WUWT recently passed the 150 million counter mark as seen of the right sidebar.
By Christopher Monckton of Brenchley
The world’s most viewed site on global warming goes from strength to strength, and its audience grows with it. Let me be the first to congratulate Anthony and his team on 150 million hits. No one on the other side of the case even comes close. It’s no longer cool to be warmist, and they know it.
The differences between WUWT and sites such as these are interesting.
- It puts more emphasis on hard-headed assessments of what has happened than on the fanciful predictions of what might happen that are their mainstay.
- It discusses the science and economics of the climate debate, accessibly but in depth. They don’t do much science; and, when they do, their prejudices are so quaveringly intense that they distort it.
- It does not take sides. It displays a genuine interest in all sides of the debate, and allows them space. They don’t do that.
- It does not, as they do, sullenly refuse to post every comment that is critical of it. It allows both sides to be fairly heard.
- It is tolerant of all but the most persistent and malicious trolls.
- It is transparently, persistently, meticulously honest. Mistakes are admitted and corrected swiftly.
- It is up to date. It posts more items daily than some of them post in a month.
- It is on topic. Occasional departures are allowed, when something catches Anthony’s ever-interested eye, or when Willis is in story-telling mode, but otherwise you know what you are going to get.
- It isn’t subsidized. They have taxpayers’ money thrown at them to flog the long-dead horse of global warming. It gets by, but it does not reward Anthony at even a tenth the rate he deserves.
- It is beautifully polished. Running any blog is hard work. Running a seriously good blog is even harder than running a restaurant. You have to be there just about every day. You have to keep the content and the quality up.
Above all, it is a cracking good read. Long may it and its genial host flourish. On to a billion hits. Justin Dribbler, eat your heart out.
[Note: This is an unsolicited praise by Monckton, and while I appreciate the sentiments expressed, I can still do better in many areas and I will strive to do so. Monckton writes: “It displays a genuine interest in all sides of the debate, and allows them space.” That’s true, I’ll allow guest submissions that are on-topic, within site policy, and courteous, even if they may be on the opposite side of the prevailing thinking here. – Anthony]
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Jimbo says:
June 12, 2013 at 5:25 pm
Brian says:
June 12, 2013 at 4:59 pm
I find it strange that wattsupwiththat is so popular, but the facebook page only has 7,000 likes. I guess WUWT viewers don’t have facebook accounts.
I think WUWT joined a bit late in the game, but catching up. Twitter too.
====
Well, given Obama’s past, I’m more inclined to just delete Facebook account so that I won’t be targeted for my beliefs. Actually, I did that last year after hearing rumors. Turns out to be true… Just be careful. I get the feeling that the CAGW skepticals are next as Obama is gearing up for carbon tax…
Tolerant, up to date and beautifully polished. Can’t disagree with that. The willingness of the people on this site to engage those who disagree is amazing. The amount of quality posts is incredible. Great work Anthony et al.
Facebook is used mostly by young folks as a social network. I have an account but only in order to blog – what else it is used for i care not and never bothered to find out. Facebook the company and its CEO Zuckerberg are utter disasters in the world of business.
Two big pluses that Christopher Monckton omitted:
1. WUWT has reference pages for all the available up to date data that is relevant to climate. WUWT is not afraid to post the actual data in real time while having no control over it.
2. WUWT provides links to all known climate blogs, including those on the ‘other side’.
One thing that Chris Monckton touched on, but needs restating, is the work ethic required to keep a show like this on the road. Day in, day out – year in, year out. It’s a hard and unglamorous slog. I want to thank Anthony’s family for supporting him in what must often have seemed a monumental waste of time and money.
Part of the success has been in attracting volunteers – whether moderators, contributors or participants in the Surface Stations project. There are many charismatic identities who attract volunteers, of course. But, I hope that Anthony will forgive me for saying that, despite having good hair and a nice face, he’s no Southern Baptist preacher in terms of charisma. Otherwise, he could have retired years ago : ).
Very best wishes to you and your family, Anthony. And, we are all anxiously awaiting an update from Kenji on the latest goings-on in the Union of Concerned Scientists. What gives?
Betapug says (June 12, 2013 at 5:25 pm): “For the curious (the very definition of a WUWT visitor), the answer to the Facebook question is here [snip]”
I couldn’t go near Facebook again after it got the South Park treatment (episode 1404):
OK, that’s a lie. I’m just jealous because a Lord has friended Anthony and not me. 🙁
I also much prefer the longer, complete, sentenced conversation (being a teacher, file that under “duh”). Texting language, as in “efrigfvjmn r u 2 eie sioeor5 $#%” does not work for me unless I have a translator. Twitter sentences, even complete ones, beg for complexity, voice and word choice. Facebook accounts seem overly “Aren’t I just the coolest thing, please like me”. I love the longer, scientifically dry articles and paragraphed commentary structures used here.
That said, I sometimes rif and jam in my comments. Keeps me young.
anthony –
many thanx to u and your family for allowing u to pursue this site. it must be extremely time-consuming, but it is much appreciated as the numbers show.
has anyone posted this?
13 June: Bloomberg: Mark Drajem: Obama Quietly Raises ‘Carbon Price’ as Costs to Climate Increase
Buried in a little-noticed rule on microwave ovens is a change in the U.S. government’s accounting for carbon emissions that could have wide-ranging implications for everything from power plants to the Keystone XL pipeline.
