Ted Rall for March 05, 2014

Nailed it!

Gorebal Warming is also “settled” science according to Gorebots. Buy his book! Watch his movie! Believe! Tom Cruise does…..Oh, sorry that’s Scientology…

Hating Gore is given more weight than scientific research.Go figure…better yet go read.

Here’s a place where Rall’s natural tendency toward gross overstatement is well served. The anti-science crowd is often so unhinged in their criticisms that it’s hard to parody them without going to extremes.

Maybe “idiocentric” would be more accurate!

Al Gore isn’t even able to present what information he has credibly. Both his book and movie (yes, I have read it and seen the movie) are nothing but a mismash of ancedotal stories and glittering generalities. Neither has any credibility..I do have science behind me. Just because you disagree doesn’t change facts.

From what I can see, every single post here that denies global warming combines two or more of the following:1. Massive ignorance of the science behind Anthropogenic Global Warming2. Massive ignorance of how science works generally (as in the assertions on “settled science”)3. Restated political assertions devoid of either political or scientific fact (e.g., tired Al Gore references or assertions that somehow scientific doubters are being bullied)4. Inappropriate comparisons to past events (e.g., the HIV/AIDS concerns, which are also mis-stated, but never mind that for now)

The facts are actually pretty astonishingly solid. And I say that as a scientist myself.

First: the “97% of climate scientists agree” fact is now obsolete. The correct datum is that 9,135 of 9,136 recently published, peer-reviewed climate scientists agree that global warming is occurring, and it is being driven by human action. (http://preview.tinyurl.com/nndfoa8) That’s 99.989% of legitimate climate scientists. But if you prefer, here’s the parallel tracks of warming obtained from four different research centers in three continents: (http://climate.nasa.gov/scientific-consensus)

Second: The data keeps gathering. The hot years have been continuing; the predictions made by the IPCC have consistently UNDERSTATED the warming. The so-called “pause” does not, in fact, exist; the heat has simply gone someplace else we were not measuring as well (ocean depths), so in fact overall warming continues.

Third: The deniers appear to be increasingly desperate and insulting. This is evidence of a lack of anything else to offer. To those still trying to beat this deceased equine: rest assured, as a scientist, my respect and admiration goes to the person courageous and clear-headed enough to admit that the data have proved them wrong. For example, high-profile and legitimate climate scientist Richard Muller was a skeptic until he did a very rigorous and comprehensive study, where he found he was wrong, and said so. (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/30/opinion/the-conversion-of-a-climate-change-skeptic.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all&)That’s what science is about. The deniers have been proved wrong. What makes them “deniers” is their unwillingness to admit it.

Did some checking. The rate of HIV resistance is on average about 10%, which is higher than I would have expected.

Ted, the question is, how many scientists have concluded honestly that man-made global warming occurs? Like the man says, consensus isn’t science. Not even if the hockey stick HAD been good science.. If man-made global warming is science, why do you need to take political action to get people to believe it? . And if you want pollution laws put in place, why can’t you just try to put pollution laws in place? Because you won’t win if you do. So, you lie to us. . How stupid must you think people are?

Geocentric is the correct term, not “terracentric.” Learned that in astronomy 101.

I love all the nonscientists here trying to claim they understand science better than the people doing it. Consensus among scientists is not a popularity vote; it is consistency and convergence of data. The data agree: AGW exists. There is a consensus of the data.

Oh, and let’s not forget this:“Climate denial on a larger scale — the misinformation campaigns led by conservative and libertarian think tanks — is also supported by hefty donations from invested industries. Back in September, before the U.N. released its landmark Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, a top official warned that major corporations were prepared to fund skeptics to undermine the work of climate scientists. That prediction bore out: The Koch brothers-affiliated Heartland Institute released its own report – tellingly named the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change – that questioned the IPCC report’s validity. The report, like the Heartland Institute itself, failed on almost all measures of credibility, and was written by paid contributors.

“Where’s that money coming from? Heartland hasn’t disclosed the sources of its funding in years (although leaked documents have done some of that work for it), but we know that ExxonMobil and the American Petroleum Institute have been big donors in the past. Most of its money is funneled anonymously through the mysterious Donors Trust and Donors Capital Fund — in 2012, Chicago industrialist Barre Seid was revealed as having used the fund to contribute millions to the institute’s “global warming projects.”

“The Competitive Enterprise Institute is another prime example of industry money muddying the conversation about climate change. Its response to the IPCC report: “We should be worried that the alarmist establishment continues using junk science to promote disastrous policies that will make the world much poorer and will consign poor people in poor countries to perpetual poverty.” And its funding: Also not disclosed, although contributors to its annual fundraising dinner provide a hint. According to the Washington Post, the energy sector collectively pitched in $110,000.

“Both organizations have a history of downplaying the dangers of smoking, thanks to their ties to the tobacco industry. Their latest activity simply updates the misinformation campaigning for climate change. Tobacco isn’t bad for you, they insist, and neither are greenhouse gas emissions. Convinced?”

Oh, yes, and the vast majority of Americans IN EVERY STATE are convinced that human-caused global warming is occurring. (http://www.salon.com/2013/11/14/sorry_tea_party_most_red_state_americans_believe_global_warming_is_real/)

Bottom line: if you are still denying, you are not only in the minority, as far as the Koch brothers and their ilk are concerned, you are a sucker.

Links:Big business funding: http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/sep/20/big-business-funding-climate-change-scepticsCredibility of Koch-funded deniers:http://www.climatesciencewatch.org/2013/09/09/heartland-institute-nipcc-fail-the-credibility-test/

Oh please, I beg you, cite that statement! Let us all bask in the knowledge.

An excellent (long) book to read about infectious diseases such as AIDS/ HIV, Ebola, Legionnaires Disease, and malaria (to name a few) is THE COMING PLAGUE, by Laurie Garrett. It is from the early 1990s but is still relevant. Ms. Garret still lectures and can be found on the Internet speaking at various symposiums..A running theme to her book is the constant conflict between scientists and politics on the treatment of diseases. To a disease microbe, a millionaire and a bum taste about the same. Some day it might be said of us now, we could have saved the world, but we were just too cheap (Kurt Vonnegut, GALAPAGOS).