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All IPCC definitions taken from Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Working Group I Contribution to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Annex I, Glossary, pp. 941-954. Cambridge University Press.

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Comments 92701 to 92750:

  1. Republicans to Repeal Laws of Physics
    scaddenp at 10:41 AM, that may be so about Monckton, but the point I was making is this was not the site to do that, clogging up page after page with someones unqualified opinions about someone else's unqualified opinions. If Monckton had chosen to post his views on any of the relevant threads then he would have been subject to the comments policy and undoubtedly regularly censured or told to go elsewhere.
  2. Republicans to Repeal Laws of Physics
    PhysSci - Actually, what you want to see would seem to be posted here 2nd Law of thermodynamics and greenhouse theory. I suspect you are making same mistakes as others but if you can get your paper published in a journal competent to review it, then I will certainly look at it.
  3. Republicans to Repeal Laws of Physics
    PhysSci - I would assert governments trying to legislate Newton Law is wrong. As has been said, its not about whether it's right or not. Please put comments about science in the correct place - ie NOT this thread. JohnD - Monckton might not be a scientist but he presenting science and the posts about correcting his misrepresentation of science not his politics.
  4. What would a CO2-free atmosphere look like?
    HumanityRules, No, I don't think climate sensitivity itself changing is a fundamental issue, and is more of a higher order effect,at least over a reasonable range of climates (like the Pliocene, LGM, modern day, etc). Your paper looks like a good review. Knutti and Hegerl (2008) is also a great read on the issue. It's very tricky stuff tying to get a good sensitivity range estimate, and 2 to 4.5 C per CO2 doubling as the IPCC, 2007 cites is still a fairly large range to work with, but it's the most credible starting point from which to proceed. Peru, Sorry I didn't respond. I have been traveling over the last 30 hours. I would email a Venusian dynamicist for some authoritative insight on the cloud structure of Venus and how it is maintained (there's still a lot of uncertanties on this topic though, something experts will always stress if you ask them), but there's a lot of differences from Earth conditions. The clouds on Venus are often grouped into different layers, an upper layer (~60–70 km), the middle (50–57 km) cloud layer and a lower (48–50 km) layer. In the upper levels, sulfuric acid is created by photochemistry, and in fact most solar absorption occurs in the high atmosphere making it already different from Earth-like conditions. A large number of sulfur compounds, and some water vapor that is still left over, provide sources for the global cloud cover, and there is condensation by H2SO4 vapor lower down on sulfuric acid particles. This makes the low level clouds more prone to spatial and temporal variations due to convection. There's some literature on these hourly-scale fluctuations, and Bullock and Grinspoon (2001) is a good source for geologic timescale variations in these clouds and how changes in SO2 sources or water vapor amounts may impact things. But it's a lot more complex than just high temperatures, and one can find some similarities but also many differences to Earth's cloud dynamics. There's no straight-forward reason that global cloud cover should increase if you make Earth hotter, and even if it does, how that impacts the surface temperature depends on the altitude and optical properties of the cloud. For clouds formed by condensation in updrafts, you're not likely to get cloud cover close to 100% of the globe. On Earth the microphysics and evaporative/condensation processes are largely controlled by the strength of vertical motions, so to get clouds you need to figure out where the air is being lifted (but by conservation of mass, it needs to be sinking somewhere else). If you take a course in synoptic-scale meteorology, you'll probably spend most of a semester learning different diagnostic tools to figure out, very simply, if the air is rising or sinking. The last thing to note in my already lengthy post, is that evaporation does not scale with Clausius-Clapeyron as the globe warms, since there are surface energy budget constraints that regulate the amount of evaporation that can occur. In fact, in very highly opaque atmospheres, you can increase the temperature by turning CO2 up but if your input solar energy term is not sufficient, you won't be able to increase evaporation. You can still increase the vapor content though, but again, what it means for cloud distribution is anyone's guess.
  5. Skeptical Science nominated for Climate Change Communicator of the Year
    snapple #9 I confess I share your surprise. For example, there are many GMU policy advisors at the Heartland Institute (a notorious denialist institution), and even Pat Michaels is a "distinguished senior fellow in public policy" at MCU (not sure what it means). But this initiative is welcome. I will hope this means ideology stopped being a hurdle to accept science. (VERY optimistic, I know...)
  6. Republicans to Repeal Laws of Physics
    Tom Curtis at 10:10 AM, ethical government does not automatically default to being a democracy. Is a government that provides stability when stability is essential, not an ethical government? Is a government that provides discipline when discipline is essential, not an ethical government? Stability and discipline are first and foremost essential elements for survival in many nations of the world. The same cannot be said of democracy. In what order of importance would you place each of those elements, stability, discipline and democracy?
  7. Skeptical Science nominated for Climate Change Communicator of the Year
    Among the other nominees, I knew the series of podcasts about Climate Change Communication from the Sea Grant Climate Network. It's well worth listening. Well, but I voted SkS, of course.
  8. Republicans to Repeal Laws of Physics
    Rob Honeycutt at 10:00 AM, was not that the philosophy originally driving SkS? That distinction was easily and regularly invoked when various contributors were advised, or directed, to take their political views to a more appropriate blog.
  9. Republicans to Repeal Laws of Physics
    dhogaza @64, I wouldn't care if the US were a "divine right" monarchy. The fact remains that democracy is the only ethical form of government, and therefore your policy in the US should be defensible on democratic principle if it is to succeed in the long term without unacceptable side consequences. Simply from a practical point of view, arguing (as many proponents of action against AGW have done) that what democratic institutions there are in the US should be further subverted by members of congress side stepping the clear policies they presented to the electorate in favour of expert opinion is politically damaging, and undermines support. In fact, the general distrust of the advise of experts (in Australia as in the US) is in part a consequence of just that sort of action in the past. I leave aside the moronic calls to simply side step democracy that have on occasion been made by proponents of action against AGW. The lack of firm commitment to democracy by those who want to do something about AGW means that they cannot effectively highlight the, in fact, undemocratic actions of those who will let AGW occur by default. Furthermore, it weakens the very conditions which allow public debate, and which therefore gives us the capacity to meet future challenges.
