Guest essay by Eric Worrall
h/t James Delingpole; Yale University has announced the closure of its Climate Change Institute. All funding will be cut by the end of June.
After a University decision to cut all its funding, Yale’s Climate & Energy Institute will close by the end of June.
The loss of the institute, which for the last eight years has conducted research related to issues of climate change, leaves a hole in climate and energy studies at Yale. Although the Energy Studies academic program will continue within Yale College, students in the YCEI said they were outraged by the budget cuts and subsequent closure of an institute that is one of the only research-focused climate change programs for undergraduates on campus. The announcement came in a Monday afternoon email to the YCEI community from institute co-directors and geology and geophysics professors David Bercovici and Jay Ague, and follows years of cuts to the institute’s funding, according to students involved in the organization.
“While not all good things have to come to an end, sometimes they just do,” Bercovici and Ague wrote. “The YCEI will stop activities and close up shop as of June 30, 2016.”
…
The announced closure left students in the institute with unanswered questions about why the formerly thriving group had its funding cut. University Provost Benjamin Polak — who is currently engaged in annual budget talks with every area of campus — did not respond Monday to questions about the reasons for the YCEI’s funding cuts. Salovey was also unavailable for comment Monday evening.
One possible explanation for the end of the YCEI is that the institute did not generate many alumni donations, Goldklang said. James Barile ’18, who is involved with the YCEI through a solar energy initiative, said the University appeared to be shifting away from undergraduate climate change research, which he said is not very public, toward climate change initiatives that are “more showy.”
Read more: http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2016/03/01/climate-change-institute-shut-down/
Perhaps it is difficult to solicit alumni donations, from people who know that the end of their own gravy train is uncomfortably imminent.
I am pretty sure that the Climate Change Institute is not the only undergrad program which should be axed. How about all the “studies” programs which qualify even Yale grads for only McD shift managers.
The university from which I retired teaching several years ago, has recently voted to terminate its undergraduate program in environmental studies. There just weren’t that many students interested in the program.
Good to finally see it joining the ranks of Piltdown Man and Phrenology.
The press release says
So there are are other climate change programs as well on campus? Duplication then? It implies taught courses are available as well?
Hardy pat on the back.
Krispry Kreem Donut.
8 oz paper cup of Coffee; ummm water needs filtering, don’t they know that the fastest way to spoil a good cup of coffee is to us toilet water!
Open door and a “Job Well Done.”
Ha ha ha ha
This just in: the fat lady is clearing her throat
It would seem the Climate Mafia may be about to die the death of a thousand cuts.
I am sure a great number of them think they will be forgotten about.
I am also sure a great number of them are going to find out they are very, very wrong.
There is zero chance throwing more money at the problem of what the heck is happening to the sun and why is the planet cooling via any of any of the piles and piles failed climate study nincompoops groups will solve the problem of what causes the glacial/interglacial cycle, why is there cyclic climate change of 1500 years in the climate record, why do interglacial periods end abruptly, not gradually, and so on.
Climate ‘science’ will move back up to the top of public’s higher concerns if there is significant year by year by year regional and aggregate cooling.
http://www.ospo.noaa.gov/data/sst/anomaly/2016/anomnight.3.3.2016.gif
William: Abrupt cyclic climate change is not subtle. The planet resists rather than amplifies forcing changes hence there must be and is a massive external climate forcing mechanism. Solar forcing of planetary climate is not subtle. The sun is significantly different than the standard model. The sun can and hence does change into a state which can cause abrupt climate change on the earth.
There is an astonishing lack of interest in the scientific community and hence zero public awareness of what is happening to the sun.
http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.energy.30.050504.144308
ABRUPT CHANGE IN EARTH’S CLIMATE SYSTEM
http://www.pik-potsdam.de/~stefan/Publications/Journals/rahmstorf_grl_2003.pdf
The Bond cycles were named after the late Gerald Bond how track 23 of the cycles. There is the same periodicity of cycle in both the glacial and interglacial period which along with precise period between cycles points to an external forcing function. Gerald Bond’s analysis of ocean sediment found cosmogenic isotope changes correlate with the cycles points to solar cycle changes as the cause.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1500-year_climate_cycle
This is because of the pervading misanthropic impetus behind the whole AGW scare.
The tail said while wagging the dog: “It’s not part of the problem if I can’t blame it on Human capitalism.”
It must be Mankind’s fault in order to force penance from him.
Amen
Exactly. The very first Solar Observatory was built on my home base of Kitt Peak in Arizona when I was a teenager. Now we ignore the sun which is stupid.
