Believe it or not: Clean air over Europe is contributing to climate change! Amberger points out the logical consequence.
Archive for the ‘Bad Science’ Category
Climate Fear Smackdown
Posted by pwl on March 14, 2009
Posted in Bad Science, Believe it or your a denier!, Climate Science, Debunking Bad Environmentalism, Hard Science Required, Human|Ape, Humbled by Nature, Intelligent Designer, Science Education, Video | Leave a Comment »
Science Smackdown: Bill Nye vs. Richard Lindzen
Posted by pwl on March 13, 2009
“If you wish to issue a scare remarks you should make accurate according to the science.” – Richard Lindzen
Richard Lindzen was on Larry King Live [~ February 02, 2007] discussing Global Warming with a panel of experts that included Bill Nye the Science Guy. A TV personality and former sketch comedy member against an atmospheric physicist and a professor of meteorology at MIT. Julian Morris and Lindzen make excellent points for which the alarmists have no answer. It’s the same old song and dance, they always mention the “consensus” and the IPCC report.
Richard Siegmund Lindzen, Ph.D., (born February 8, 1940) is a Harvard trained atmospheric physicist and the Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Meteorology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Lindzen is known for his research in dynamic meteorology, especially planetary waves. He has published over 200 books and scientific papers. He was the lead author of Chapter 7 (physical processes) of the Third Assessment Report of the IPCC on global warming (2001). He has been a critic of some anthropogenic global warming theories and the political pressures surrounding climate scientists.
William Sanford Nye (born November 27, 1955, Washington, D.C.)[1] also known as “Bill Nye the Science Guy,” is an American comedian, television host, science educator and mechanical engineer.
Bill Nye is also known as “Bill The End is Nye [Nigh] Science Guy” since Bill is on board with the doomsday scenarios presented by Al Gore’s nightmare science fiction visions in “An Inconvenient Truth” soothsaying a bleak future based upon the most extreme possibilities. Which is why Lindzen’s quote about scare remarks is so relevant. More on that in another posting.
If one is basing a decision on who to believe it’s clear that Richard Lindzen out classes Bill Nye by a country mile or Canadian kilometer. The key to remember that science is about science and not authorities. So how to determine which one is speaking closer to the truth than the other? In this case to me it sounds like Lindzen was talking more hard core science in a more understandable manner that allows one to get at the underlying notions rather than just spouting beliefs as Bill Nye seemed to be doing. However, for me the jury is still out since it’s the science that rules in the end not the personalities. The quest continues.
What about you? What do you think?
Posted in Bad Science, Believe it or your a denier!, Debunking Bad Environmentalism, Ethics in Science, Hard Science, Human|Ape, Humbled by Nature, Ignorance to Knowledge, Science Education, Science Smackdown, The End is Nigh, Video, Yikes! | Leave a Comment »
Succumbing To Nonsense, yes, even Canadians
Posted by pwl on March 12, 2009
Posted in Bad Science, Belief Stricken, Canadians, Humbled by Nature, Intelligent Designer - Yeah Right, UFO Proof, Yikes! | Leave a Comment »
The Day The Earth Stood Still
Posted by pwl on March 12, 2009
Posted in Bad Science, Disasters, Film, Fun, Science Ficition | Leave a Comment »
Correlation Implies Causation?
Posted by pwl on March 8, 2009
Correlation does not imply causation is a phrase used in the sciences and the statistics to emphasize that correlation between two variables does not imply that one causes the other. Its negation, correlation proves causation, is a logical fallacy by which two events that occur together are claimed to have a cause-and-effect relationship. The fallacy is also known as cum hoc ergo propter hoc (Latin for “with this, therefore because of this”) and false cause. By contrast, the fallacy post hoc ergo propter hoc requires that one event occurs before the other and so may be considered a type of cum hoc.
In a widely-studied example, numerous epidemiological studies showed that women who were taking combined hormone replacement therapy (HRT) also had a lower-than-average incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD), leading doctors to propose that HRT was protective against CHD. But controlled trials showed that HRT caused a small and significant increase in risk of CHD. Re-analysis of the data showed that women undertaking HRT were more likely to be from socio-economic groups ABC1, with better than average diet and exercise regimes. The two were coincident effects of a common cause, rather than cause and effect as had been supposed.