  10. Republicans to Repeal Laws of Physics
    scaddenp - In regard to your comment above: "the point of this article is that you cant legislate laws of physics, and law-makers attempts to do so suggest that they think you can choose your reality", I would ask the question, which laws of physics specifically do the law-makers try to legislate? The current GH theory is based on a MISCONCEPTION of the actual physical laws. There is no physical basis for the assertion that CO2 affects climate, no there is any empirical evidence to support such a notion ... Therefore, Congress is not messing up with any laws of physics!
  11. The Earth's Sixth Mass Extinction May Be Underway
    Hi Daniel, (yeah that's me at Neven's) Good to see you. In the absence of anybody else taking this up, I would like to query how much "further research and monitoring" is really needed... http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=116532&org=NSF&from=news ...may or may not get you to the latest report on the research from Shakhova and Semilitov. (As you may be aware, my links rarely work.) I accept that they do not speculate about a catastrophically large release of the methane clathrate deposits from the East Siberian shelf. They speculate about a release of 1%. They do not speculate all about the release of gaseous methane buried below the disintegrating clathrate layer. I am speculating about a release of more than 1%, and I do think that this is bang on topic for a thread discussing "mass extinction events". As to possibility/probability, I would not really wish to suggest any actual betting odds, and any speculation from me would be entirely inconsequential, but... It does seem to me that discussion of, for example, sea-level rise by 2100 is perhaps less consequential and less pressing than the discussion of the odds of our current BAU activities triggering a global mass-extinction event in the next decade or so. It's a bet, quite a rash bet, and it looks to me like Dubya and Co put the farm on it. And, frankly, I don't think the farm is very safe. You pays your money, you takes your choice: the wisdom of the global petroligarchy versus the relentless moronic power of the already over-heated ocean. If I had the slightest chance of surviving to collect my winnings...
    Moderator Response: [DB] You are very much "bang on topic". My caution was in regards to the rates of release and the timing. BAU for another 20 years or so moves a methane clathrate release from a possibility into the probability zone. And it will involve a sight more than 1%...and virtually guarantee an eventual loss of ice at both poles...
  12. Rob Honeycutt at 10:00 AM on 14 March 2011
    Republicans to Repeal Laws of Physics
    johnd... Given the state of policy I don't see how it's possible to separate physics from politics.
  13. Skeptical Science nominated for Climate Change Communicator of the Year
    That's wonderful news for you, but I am really surprised that GMU has a prize like this since they get so much money from the Kochs. GMU is investigating Dr. Wegmann for research misconduct in connection with his efforts to discredit the "hockey stick," and they are taking a long time. Attorney General Cucinelli relies on Wegman's report in his attacks on Dr. Mann. http://deepclimate.org/2010/12/23/george-mason-universitys-endless-inquiry/
  14. Republicans to Repeal Laws of Physics
    Muoncounter @32, I doubt actual democracy requires that kings be philosophers, and certainly philosophers should never be kings. But a commitment to democracy does imply a free, universal system of high standard public education. dana @38, the US is not a democracy (and neither is Australia, though it is closer). But democracy is the only ethical system of government. I believe it is fundamental to moral reasoning that you cannot achieve ethical ends by unethical means. Therefore, any policy to ensure action is taken to prevent excessive AGW must be part of a policy to genuinely implement democracy in government to be capable of long term success.
  15. Republicans to Repeal Laws of Physics
    scaddenp - I'd be happy to send you a copy of my paper describing the new GH theory. Please, email me your contact info at ntconsulting@comcast.net. Regarding satellite observations of atmospheric absorption of IR radiation emanating from the surface, they show just that 'absorption' and provide no evidence for a temperature change due to such absorption... Since that IR energy comes from the surface, it is already IN the system, and according to the First Law of Thermodynamics, cannot raise the surface temperature even further .. To give you a little clue, think about the possibility that convective cooling could completely offset the radiative warming due to GH gases, because convection is many orders of magnitude more efficient than radiation in transferring energy ...
  16. Republicans to Repeal Laws of Physics
    scaddenp at 07:52 AM , I agree with your sentiments regarding political commentary, but it is not something new. For example, the numerous threads that discussed non-scientific figures such as Monckton amounted to such. I feel that John Cook himself now needs to clarify the philosophy that underpins his site given, as stated earlier, the whole thread contravenes the comments policy. The inclusion of the word "physics" in the title is a red herring. The essential element to this discussion and the events being discussed, as mentioned continuously, is "public health or welfare" and economics, and it is that on which these political decisions, and hence this whole thread is based on.
  17. Republicans to Repeal Laws of Physics
    Excellent group of comments and arguments. Sorry for my "broad brush" but I'm incensed by the conservative anti-science agenda. It's nothing new in the U.S. We still see it in the organic evolution debate and have seen it in the acid rain, ozone hole, cigarette causing cancer debate, etc. Conservatives in the U.S. are supported by big business and therefore big money. They are on the wrong side of the climate science debate.
  18. Republicans to Repeal Laws of Physics
    Gilles: "ALL so-called "alternative" energies require cheap and abundant materials above, all made with ... cheap fossil fuels." Gilles will continue to argue without recourse to evidence as long as we keep responding. What he seems to forget (or conveniently ignore) is one reason why fossil fuel use was historically cheap: Neither producers nor consumers had to clean up their waste product, they could just dump it into the air without thought. What other product could be used with no cost for waste disposal? The future cost of any remediation of AGW (if such is possible) is part of the free ride the fossil fuel industry has lived on for the last hundred years. Current attempts to wish the problem away just postpone the inevitable day when the bills will come due.
    Moderator Response: [DB] "Gilles will continue to argue without recourse to evidence as long as we keep responding."