Maybe the folks who run Yale are worried about their exposure to lawsuits, especially when global cooling becomes evident.
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2015/06/24/uk-met-fastest-decline-solar-activity-last-ice-age/#comment-1972538
PROPOSAL – SUE THE WARMISTS IN THE USA UNDER CIVIL RICO
I have been considering this approach for several years and I think it is now time to proceed..
Civil RICO provides for TRIPLE DAMAGES. Global losses from the global warming scam are in the trillions, including hundreds of billions on the USA.
We would sue the sources of warmist funding and those who have significantly profited from the global warming scam..
The key to starting a civil RICO action is to raise several million dollars to fund the lawsuit, which will be protracted and expensive.
If serious funders are interested, please contact me through http://www.OilsandsExpert.com
Regards, Allan MacRae
Calgary
How many other universities around the world will follow suit? We can only hope.
As a retired university teacher for over thirty years, I have seen programs and majors come and go at several institutions. The most usual cause of shutting down has been declining enrollment, either as students with the subject as a major or as students required to take service courses in the subject (English, math, music and/or art appreciation, etc.). When the numbers of such students drop, the program is in danger. What is (and has been) the enrollment in the Climate Change Institute? What is the trend? If there are still scores to hundreds of students majoring in climate change, it seems cruel to pull their rug (or blanky) out from under them; on the other hand, if there are only two or three students left in the program, it is prohibitively expensive for the university to keep paying those profs. I’m sure alumni giving is a factor also; but if there were scads of students clamoring to be taught this mush, the university could very credibly advertise that fact and scare up more donated funds even from alumni from other programs or majors. I suspect that a paucity of students in the Climate Change Institute is the proximate cause of the death of the program.
If so, it is heartening to see that students are able to perceive and act for their reasonable interest, despite the official hysteria for the peculiar voodoo called Climate Change.
“If there are still scores to hundreds of students majoring in climate change, it seems cruel to pull their rug (or blanky) out from under them”
NO, it is doing them a gigantic favor to stop them now (or even encouraging them to stop now). The cruel aspect was encouraging them to get into a field, that has no real future, under the guise that they were proceeding toward a life of making a living and a positive difference in the world.
If they don’t accept the reality of the situation they can always transfer to columbia (… so as to remain in their safe space).
I thought I read somewhere that enrollment in climate change PhD programs was way down. Perhaps the lack of interest has continued upstream?
Izzat 30 years retired or 30 years teaching ?? I stopped teaching after one year. 200 students is too many to have in a class at one time, or even two times as I had.
G
PS Industry is much funner !
Stop gloating. The closure was caused by Global Warming!
Students have realized that a university degree is not a ticket into the middle class. As a result they are avoiding some programs and flocking to others.
Google universities closing departments. Lots of blood on the floor.
Google universities business departments expanding Lots of examples there.
Here’s a shocker:
We are told that we need more STEM graduates but even an engineering degree doesn’t seem to be any guarantee of employment.
It’s bad out there and it’s not hard to forecast a grim future for universities generally.
“We are told that we need more STEM graduates but even an engineering degree doesn’t seem to be any guarantee of employment.”
Automation (software) and outsourcing (offshoring) are reducing the need for engineers. It’s hard to compete with $15/hour engineers in Pune or Beijing who are running the latest and greatest software in hub-and-spoke mode over fast, reliable internet connections. Quality seems to be a non-issue, since if the computer output looks OK, all they have to do is find a local PE to stamp the construction drawings and it’s off we go.
“If the computer output looks OK”…really?
You realize you can and should report all of these PEs you know that are rubber-stamping overseas garbage construction plans, right?
Let me guess…you haven’t done it once.
As Glenn “Instapundit” Reynolds says, the left promises that if we give poor and working people what the middle class has, such as a university education and a house, they will become middle class. Its like trying to make someone a better basketball player by giving them $500 shoes.
I’ve worked on huge events like conventions, and we had a guy on our crew with (barely) a 12th grade education, but he could jerry-rig anything you want out of duct-tape and profanity, all while the university grads were trying to google “how to get wires out of the way”.
As I once lived in the New Haven area, I attended several Yale-Harvard football games at the Yale Bowl. The scariest thing I ever saw was out in the parking lot before the game during all the tailgating. The was a group of students trying to light a fire to cook on, they dug a small pit an filled it with charcoal. It wouldn’t burn. Being a l long time tailgater, cookout expert and fire starter, I walked over and told them that they had to allow air to circulate in order to sustain the fire. They didn’t know. Yes I did ask and they replied “Engineering students”.
