I regularly get angry emails from people who are convinced that I’m single-handedly destroying the world with my opinion which is supposedly funded by “big oil” and the Koch brothers. Of course, having nothing else, that’s all part of the huge lie people like Dr. Mann likes to push, like this bit of libel over the weekend:
I’m dealing with Dr. Mann’s libel separately, but for the record I’ve never gotten a dime from the Koch brothers, or “big oil”, nor am I a “denier for hire”, and Dr. Mann knows this because he backed down from a similar claim in the past when challenged on it. Now, knowing that, he’s demonstrated malice, fulfilling one of the tests for libel.
That aside, and along the same lines, I recently got an email that included this claim:
“…your pathetic little attempt at pushing climate denialism isn’t working. Places like Real Climate and Skeptical Science are putting your little enterprise to shame.”
So, I thought I’d check and run some numbers to see if I’m shamed or not. Climateers often talk about their climate change cause being a “communications problem”. The numbers I’ve found seem to support that. Witness the new divergence problem:
These are rankings from Alexa.com Lower numbers are better, for example, Google is ranked #1.
It seems that it’s not just globally strong for WUWT, but in the USA too. WUWT is about 8 times more popular in the USA than “Skeptical Science” (SkS), and about 15 times more popular than Real Climate (RC). See the Rank in Country column three:
Look at the bounce rate under Engagement Metrics. Note that over 2/3rds of visitors to SkS don’t engage further. Note also the time on site. WUWT readers spend three times more reading than SkS and almost 9 times more than at RC.
Hmm, well since the email was sent anonymously (as most of the rants are), and I don’t know where the person was located, maybe they were talking about Australia where SkS is located? Maybe that’s where they are kicking our butt? Note column three, Rank in Country (AU):
Eh, guess not- the ratio holds. RC doesn’t even have enough traffic in AU to do a comparison.
Even with Dana Nuccitelli’s signing on with the Guardian and making sure that every time he bashes me and/or WUWT in his column he uses a [nofollow] tag or web citation link to prevent web traffic, it seems that he hasn’t succeeded in keeping WUWT down nor in significantly growing his audience on “Skeptical Science” in the USA or Australia.
Maybe it’s in the UK, where the Guardian is located. Surely SkS is beating me there with all that mass media driven Guardian backed firepower? Note column three, Rank in Country (GB):
Apparently not.
Let’s expand the comparison a bit. My subscription to Alexa allows me to run up to 10 comparisons. I identified what I think to be the most widely read websites on climate that aren’t mixed in with part of a larger organization, making tracking their stats impossible. This of course precludes places like “Climate Progress”, which are part of the larger “Think Progress” or the Guardian, which has many other departments.
While I wish I could run more than 10 on the same graph, here’s what I learned, again lower numbers are better:
Surprisingly, not only is WUWT leading the pack by a significant margin, it has now surpassed the newspaper “Grist” which has become something of a climate centric enterprise. They also have a paid staff.
Note also Al Gore’s “Climate Reality Project”, which is dead last. It appears that Gore’s million$ don’t translate into traffic. That’s some “reality drop” for him.
That bump that Climate Depot got in late July was from being featured on “The Drudge Report” by the way. Good show Marc Morano.
The metrics are also telling:
So to whoever wrote that email, thanks. It made me look deeper.
Truly, it looks like the climateers have a communications problem. People don’t seem to be engaging them like they used to. Personally I think people are seeing through it all, and angry, irrational, rants from people like Mike Mann don’t seem to be helping his cause at all. I can understand their cognitive dissonance though, because in the world where they exist, where everything is grant/funding driven, surely some former TV weather guy in Chico California and his collection of “flying monkeys” (in SkS parlance) can’t possibly be doing what he’s doing without some massive “big oil” funding behind it. Right? Surely the Koch brothers must be secretly paying for it, like Mann thinks. The truth is, WUWT exists on donations, some advertising revenue sharing managed by wordpress.com, and stamina. I couldn’t live on it, but I’m sure that won’t stop people like Dr. Mann from imagining all sorts of nefarious schemes, like his hilarious Christmas calendar episode.
I think that if I was not a broadcaster, I wouldn’t have the stamina to keep WUWT on the air. As a broadcaster, I learned long ago that dead air peppered with occasional feature rants doesn’t keep viewers coming back. It might work for awhile, but eventually people tire of it. That’s the lesson here. We can be thankful that we have so many examples of climate ugliness in the realm of the Climateers, because they drive people to the other side.