    Indeed. He is prosecuting the same orbit as he conducted at RC for many threads for many months, tying up the resources of many gifted and knowledgeable people.

  19. Republicans to Repeal Laws of Physics
    dhogaza #64 - indeed, as I've noted a couple of times, if the US were a democracy then we would already have a carbon cap and trade system in place. So comments about how great a system democracy is aren't really relevant here. When a 41% minority can obstruct the will of a 59% majority, that's not even close to democracy. scaddenp #65 - precisely correct. Whether or not commenters personally believe the body of climate science evidence is correct is not the issue here. The issue is that Republicans are trying to dictate climate science with politics. They did not even make an effort to support their position that the EPA endangerment finding (which was based on a large body of scientific evidence) is wrong. Ultimately this isn't an issue for politicians to decide. This is why there are scientists working at the EPA, so they can accurately assess the body of scientific evidence. Unless the EPA decides that GHG emissions don't endanger public health and welfare, the alternative path that politicians should be pursuing is the first one described in the article - implementing a different carbon emissions control system. If the science is wrong, it will be borne out through scientific research, not through politics.
  20. Republicans to Repeal Laws of Physics
    PhysSci - the point of this article is that you cant legislate laws of physics, and law-makers attempts to do so suggest that they think you can choose your reality. Challenges to the science go elsewhere on this site. This is what makes this site useful and I would be disappointed if moderators allowed otherwise.
  21. Skeptical Science nominated for Climate Change Communicator of the Year
    Congrats John, you're the heart of this site and you deserve the honor. Congrats also to the "triumvirate" John Abraham/Scott Mandia/Ray Weymann, they have my vote.
    Response: Thanks Riccardo but I will stress that the nomination is for the organization category and very much is for the SkS community as a whole. And that includes you! :-)
  22. Republicans to Repeal Laws of Physics
    Tom Curtis:
    Rather, democracy is desirable as government because it alone of all governments reflects the equal moral worth of all people by giving all people an equal say in the governance of their nation.
    Given that the United States is explicitly *not* a democracy, but rather a representative republic, what's the relevance of your comment? If our government were intended to give all people an equal say in the governance of their nation, California and Alaska wouldn't have the same number of Senators ...
  23. Republicans to Repeal Laws of Physics
    Assuming the topic of this thread is supposed to be the republican's attempt to repeal science, note it's not the first time. When the US Fish and Wildlife Service made a scientific determination that the northern spotted owl was seriously declining and met the definition of a species that should be listed as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act, George HW Bush (Bush the Elder or Bush I, to more clearly differentiate him from "W") ordered the USFWS to disregard the scientific funding and refuse to list the species. Which led to a federal district court judge pointing out that this was illegal, because the ESA states that a decision to list or not be based solely on the Service's scientific determination.
  24. Skeptical Science nominated for Climate Change Communicator of the Year
    My vote's already in.
  25. Republicans to Repeal Laws of Physics