“…out of duct tape and profanity…” Lol!
Like a less mulleted and less family friendly Sam Neil?
*starts humming the theme music to MacGuyver*
Very few engineering students or graduates (including graduate degrees) have any real world experience.
I haven’t met any would even merit a positive referral to allow them take the PE exam, let alone practice on their own.
A standard question for a beginner (“on which side of the concrete (wall) does the reinforcement go?” or “how far downstream do we have topo to be able get a reasonable water surface estimate on the site?” ) gets a blank look.
Better question to assess future potential … “what did your father do?” … “what did you do to waste time as a kid?”
Communicating in English might help when it comes to the questioning of graduates and reducing the number of blank stares you get. “I haven’t met any would…?” “How far downstream do we have topo to be able to get…?”
You need 3-4 years of “real world experience” to sit for the PE exam in the US, so engineering students and graduates have no need for a “positive referral to allow them to take the PE exam, let alone practice on their own,” until they actually DO have 3-4 years of “real world experience.”
It doesn’t seem like you know what you’re talking about.
Only 30% of ALL USA university PhD Physics grads get a full time permanent job working in their specialty.
The rest are often the world’s foremost authority in their specialty. Put another way; they are the only person on the planet, who is interested in that subject, so nobody is going to pay them for their expertise.
G
To be fair, those who get an engineering degree typically are bright and went through a rigorous education. I know a number of engineering grads who went straight to Wall St and financial firms.
I can’t swear that it is a characteristic of all Engineering Schools but my recollection of The Engineering courses taught in those departments at my alma mater, the focus, for example in mathematics, was on solving problems; getting the answer. The Engineering math courses didn’t spend too much time on theoretical esoterica. The rule seemed to be, that if you could get an answer, it must be the correct answer.
In the pure maths course that I took in the Science Department, a good deal of attention was paid to the simple question as to whether an answer even existed. Existence Theorems they called them.
It must seem odd to non mathematicians, that there are problems where you can prove that a solution exists (or doesn’t exist) without being actually able to find that solution.
The engineers simply said; screw proving there is an answer, I found an answer so it has to be the correct answer. So engineers are perhaps more pragmatic than scientists.
Engineers were never asked to prove that an ‘absolutely convergent’ infinite series converges. Are you nuts; you say it is absolutely convergent, but you want me to prove that it converges.
For the non mathematician, the term ‘absolutely convergent ‘ generally relates to an infinite series of terms of alternating signs, or more generally a sequence with an infinite number of terms of both positive and negative sign. If you take the magnitude of each term; make them all positive, if the sum still converges to a finite sum, then the series is called absolutely convergent.
1/2 + 1/4 + 1/8 + 1/16 + ….. sums to 1 so a series like 1-1/2+1/4-1/8+ … would be called absolutely convergent.
1-1/2+1/3-1/4+1/5-1/6+ ….. is not absolutely convergent, because the sum of all those terms with positive signs is infinite.
The distinction is important, because if an infinite series is absolutely convergent, then you can rearrange the terms and add them in any order you like and the answer is always the same.
You cannot rearrange the terms of a non absolutely convergent series with impunity. In fact you can sum a non absolutely convergent infinite series and get any answer you like.
For example if I add 1+1/+1/5+1/7+1/9+1/11+1/13+1/15 I get 2.02189… which is greater than 2. Then I can add -1/2 and drop back to 1.52189… now continue to add 1/17+1/191/21+…. until you go above 2 again, and then add the -1/4 term to fall back.
And so on. I continue that process and eventually have use ALL of the infinite number of terms and got a sum exactly 2.000000…
Well you can do the same process and get a sum of 10 if you want it. I think the normal order of summation of alternating terms in order gives you Ln(2) = 0.693147
So that is why absolute convergence is important, because without it, you cannot rearrange the order of summation and depend on getting a unique correct answer.
And of course the Engineer says ; Who gives a rat’s about that; why would I even want to rearrange the terms ?? So they are more practically inclined.
But scientists can be more interesting.
G
I attended and taught at a few engineering programs…most of the math courses engineering majors took as part of their curriculum (up to 4 semesters of calculus, ordinary differential equations, partial differential equations, etc) were the same math courses taken by math majors, i.e., “pure maths.” Of course, the heavy-lifting with proofs didn’t come until junior year, by which time engineering students were wrapped-up in engineering coursework within their major.