But most of all, thanks to my readers and volunteer moderators and contributors, because without all of you, WUWT wouldn’t be where it is.
Discover more from Watts Up With That?
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Yes Wayne Delbeke, a good fire makes the evening.
I no longer feel guilty in the least of burning lots and lots of wood deforesting the Earth now that even natural gas has been demonized by the environmentalist lot. The message is clear… burn the wood of the Earth… no longer that smelly natural gas that is given off from its bowels.
/sarc
@Joe Kirklin J — your post at 9:51pm shows you are pretty cool, too.
Just wanted to say….
I am not a scientist. And every time I visit, I learn something. The discussions may go over my head…but even the most esoteric gets explained eventually in the comments.
Let’s just say the opposite happens when I visited the AGW sites. No explanations. Nothing but…”Because we say so and you’re an idiot for doubting us.”
From a guy just trying to learn about his world….thanks to you and to all your great commenters.
WUWT is a great resource for the civilized world. Please continue to expend your energy and resources on having the best science blog in the world. The community that has been built here is a treasure. It gives new meaning to the phrase “peer reviewed”.
Congratulations on your great ratings. The driving force behind the great ratings is great content and community.
Anthony, as I am sure you know, you have many, many fans in the UK who are grateful not only for the scientific content of your amazing blog but also for the impartial and open-handed manner in which it is presented.
The superb contributions from yourself, Bob Tisdale, the inimitable Willis and many others keep us glued to the screen but it is the TONE of the blog that marks it out as something really special, something that your visitors have taken to their hearts. This is what gets under the skin of Dr. Mann and his ilk – that and the fact that they have comprehensively lost the CAGW argument.
You can’t fake good science and you can’t go out and buy honesty, integrity and transparency. Enjoy this round of applause from the UK, Anthony – you have more than earned it.
I would suggest that the better lawsuit strategy is not to sue offensive individuals like Mann, but to support counter-suits by any entity that is being sued by rabid AGW proponents. Filing amicus curiae briefs may at least get the attention of some jurists who are presently brainwashed by the “settled science” doctrine that some federal courts have proclaimed.
Anthony, WUWT has made all of the difference in the world in this debate.
H/T to all involved.
Misanthrope Mann’s centre of ethical equilibrium seems to have shifted dramatically from “bad” to “worse”. He’s more unbalanced than ever before. I don’t believe in mocking the afflicted but for him I’ll make an exception because he so richly deserves it.
the problem with Mann he will not take is medication.
just to irritate Mann:
Dec 2012: CapitalNewYork: Dana Rubinstein: Introduced by Al Gore, Bloomberg advocates anti-storm infrastructure, but not sea walls
Former vice president Al Gore, a surprise guest, introduced Bloomberg’s speech, and said that Hurricane Sandy was undoubtedly a result of human-induced climate change.
“Dirty energy causes dirty weather and we have to come to our senses and do someting about it,” he said, adding, “What will it take for the national government to wake up, as this mayor has been telling us to do?”
http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/politics/2012/12/6785074/introduced-al-gore-bloomberg-advocates-anti-storm-infrastructure-no
3 Oct: Washington Post Opinion: We need climate-change risk assessment
By Michael Bloomberg, Hank Paulson and Tom Steyer
That’s why the three of us have joined together to lead a new effort designed to do just that. Our Risky Business initiative (www.riskybusiness.org) will look across the U.S. economy and assess the potential impacts of climate change by region and by sector. Our analysis, when complete, will arm decision-makers with the information they need to determine how much climate risk they are comfortable taking on…
We already know that extreme weather events cost a lot of money. In recent years, these costs have added up after such events as Hurricanes Sandy and Katrina; the wildfiresand epic floodsin Colorado; the die-off of pine trees across the Rocky Mountains; devastating, historic floods across the Midwest; deepening drought in New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma; record heat waves across Alaska and the Northeast; and the slow but intractable death of the coral reefs in the Gulf of Mexico.