    dana1981, let me clarify. This whole discussion about burning fossil fuels, cap and trade, the EPA attempt to regulate carbon emissions and the current actions of Congress to stop EPA is ALL rooted and based in the Greenhouse Theory. I posted my first comment in response to the the titles of the article that started this whole blog - "Republicans to Repeal Laws of Physics". If the GH theory is wrong, then the entire discussion about regulating CO2 is muted ... Political decisions regarding climate HAVE to be based on physical realities <snip>

    Response:

    [dana1981]The reason we don't allow off-topic comments is so that the discussions don't get derailed.  If we allow you to repeat every "skeptic" myth you can come up with, then people will have to respond to all these myths, and we will lose track of the discussion at hand.

    If you want to argue about the greenhouse effect, as a previous comment noted, see "the greenhouse effect has been falsified" and comment there.  If you want to claim that carbon pricing will destroy the economy, see "CO2 limits will harm the economy".  If you want to dispute the physical evidence behind AGW, see "it's not us" or "CO2 effect is weak".

  26. Republicans to Repeal Laws of Physics

    I would have to say to John Cook that I am not that happy with political commentary on this site, like this one. Everyone can have a political opinion so it brings out a mile of irrelevant comment with no scientific content at all. Just clogs the Recent comments. Furthermore, there are plenty of sites for this type of discussion eg http://climateprogress.org/, but this site is unique in its focus on the scientific arguments and rigorously applied comments policy.

    Response:

    [dana1981]Your displeasure is noted.  However, we cannot simply sit idly by, remaining silent while one of the chambers of Congress in the world's largest historical carbon emitter attempts to dictate scientific and physical reality through politics.  As I previously noted, Skeptical Science is also about climate science solutions, and Republicans are attempting to derail every significant attempt to reduce GHG emissions.  We felt this was well worth commenting on, and stand by that decision (which was approved by John Cook before I drafted this article).

  27. Republicans to Repeal Laws of Physics
    PhysSci - we will wait your paper with interest provided its peer-reviewed and published in something better than E&E. It will be fascinating to see how you account for experimental observation (particularly the spectral characteristic of DLR and OLR) by another theory. The appropriate place to continue the discussion however is Does Greenhouse effect exist?. That way your comment wont be thrown out by moderators.
  28. Skeptical Science nominated for Climate Change Communicator of the Year
    Seriously, when I want the consensus scientific view, w/o any nonsense, I come here. Good Job!
  29. Republicans to Repeal Laws of Physics
    Perhaps we should note that a Bill that tried to legislate that- "global warming is not a natural occurrence and human activity have accelerated it" would also be a travesty of trying to legislate the laws of the physics.
  30. Republicans to Repeal Laws of Physics
    RSVP - nobody is suggesting a complete ban on fossil fuel consumption. No strawmen please.
  31. Republicans to Repeal Laws of Physics
    "greenhouse gases in the atmosphere may reasonably be anticipated both to endanger public health and to endanger public welfare". ...yet, how many people would still be alive, say, one year after a complete ban on fossil fuel consumption?
  32. Republicans to Repeal Laws of Physics
    Gilles #47 and 49, please decide what you're trying to argue. You claimed wealth is correlated with fossil fuel use. I explained that it's actually correlated with energy use. Then you shifted goalposts to argue that fossil fuels are not cheaply and easily replaceable for every use - I never claimed otherwise. Please pick an argument and stick with it instead of shifting goalposts and constructing strawmen.
  33. Republicans to Repeal Laws of Physics
    There are many who are not convinced man’s impact through the burning of fossil fuels on earth’s climate is significant, and they include people of various political persuasions and educational backgrounds. So I ask; why is there still doubt when there is a consensus within the climate science community? Is it the influence of the “deniers”, the insidious propaganda of the “big oil and coal” industries, or renegade heretical scientist? Well no, at least not for me. I have read and continue to read the research to educate myself as much as possible, make the blog circuit often to here the opinions of others, and will ultimately come to a conclusion. However, whether it is the unanswered questions regarding cloud feedback, solar and ocean cycles, or the climate gate emails, I am not ready to accept the consensus until these things are made clear in my mind. One thing for sure though, it is not political, and I hope this site will stay with the science rather than devolve into that arena.
  34. Republicans to Repeal Laws of Physics