The increase of the so-called social cost of carbon, to $38 a metric ton in 2015 from $23.80, adjusts the calculation the government uses to weigh costs and benefits of proposed regulations…
“As we learn that climate damage is worse and worse, there is no direction they could go but up,” Laurie Johnson, chief economist for climate at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said in an interview. Johnson says the administration should go further; she estimates the carbon cost could be as much as $266 a ton…
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-12/tougher-regulations-seen-from-obama-change-in-carbon-cost.html
Brian says:
“I guess WUWT viewers don’t have facebook accounts.”
You guess correctly. Like other commentators above, I also do not have a Facebook account.
I’m very thankful to Watts, Monckton and all the blogs, researchers, scientists, intellectuals and all interested parties who have worked tirelessly and with little thanks or recognition from much of the world to keep the debate honest, to present a broad view, to inject some common sense and to force even staunch AGW proponents to be more critical and disciplined in their thinking and research. Any criticisms could have been, would have been dismissed or ignored entirely if not for your efforts and your willingness to be on the front lines and endure the relentless smears.
Congratulations – I’m confident you have made a difference and sure that history will be kinder than we have.
Hear Hear! Well said Lord Monckton and thank you Anthony – appreciated, every day!
I have been waiting on Facebook crashing and burning…what a silly thing.
Even Jesus had his limits. 😉
I’ll just say thanks to everyone.
Posters, commenters, mods.
For the free education.
And Anthony, for making it happen.
Ditto. One less thing for the government to snoop on me.
Congratulations Anthony.
It does not seem so very long ago when there were so few of us posting comments that we knew everyone by name and likely opinion.
But Topsy has growed: and all kudos to you.
As for facebook I have no use for it and I certainly don’t tweet or even twitter: except when I catch my thumb in a drawer or the like.
Kindest Regards.
saving the planet?
Calif. lawmakers back plan to use cap-and-trade revenue to close budget gap
SAN FRANCISCO, June 12 (Reuters Point Carbon) – A California budget conference committee late Monday threw its support behind Governor Jerry Brown’s plan to borrow $500 million raised through the sale of greenhouse gas emission permits to help close the state’s budget deficit…
http://www.pointcarbon.com/news/1.2412587?&ref=searchlist
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I agree with Christopher Monckton of Brenchley, well said, and thank you Anthony Watts…
Yes, it’s a cracking good show! I’m thankful for the in depth work by Anthony Watts and his deep bench of intelligent guests.
Rick Bradford says:
June 12, 2013 at 5:41 pm
> Facebook and Twitter are the new PowerPoint.
Very good!
I have a FaceBook account (despite being in my early 60s) and actually spend too much time on it. And I have the connections to WUWT and Anthony.
The big shortcoming, okay, one big shortcoming of FB is that it’s a real pain in the butt to find something posted more than a week ago. It’s especially annoying when you know they must have it because they have everything. It can be a bit of a challenge to find something old here, but at least you have a chance.
For example, I’m a bit embarrassed I missed the 150M rollover, but I’ll try to catch the 1/6 of a billion views. However, I’ve been watching the megaviews roll by for quite a while. For example, it wasn’t too hard to find http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/03/15/10-million-page-views/ where a lot of people who are still here were tremendously impressed with that accomplishment.
Hmm, I do have a special power. I have to do some review to figure out how to use it. Be right back.
I’m another without facebook and twitter. Not interested in either.
I come to WUWT daily – more than once usually. There’s almost always something new to read. I like that this site covers climate news in full scope, not just science but general impact, and I’m fascinated how various organizations and countries are dealing with the ever more visible corruption going on in the name of saving the planet.
WUWT is my homepage.
Thanks, Anthony and Family. 🙂
congratulations! I agree with Mr Monckton. You have a lot of loyal readers!
Brian says:
June 12, 2013 at 4:59 pm
I find it strange that wattsupwiththat is so popular, but the facebook page only has 7,000 likes. I guess WUWT viewers don’t have facebook accounts.
==================================
What’s “Facebook?”
My special power is my database of posts used to maintain my Guide to WUWT (see the right side nav bar) and that I have direct access to it.
So….
mysql> select url from post where title like ‘%views%’ and dt select url from post where title like ‘%million%’ and dt < '2009-4-1';
+——————————————————————————————–+
| url |
+——————————————————————————————–+
| http://wattsupwiththat.com/2007/04/03/10-million-plus-x-prize-offered-for-a-100-mpg-car/ |
| http://wattsupwiththat.com/2008/09/25/nas-reports-50-million-year-cooling-trend/ |
| http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/01/26/new-study-shows-climate-change-largely-irreversible/ |
| http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/03/15/10-million-page-views/ |
+——————————————————————————————–+
… it looks like the 10 megaview post was the first round number we celebrated.
Thank-you and congratulations to Anthony Watts, the moderators, and the many contributors to http://wattsupwiththat.com
This site has the perfect mix of scientific, engineering, and legislative related issues associated with the climate wars. The occasional intermix of humour is perfect. The discussions at this site are respectful, focusing on the issues, rather than moving into purposeless ad hominem.
This site provides current observations and critical analysis in a manner that is accessible to all interested parties.
97% of Real Climate scientists prefer Twitter. /sarc