A couple of times in history people have wondered what an engineer was supposed to be. The first was around 1900. Then there was the period after WW2. I remember one paper from the 1960s. The idea was that engineers were supposed to take all the science that had been discovered during the war and turn it into consumer products. So that implies that engineers should have a solid understanding of science.
There are a couple of things (from ABET if I recall correctly). There is the wording something like “and how it got to be that way”. I always took that to mean that engineers should be able to derive equations.
The other wording that sticks in my mind was to the effect that engineers should be able to apply theory “in a context other than the one in which it was learned”. That implies deep understanding.
Engineers should for sure be more than equation grinders. I can think of a couple of duds but I can think of many more who have been truly impressive by the end of their careers. That’s the other thing; no decent engineer ever quits learning.
I suspect that the quote above applies mostly to students and junior engineers. None of the engineers I knew would have taken a chance with math they didn’t know for sure was being used correctly.
The thing that separates engineers from scientists is the ethics exam and the possibility of serious punishment for malpractice.
Rajendra Pachauri was the initial head of this Institute:
http://www.yale.edu/macmillan/southasia/pachauri.pdf
New Haven, Conn. — Rajendra K. Pachauri will lead the newly established Yale
Climate and Energy Institute (YCEI), Yale University President Richard C. Levin has
announced.
Pachauri has chaired the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) since 2002, and has been Director-General of The Energy and Resources Institute
(TERI) since 2001.
“We are fortunate to attract one of the world’s foremost climate change experts to lead
this ambitious new institute,” Levin said. “No one has a more comprehensive grasp of
the science and policy of climate change or has done more to bring attention to this
urgent issue.”
Is it a co-incidence that Pachauri’s own ship is now sinking:
http://dailycaller.com/2016/03/02/yale-closes-down-climate-institute-formerly-run-by-accused-sexual-harasser/
“Rajendra Pachauri, YCEI’s founding director and Nobel Prize Winner, was formally charged with sexual harassment and stalking on Wednesday, which has prompted some people to wonder whether the charges and the institute’s closing are inextricably linked. Pachauri stepped down as director in 2012, staying on as an adviser until June of 2014.”
It’s unfortunate that the Daily Caller describes him as a Nobel Prize Winner, he is not. The prize was awarded jointly to the IPCC and Al Gore.
Dennis, Yale called him a Nobel Laureate. The Talented Dr. Pachauri taught in the Yale School of Forestry and Ecological Studies. They must have difficulty seeing the trees for the wood. http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2015/04/10/former-ycei-director-faces-sexual-misconduct-allegations/
The heat drove his libido beyond his control. Global warming causes aggressive sexual behaviour. Tragic
Oh dear , how sad , never mind .
Now they will have to find another area were BS can be sold has valid science and basically you spend your days tossing it off , are there any jobs in gender studies these days ?
yep, it has been a good week for reality.
18 years will do that to ya.
People only watch jump the shark once.
You would think, but there has got to be a lot of people watching “reality” shows over and over again … the shows are still on tv.
Global warming causes the loss of thousands of square kilometers of jobs (that’s several Manhattens).
Well, Starbucks will be happy to gain an every-increasing pool of barista candidates.
UEA has cocked up…again ! this time a £13 million biomass disaster
https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2016/03/03/batter-late-than-never/
&
http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/politics/generation_park_developers_admit_serious_problems_with_finding_investors_for_370m_energy_plant_on_edge_of_norwich_1_4330892
Yale
Isn’t that where AlGore flunked out of divinity school?
Ironic
They have other institutes so 2 will survive :
“the Yale Climate and Energy Institute,
– the Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy,
– the Center for Business and the Environment at Yale,”
………… are all housed in the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies main building.
My guess is they closed it down before it got sued for something.
Many years ago I took a writing class, and we were taught to always avoid the use of “un-concretized abstractions”. See if you can pick any out from this article in Governing Magazine. I thought you could.
http://www.governing.com/columns/potomac-chronicle/gov-climate-change-deniers.html
Maybe they can get the U.N. to make climate programs at wealthier universities pay for the programs at poorer ones.
Wait. What?
Hm, Perhaps they misunderstood how the divestment protests are supposed to work? Even better, maybe they understood it perfectly.
Good riddance YCEI! I like the trend we’re seeing with cutbacks at CSIRO, the Climate Council and now YCEI. Truly it is a step in the right direction with respect to an outsized effort to create data that denies reality. I hope that someday climate science can be a respected field of scientific endeavor. Until that day arrives, my gratitude to WUWT for shining a light on the efforts of those who choose to mislead.