USA will do anything other than throw the propaganda away.
The climate consensus brigade plus the World Wild Life lot plus the governements of the world need to have another look at a fact that seems to have passed them by.
A rogue asteroid or the eruption of a super volcano could destroy all life on the surface of the planet tomorrow. A fast approaching ice age could also get close.
Of all the species on the planet (save the snail, save the whale, thanks George Carlin) Man is the only one with the potential to develop the technology that just might prevent that destruction.
I say save the human race, encourage economic growth and support technological advance.
Ahh yes… “For The Truth”…
Every once in a while a website or blog or forum evokes the kind of manic-eyed rant that is a true classic. This one is a contender. We got “redneck”, “oil company”, “scientists are smart”, “scientists are noble”, “you’re stupid”, all in one post. It was truly a tour de force of foaming at the mouth.
Unfortunately it fell a bit far behind in the substance category. For example, where is the actual detail on this “health care” claim? Most productive members of society already have health care, and I can’t really see how calling out a few dishonest “climate scientists” has taken away health care. But I quibble.
Personally, I prefer “For The Shire!” as a rallying cry.
When I first read the header tag on this article, I actually thought that a “Climate Rapid Response team “was going to be something positive, as in a group helping flood victims or perhaps a research team, conducting more experiments in global climate…..but no, it’s the “Scientific “equivalent of a central American Death Squad!
Retraction from AGU?
“AGU has no plans to attack climate skeptics, contrary to reports”
source: http://wwwp.dailyclimate.org/tdc-newsroom/2010/11/agu
Smokey says:
November 8, 2010 at 11:39 am
Hope there is not any “Gore” (blood shed) in the future because of this dispute….
Got a good idea to avoid them to panic: Buy some “pacifiers” and start using them!!
Cry Havoc!… and let slip the dogma of warming.
[REPLY – Great Caesar’s Ghost will get you for that. ~ Evan]
Russ Blake says:
November 8, 2010 at 10:21 am
This made the front page of the Sacramento Bee. I think this is the first time I have seen any newspaper article discussing the Climategate scandal on the front page. Phrases like “unabashed activists, climate misinformation, and scientist surpressed information, make me , if you pardon the expression, feel warm all over!!
I’ll be interested in seeing what t
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Uh oh, looks like the climate rapid response team got to Russ before he could post the link !!!!
Nope Galileo didn’t stab anybody, “in the back”, or any other place, at least as far as we know.
And Giordano Bruno? What’s your excuse for the Catholic Church burning him to death?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giordano_Bruno
The religious have been torturing to death, and slaughtering millions in more efficient ways, for millennia. It’s time it stopped.
Religion, all religion, is applied ignorance..
Stop making excuses for religious crimes.
News flash. The stories were BS. Wishful thinking on the part of a couple of alarmists.
“Inaccurate news reports misrepresent a climate-science initiative of the American Geophysical Union”
http://www.agu.org/news/press/pr_archives/2010/2010-37.shtml