    Why someone keeps deleting my postings within minutes?? Is someone afraid of a fact-based discussion? I cannot believe the degree of censorship on this website!! I'm posting this again ... <snip>

    Response:

    [dana1981]Please read the site Comments Policy, specifically "no off topic comments".  This article is not the place to argue about the existence of the greenhouse effect.

  35. Republicans to Repeal Laws of Physics
    Giles: "for a very simple reason : for 200 years, the world economic growth has been correlated positively with FF consumption and negatively with temperatures. Shouldn't it have been the opposite, if you were right ?" Erm, if you are just looking at figures, then you will find any sort of correlation. Skeptics are well known for that, aren't they? But how do you measure growth. In the same time, species have rapidly become extinct, some wiped out for profit and economic growth. Your views suggest a short term gain, heading for a massive crunch. Or rather, me, me, me and who cares about what happens tomorrow. The success of humanity can no longer purely be measured by short term goals and achievements. The other point is if you are thinking that fossil fuels can only achieve that growth, then you are obviously commiting humanity to an early grave and also are sticking fingers up at engineers that are able to come up with new solutions to current problems. Or more precisely, you don't want engineers, they are redundant in your world.
  36. Skeptical Science nominated for Climate Change Communicator of the Year
    Please! George Mason University is a VIRGINIA public university. I'm sure they're next on our esteemed Atty Gen's list for persecution.
  37. Republicans to Repeal Laws of Physics
    Giles: "I may have forgotten some. Note that ALL so-called "alternative" energies require cheap and abundant materials above, all made with ... cheap fossil fuels." I suggest you read up on carbon footprints. Much of this work has been done and the issues you elude to have been taken account. Energy carbon footprints for renewables are well known and hence we know that the fossil fuel inputs for renewables are tiny.
  38. Republicans to Repeal Laws of Physics
    Gilles, Alex C : you seem also to persistently ignore that the POSITIVE effects of fossil fuel consumption are much more obvious and measurable than the NEGATIVE ones, The reason they're more "obvious" has a lot to do with selective attention (e.g., ignoring externalities and opportunity costs), and that in turn has a lot to do with politics and money. In other words, you're confusing ideology with reality.
  39. Republicans to Repeal Laws of Physics
    Everett Rowdy: "Scientists tend not to operate in this manner which is partly why there has been little traction on advancing this issue." Which is why both the left and right need to be behind the scientists and be supportive. Remember that left/right politics were born in the industrial revolution, so the idea that one is green and one is not is complete rubbish, both have a long history of burning fossil fuels and ripping up the environment.
  40. Republicans to Repeal Laws of Physics
    and if you want me to be more specific, dana, fossils fuels are NOT easily and cheaply replaceable for such uses : transportation, metallurgy (steel, copper, zinc, and all kinds of material), fabrication of cheap cement, glass, paper, plastics, glues, paints, synthetic fibers, fertilizers, synthetic rubbers, detergents, and to insure stable electric power production (where hydroelectricity is not available). I may have forgotten some. Note that ALL so-called "alternative" energies require cheap and abundant materials above, all made with ... cheap fossil fuels.
  41. Republicans to Repeal Laws of Physics
    Everett Rowdy: "They are doing so because they oppose environmentalism" Then you/they don't have a clue what they are talking about. Everett Rowdy: "they dislike leftist politicians" Explain what relevance that has to cutting emissions or 'green' policies?? I live in the UK and most conservatives I know are pretty green and the local council which has been Tory for decades signed up for the 10:10 campaign last year. Your problem is that American politics have gone off the rails and has become ignorant of the reality of what needs to be done. You can plant trees commercially or by the state. It doesn't matter what the politics are as long as you plant trees. Same goes for emissions. Everett Rowdy: "they fear big government" Again this is completely irrelevant. If you don't like big government then find other ways of making the same cuts in emissions. That is your job, no one cares how it is done or is achieved. Be creative and do it your way.
  42. Republicans to Repeal Laws of Physics