While it is difficult to attribute any single weather event to climate change, world climate scientists agree that climate change makes these types of events both more likely to occur and more catastrophic in scope. Even under the best-case climate scenarios, we are likely to experience more extreme weather, more droughts and heat waves, more destructive storms and floods…
We believe the Risky Business initiative will bring a critical missing piece to national conversations about climate change and help business leaders, elected officials and others make smart, well-informed, financially responsible decisions. Ignoring the potential costs could be catastrophic. That is a risk we cannot afford to take.
http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-10-03/opinions/42665103_1_climate-change-tom-steyer-new-mexico
This attack includes so many names Michael Mann could substitute for the tired old Koch Bros bogeymen. Disclosure: I’m a CAGW sceptic who is not a fracking fan!
16 Sept: DesmogBlog: Steve Horn: Frackademia: The People & Money Behind the EDF Methane Emissions Study
Others listed as key funders include – but are not limited to – Fiona and Stanley Druckenmiller, the Robertson Foundation and Tom Steyer. All have key connections to fracking and pro-industry stances that tell an important tale about the study and its findings…
Steyer, Paulson, Bloomberg: Backing Fracking
Steyer, Bloomberg, Paulson, (Robert) Rubin and former U.S. Secretary of State under Ronald Reagan George Shultz have reunited to form a climate change initiative whose details will be revealed in October, according to The New Yorker…
Via his TomKat Trust named after him and his wife Kat Taylor, Steyer is also a major funder of the ClimateWorks Foundation.
ClimateWorks got off the ground in 2007 by authoring a key report titled, “Design to Win: Philanthropy’s Role in the Fight Against Global Warming.” Among other things, the report calls for converting coal-fired power plants to gas-fired power plants, a de facto endorsement of the then forthcoming U.S. fracking boom.
Will the Steyer, Bloomberg, Paulson and Rubin climate initiative promote fracking as a “bridge fuel”? Time will tell: October’s just a few weeks away…
http://desmogblog.com/2013/09/16/frackademia-people-money-behind-edf-fracking-methane-emissions-study
l
The gift of knowledge I have received here make me eternally grateful Anthony.
Perhaps some further exposition on meteorology, to explain how the weather works in its basic and broader forms could be useful in the future. Not that you haven’t in the past but understanding the weather gives great insight as to the climate in various regions.
Mr Watts ..they cast aspersions and call you names… but they won’t debate will they? Political science not SCIENCE.
There was a post by Mann insinuating that Watts was funded by Heartland and that some investigative journalist should unearth the dirt. It was posted a bout a month before the Glieck affair. I may have been what prompted Glieck to act.
Anthony
Having been involved in litigation with crooks I wouldn’t have a bar of tangling with Mann and his ilk in court. The courts are not courts of justice but it it is a big tag team between lawyers and who can afford to score the most points wins; invariably the one with the most money. Right has nothing to do with these games: you can still be right but be ruined by the costs which is frequently the opponent’s objective which may not be obvious to a novice litigant.
Best to give the malignment by Mann as much public airing as possible. You have to prove nothing the onus is on him. He cannot ruin your career or reputation by his nasty untruths: He has already proved himself globally to be of dubious honesty, at least intellectually, by his hockey stick manipulations.
He deserves public scorn and I am sensing the death throes of the warmists and alarmists. Don’t get taken down by their wild flailing about in those death throes. Such people will not go easily and we need to stick together: honesty and power seeking are unhappy bedfellows.
Regards,
Kevin O’Brien NZ
At last! A 21st century method to see which is the truth: “climate science” or “real climate science”. Measure the traffic on websites. Who says you can’t take a vote to settle the science?
Though us in the Village knew the answer anyway. Sir Christopher of Belchley told us years ago that the science IS settled:
Come on! Alexa are a Koch Brother strong hold. They do whatever big oil tells them! [/sarc]
But seriously, how much does Mann earn out of his Climate position? Not that I begrudge him it, but if the pot doth scream. Let’s not even mention Al Gore the multi-hundred-billionaire with direct business interests in Climate related thing-a-me-jiggs.
Try about 8mins 10secs in
Mr. Watts, I first want to thank you for the mammoth effort you have put forth to expose the AGW movement for what it is. I said something similar to Steve McIntyre the Christmas after Climategate broke, but truly the pushback against AGW alarmism, of which you are a principal player, has altered the course of human history to come. I know you and Steve and Ross are too humble to elevate yourselves to such positions in shaping humanity’s future, but given what was to be our path I feel this is no exaggeration. I speak as though we have won this war but I do realize we have a long way to go. I am very optimistic though that victory will be ours and Liberty will prevail. Again, I don’t believe I exaggerate when I say that this is one of the most important struggles facing humanity since AGW mitigation was a major cornerstone of the statist blueprint.