Posted in Bad Science, Complex Systems, Ethics in Science, Fun, Humbled by Nature, Ignorance to Knowledge | Leave a Comment »
Al Gore’s “Debate is No Longer Needed” = Science Is No Longer Needed!
Posted by pwl on March 6, 2009
Al Gore Talks Ten Year [con] Plan in a video interview.
[Al Gore] was challenged by Mr. Lomborg, the Danish skeptical environmentalist who thinks the world would be better off spending more money on health and education issues than curbing carbon emissions.
“I don’t mean to corner you, or maybe I do mean to corner you, but would you be willing to have a debate with me on that point?” asked the polo-shirt wearing Dane.
“I want to be polite to you,” Mr. Gore responded. But, no. “The scientific community has gone through this chapter and verse. We have long since passed the time when we should pretend this is a ‘on the one hand, on the other hand’ issue,” he said. “It’s not a matter of theory or conjecture, for goodness sake,” he added.
Notice that Gore uses “religious” language when he says: “The scientific community has gone through this chapter and verse.” Ah, science is NOT religion, at least it’s not supposed to be Mr. Al Gore.
Essentially Mr. Al Gore is advocating that the science stop when he asserts that the “debate is over” since at the core of science is “scientific debate” over the science! Science is about finding out what the heck is going on and as we learn more our information evolves and yes people, scientists and others will debate the evidence, the experiments, the results or lack of results from experiments, the data, the quality of the data, the accuracy or lack therein of the data, etc…. The debate is not over unless you want the science over Mr. Al Gore.
If you think about the psychology of Gore finding out that he’s wrong about climate science it’s easy to understand that Gore would want to shut down any discussions that basic questions about climate science are raised. Gore is attempting to avoid making more big goofs about it than he already has. It’s the politician in him avoiding topics that he’s ignorant of.
As someone learning climate science I embrace my obvious ignorance precisely because I’m LEARNING about climate science! You might give that a try Mr. Al Gore.
It would be important for you Mr. Al Gore to release an updated version of “An Inconvenient Truth” that corrects the mistakes that are in it. You might want to call it something else. Suggestions from the reader are welcome.
Posted in Bad Science, Believe it or your a denier!, Climate Science, Energy, Ethics in Science, Hard Science, Humbled by Nature, Ignorance to Knowledge, Politics, Proofs Needed, Scams, Video | Leave a Comment »
Use soft toilet paper on your derriere
Posted by pwl on March 5, 2009
Arguments about ‘virgin fibre’ nonsense, environmentalist says by Patrick Moore
Greenpeace, with strong support from the Natural Resources Defense Council, has come out against the sale of soft toilet tissue made with “virgin” fibre. It claims that using trees to make toilet paper is worse for the environment than driving Hummers or building McMansions.
My old organization [Greenpeace] wants Canadians to use recycled paper for TP and it’s targeting Kimberly-Clark, Procter and Gamble, and other large tissue producers. Apparently hair shirts aren’t sufficient, now we must wipe with scratchy paper to rid ourselves of eco-guilt.
It makes a good story and news outlets around the world have dutifully picked it up. But it is absolute nonsense, for a number of reasons.
Not only toilet paper, but also paper in general, is made from waste from sawmills that are providing lumber to build our homes and furniture. When North American forests are harvested, all the logs that are suitable for making lumber are sawn for that purpose. Lumber is worth more than paper, so no lumber company would be foolish enough to chip logs that are suitable for making 2x4s.
Paper is made from the sawdust and chips left over from sawmilling, and from logs that are not suitable for making lumber. In environmental terms this is the beneficial use of what would otherwise be a waste product. Indeed, the parts of the log that are not suitable for paper, such as the bark and fine sawdust, are burned to make energy to run the sawmill and to dry the lumber.
In the end, 100 per cent of the tree is used. What is wrong with that?
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Posted in Bad Science, Debunking Bad Environmentalism, Humbled by Nature, Ick!, Ignorance to Knowledge | Leave a Comment »