    dana1981 : you're issuing unjustified statements. If you were right, please explain me why countries like Iceland still use fossil fuels, although they must entirely import them and that they have plenty of renewable electricity - much more than what they need for their personal use. Are they so stupid ?
  43. Republicans to Repeal Laws of Physics
    Marcus : "Last of all, Gilles, the EU-27 countries achieved around a 15% reduction in total energy consumption-across all sectors of the economy (industrial, commercial, domestic & transport)-without any detriment to GDP growth." This statement is plainly wrong . CO2 emissions have improved thanks to the use of more efficient power plants (especially in the former Eastern bloc), but generally the energy consumption has increased.
  44. Republicans to Repeal Laws of Physics
    Gille - wealth correlates with energy consumption, period. There's nothing special about fossil fuels except that they're an artificially cheap energy source, which we've used for centuries. We can replace fossil fuels with other energy sources, and the economy will continue to grow.
  45. Republicans to Repeal Laws of Physics
    Alex C : you seem also to persistently ignore that the POSITIVE effects of fossil fuel consumption are much more obvious and measurable than the NEGATIVE ones, for a very simple reason : for 200 years , the world economic growth has been correlated positively with FF consumption and negatively with temperatures. Shouldn't it have been the opposite, if you were right ?
  46. Climate Emergency: Time to Slam on the Brakes
    Angus @103, It seems that you sincerely think that you are onto something here-- unfortunately, you are not. I do not have time right now to address this today (family comes first), but I'll do my best to reply on Monday. PS: "Eyeballing" graphs as you suggest is incredibly dangerous and not at all scientific.
  47. Republicans to Repeal Laws of Physics
    There is little need to convince politicians (on the left or right) that climate change is real and dangerous. Nor is it necessary to convince them that civilization as we know it might come to an end. The most effective strategy is to convince politicians that their careers are coming to an end if they don’t take effective action.
  48. Tenney Naumer at 05:30 AM on 14 March 2011
    Skeptical Science nominated for Climate Change Communicator of the Year
    You know who I voted for! LOL This site is just so marvelous, such a valuable resource, and such great work by all involved.
  49. Republicans to Repeal Laws of Physics
    While rational thought is essential to good science, I think those who advocate addressing climate change need to recognize that most voters and politicians act according to their emotions and values. As the National Academy of Sciences has said, the science behind anthropogenic climate change is settled fact. People who oppose action in response to climate change are not doing so because they do not get the science. They are doing so because they oppose environmentalism, they dislike leftist politicians, they fear big government, they perceive intellectual elitism in the scientific world or they just like being contrarian. These are not positions that have been arrived at via rational analysis and peer review. It is futile to expect that demonstrating the science further will sway these people. If we truly want voters to consider climate change, we must appeal to their emotions and values. Scientists tend not to operate in this manner which is partly why there has been little traction on advancing this issue. Compounding the situation is that economic fear is much more immediate for voters and the short-term health of our economy is heavily dependent on fossil fuels. Where the scientific process can make a difference is with youth. Youth are not calcified in their values and not locked into ruts of confirmation bias (seeking only those news articles and opinions that reaffirm entrenched positions). Youth have natural intellectual curiosity that can be nurtured to wonderful heights in our educational institutions. Youth love challenges and love forging new ways than those of their elders. And of course, they have the most at stake. Granted, this is a longer term solution and time is of the essence. But at least scientists won't be wasting time at climate change hearings or arguing with adults.
  50. Republicans to Repeal Laws of Physics
    garythompson: a majority of Americans to have preconceived notions with any AGW message that is delivered. Can you point to any source for this claim? In every study I've ever seen, it's the "skeptics" who are decidedly in the minority, despite the constant stream of slander and disinformation from well-funded denialist groups. Unless I'm mistaken, surveys consistently show that most Americans support the Clean Air Act, the EPA and other environmental regulations.

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