I actually have Al Gore to thank for introducing me to WUWT and AGW skepticism in general. My history with Big Al goes back to the 1992 presidential campaign and the broken promises made to East Liverpool, Ohio in regards to the proposed toxic waste incinerator that has since then been in operation (located very close to where my wife—then girlfriend— grew up). We had considered ourselves environmentalists for years at that point and were pissed off that Gore and Clinton ignored their pledge to Ohio. Strike one.
Gore was on my you-know-what list from that point on, but it wasn’t until he ran for president in 2000 that those feelings rose sharply to the surface again. Ralph Nader highlighted East Liverpool and many other instances of Gore’s environmental hypocrisy that I had been unaware of like the zinc mining contamination of the Caney Fork or the opening up of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska for drilling while simultaneously campaigning against the same in neighboring ANWR. Strike two.
And then in 2006 there was AIT. Strike three and the rest is history. I had never questioned AGW until Gore became its poster boy. And I had never heard of Steve McIntyre or WUWT. Knowing Gore’s lame record though I immediately questioned the little I did know about the science behind AGW. It didn’t take me long to find you guys and discover the unadvertised little world of AGW skepticism. My life has not been the same since in a good way. Thank you again for helping to open my eyes and the eyes of so many others. Keep up the good fight. No less than the future of our children depends upon it.
Incidentally, my first child, like AIT and WUWT, was also born in 2006. It is a ridiculous understatement to say that having your first child is life-altering, but the experience is equally mind-altering. The future instantly took on a different meaning for me. Even love became something different. There is still some areas of haze and always will be, but I see more clearly now in many ways than ever before. The scope of my awakening during that short period of my life was epiphanic. Thank you for being a part of that and for helping to bring me clarity about AGW when all there had been before was blind adherence.
Sorry for the personal diatribe. Thinking back to how this journey began for me made me a bit nostalgic for my “early” days. I visit WUWT every day and regularly visit about a dozen AGW-related sites. But I always visit here first and use your blog roll to make my rounds. Here’s to many years to come!
Finally, the subject at hand. I know many here advise you to turn the other cheek, but in my opinion you should absolutely make Mann pay for his libel, or at the least force a public recantation and apology. You know he has done it and would do so again. The stakes are too high. Turning the other cheek is no longer an option. Fight fire with fire. Truth, justice, fairness, accuracy and accountability. It’s the American way. Give ’em hell Anthony!
I have not yet begun to fight!
Oops: “It may have been what prompted Glieck to act.”
I think Watts has cause to make that demand himself. I think forcing Mann to publicly retract that claim would do a lot of good for our cause, because so many alarmists believe the smear. The correct story, on WUWT’s FAQ, has cut no ice with them.
Aphan says:
October 14, 2013 at 6:41 pm
“It must be just a tad satisfying to know you live rent free in Mann’s head without even trying! :)”
Aphan that really tickled my Australian offbeat sense of humour, an image of AW living rent free in Michael Mann’s head!!! Now that indelible image will really send the Mann off the deep end. It’s also a real cool line for another musical production about the Mann and his saga – bring it on! with a nice cartoon from Josh!!
Almost a Christmas jolly jingle!!
Love it!!
Seeing the rate at which comments are pilling in it is obvious that there are far too many people with far too much time on their hands and they need to be found something worthwhile to do, rather than reading all this propaganda.
Enough of the silliness KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK ANTHONY and all you FLYING MONKEYS.
I have learnt so much not just science but about human nature and behavior and you are a gem of the first waters as my mum says. Another of her’s is “I’m not as green as I am cabbage looking” which I think comes in very handy when looking at “green” issues.
James Bull
Wattsupwiththat = Foxnews
RealClimate.org = MSNBC
SkepticalScience = CNN
Foxnews beats them all the time.
Anthony,
I wonder, given the gaping chasm between your audience figures and the likes of SkS/RC, how much of their measly traffic is actually generated from links within postings on your site?
Keep up the great work, am happy to contribute to a fund if required.
Cheers
Mark
I would like to know how much time Mann spends being an a*****. Does he practice that skill or was he born that way?
Louis-Ferdinand Céline, the French novelist and essayist, said:
“You have to have digged deep into yourself to tell such basenesses”
This is probably the case of Mann et al.
Anthony, don’t worry and continue the good work!