UPDATE: I’m happy to report that Steve writes in with an update on the tragic accident that sent him to New Zealand. It is good news. – Anthony
UPDATE2: Steve asked me to intervene, saying he had issues with the renewal of the domain. I intervened with the domain registrar last night, paid the outstanding bill, and all is working again today (Sunday). – Anthony
My inbox has exploded in the short time I went out for coffee this morning. Steve McIntyre’s Climate Audit is now going to a park page for Aplus.net
1. No, it hasn’t been hacked.
2. Steve simply forgot (or didn’t get a reminder email) to renew his annual domain name fee. I set it up for him back in 2009 after Climategate but he gets the email notices and is billed to pay for the fee. He must have missed them, or is traveling again and out of touch, or his credit card date expired.
3. Stuff happens. Patience.
4. For the moment, I have set it to use climateaudit.wordpress.com rather than climateaudit.org. Simply click on the link above and you’ll see all is well. You may need to refresh / clear your DNS cache or reboot to see it.
UPDATE:
5. Dr. Ross McKitrick tells me via email:
He’s in NZ dealing with an emergency. His daughter was seriously injured in a swimming accident and underwent lifesaving surgery. She’s recovering but they’ll be there for a while yet.
I’ll attempt to renew the domain name myself with the hosting company.
6. The domain appears to have been renewed, it appears Steve is on it already:
Domain ID:D105658560-LROR Domain Name:CLIMATEAUDIT.ORG Created On:31-Jan-2005 13:07:55 UTC Last Updated On:02-Feb-2013 08:41:20 UTC Expiration Date:31-Jan-2014 13:07:55 UTC
It will take about 8 hours for the DNS to update. I’ll set it back to the primary domain then in the wordpress.com dashboard.
I wish Steve and his family Godspeed, as I’m sure the entire Skeptical community does. I’ll have updates when/if I know anything further.
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UPDATE2: Steve writes in to me (along with Lucia and Andrew Montford) with this update:
Thanks for the kind wishes. Here is an update on Emily’s excellent progress from a couple of days ago that we sent to family and family friends, in which I should have included you. It has been harrowing. She broke and dislocated her neck (C5 vertebra) in a swimming accident plus concussion. Many people do not walk away from the hospital after such an injury; the risk was permanent paralysis. She is an adventurous girl. She spent last winter snowboarding in northern Kashmir near Taliban country, sometimes hearing gunshots. The injury occurred in a relatively innocuous situation, horsing around on a beach. We left Canada about two weeks ago fearing the worst. I’ll be returning this week. Emily’s recall appointment is in 2 weeks. She had a New Zealand health card and her direct costs have been covered.
Cheers, Steve
It is unclear to me if Steve wanted me to include the much longer update or not, so in deference to privacy, I’m not including it. Suffice it to say that his daughter stands to make a full recovery and will be discharged from the hospital tomorrow. – Anthony
A close call! I’m so glad she is alright. Very best wishes from this house.
Thanks for the update, Anthony. Whew! Glad she’s going to be OK. I’m sure it’s been a harrowing time for the whole McIntyre family. Happy to hear the good news.
In case it’s helpful–I too had a swimming accident that resulted in avulsing nerves C5 and a nearby one. From that moment I was unable to lift my arm above my shoulder, and the shoulder muscles gradually atrophied. The doctors said all I could do was hope the nerves would reconnect, but if it didn’t happen in 6 months, the likelihood was permanent damage. 9 months later, they apparently did reconnect and a full recovery ensued. Sounds like Emily is doing fine, but if there is any similarity to our cases and a long period of no apparent improvement occurs, there is still hope.
Best wishes to you and your family. I lost my son and daughter-in-law to a accident 14 years ago. I am so glad that your daughter’s accident turned out better.
Best wishes from all of us here Finland.
Best wishes to Steve and his family from a fellow Torontonian. Varco’s idea is a good one – I’ll follow suit, perhaps it will help pay a few unexpected bills.
All the best, Steve and Family.
Yikes! Damaged vertebra from a swimming accident? New Zealand must have very hard water indeed!
Best wishes, glad there was no permanent damage.
Well done Anthony.
Best Wishes!
I hope she recovers fully.
Back in 1983 I worked a summer as an x-ray escort at a hospital. One patient that was in for testing was a young lady of about 20 that was a paraplegic. Senior high school class trip to Miami. Went head first into the ocean and a wave pushed her down and she hit her head on the bottom. Broken neck. She really was a remarkable person. She had been very athletic yet she seemed to have adjusted as well as one could to her life changing situation.
I do not believe that I would have been able to do so if it had happened to me.
Our sincere wishes for Steve’s Daughters full recovery.
Best wishes to Steve’s daughter and the whole family. “Adventurous” does indeed sound like an apt description of her and hopefully the spirit of determination and adventure with which she approaches her life will help her in making a full and speedy recovery from this accident.
Best wishes for her complete and speedy recovery.
Our children never leave our hearts and no matter where or what they are doing we will do all we can for them.
May God bless Steve and his family at this time.
James Bull
Here’s to you Steve, Emily and the whole McIntyre family and Anthony and your family – from the “Skeptical community” (I love that phrase!) in & around Cleveland, Ohio. I never broke a C5, or any vertebrae, so will simply wish all the best with Emily’s perilous recovery. I look forward to hearing only good news about brave Emily’s constant progress.
The world owes an incredible lot to the Steves and Anthonys of the “Skeptical community”. Your families are particularly important to us all – and with the “community’s” tendency toward independence I know we all, well, will continue to contribute a fair amount of “color” to our “community” – heads up!
How awful. I hope Steve’s daughter makes a swift and full recovery.
Very best wishes to Emily for a rapid recovery, and to Steve and family that they get over the shock. That’s terrific news that Emily’s doing so well, she must be a pretty tough cookie.
Accidents like this really put you back in touch with what’s most important in life, and never gently.
Best wishes for a speedy recovery.
Take whatever time you need – family matters!
Best wishes for Ms. Emily McIntyre’s recovery.
Glad to hear Ms Emily is going to have a full recovery. The McIntyre family must have been horrified at the initial news.
Best wishes for a speedy and uneventful recovery.
On the bright side for Steve, it has got to be wonderfully warm this month in New Zealand’s summer compared to Canada’s winter.
Take care.
John
Pray for a speedy recovery for Emily and hope she gets back to normal soon. Our prayers are with the McIntyre Family.
My best wishes for Emily and all of Steve McIntyre’s family.
http://climateaudit.wordpress.com/ is accessible through Open DNS at 10:50 EDT.
Anyone who has been through a terrible family accident knows how it has been for Steve. It is very encouraging news that Emily is on the mend – the first few days are an excellent predictor of the long term outcome. His integrity is a model for the scientific community and his daughter seems to be as impervious to danger as he is to abuse
May the adventurous lady long continue to have adventures, and her parents be blessed with the future absence of such harrowing emergency travel. Best wishes from Belgium and appreciation for true friends. Because friends help other friends when the need arises.
UPDATE: Steve asked me to intervene, saying he had issues with the renewal of the domain. I intervened with the domain registrar last night, paid the outstanding bill, and all is working again today (Sunday). – Anthony