I agree with the essence of Professor Phil Meyer’s essay on objectivity in the launch issue of the Yale Forum, except that I’ve always argued that objectivity ultimately is impossible. It goes out the window as soon as we choose which story to write and how we frame it (which used to be called “finding […]
Posted inClimate Science
Lawrence Livermore Scientist Ben Santer Sees Benefits in ‘Proactive’ Approach to News Media
Physical and atmospheric scientist Benjamin D. Santer, of Lawrence Livermore, says he is taking a new “proactive” approach in dealing with news media. Prior to having participated in several face-to-face workshops involving climate scientists and journalists over the past few years, Santer says his standard “mode of operation” had been to:
Posted inClimate Science
Perspectives (Differing Ones, Of Course) on One-Quarter Degree F
It was the quarter-degree F recalculation shot heard around the world. And it was enough to tumble 1998 from its status as the U.S.’s hottest year and elevate in its place …
Posted inAnalysis
Upcoming Critique of Oreskes Findings on ‘Consensus’ Unlikely to Prove Convincing
The climate change blog world has been abuzz about a pending study said by some to challenge a widely-cited 2004 analysis suggesting a strong scientific “consensus” on anthropogenic climate change. But whether and where the much-ballyhooed analysis sees the light of day in a peer-reviewed form appears very much in doubt.
Posted inEnergy, Feature Article, Jobs & Economy
Top News Executives Focus on Climate Science (Pt.1 of 2)
Eighteen top news executives, representing some of the nation’s leading metropolitan daily newspapers and other news organizations, met all day September 5, 2007 at Stanford University with nine leading climate scientists and researchers. Their goal: to better understand the physical science underlying many scientists’ growing concerns … and to explore the energy and economic implications […]
Posted inFeature Article, Policy & Politics
Call it Climate Change. Strike That. Let’s Call it Global Warming. Strike THAT. Let’s Call It … (Pt.1 of 2)
Go back to May 1997, about seven months before the Kyoto Protocols were negotiated. The Cooler Heads Coalition established its web site, www.globalwarming.org. It was a savvy move for a group that’s skeptical about the risks of rising temperatures. Even it recognized how universal the term “global warming” was becoming.
Posted inFeature Article, Weather Extremes
Profile of The Weather Channel’s Heidi Cullen
One quick look at her resume alerts you that Heidi Cullen isn’t your “normal” journalist who took college courses, let’s be honest here, in large part to avoid dicey courses dealing with things like statistics, coefficients, and math generally. Cullen, in fact, is perhaps even more comfortable with issues involving engineering and paleoclimatology than she […]
Posted inFeature Article, Policy & Politics
Newsweek’s ‘Hoax’ Cover Story Raises Ire of Deniers, … and also Criticism from Within
“Hoax” is a potent accusation, a four-letter grenade of a word. In the public discussion of anthropogenic climate change, prominent conservatives such as Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) and radio commentator Rush Limbaugh have used it to convey profound suspicion about the motives of those who say manmade global warming is happening and worthy of action.
Posted inClimate Science, Feature Article
Tamino’s ‘Open Mind’
“Saying something brilliant simply.” The phrase comes from former WNET-TV/Nature documentary film producer and writer Gianna Savoie, now a freelance documentary producer. It’s a rare gift to express complex scientific concepts in simple terms. Perhaps more than any other prominent climate blogger, the pseudonymous Tamino delves into many of the day’s common climate change sophisms […]
Posted inFood & Agriculture
Carbon Footprint Labeling on Foods?
Are all those health and nutrition beat reporters starting to get envious about the growing amount of column inches and air minutes going to climate change? They need to fret more. There’s plenty to go around the news room. And around and around and around.
Posted inWeather Extremes
NOAA Release Draws Unusual Attention … But Why?
Climate change watchers were quick to pounce when NOAA on August 28 put out a release with the headline “Greenhouse Gases Likely Drove Near-Record U.S. Warmth in 2006.”
Posted inClimate Science
Climate Skeptic Pat Michaels … Life After U.Va. and ‘State Climatologist’ Role
Climate change skeptic par excellence Patrick J. Michaels never has been known as the shy and retiring type. And that isn’t likely to change just because he’s now resigned from the University of Virginia’s Department of Environmental Sciences, where he had been associated for nearly three decades.