Oh Dear: ClimateGate Makes the Daily Show
Plus: Michael Crichton

From the headlines, thanks to Krakatoa.

Just so you know, Stewart is not ready yet, of course, to give up his Pro-Science Talisman of Liberal Do-Goodery.

So it's a strange, disjointed thing -- he offers the damning evidence, rants a bit, and then comes back to his personal comfort zone of insisting that the people saying that maybe we need to see this data and check it twice are the crazy "anti-science" ones.

As I said -- interesting to watch the psychological journey here.

How do you deal with loss? Denial, then anger, then bargaining, then depression.

And finally -- doubt we'll see too many get the last step -- acceptance.

Here's a good article from Reason.

Consider researcher Tom Wigley’s email describing his adjustments to mid-20th century global temperature data in order to lower an inconvenient warming "blip." According to the global warming hypothesis, late 20th century man-made warming was supposed to be faster than earlier natural warming. But the data show rapid "natural" warming in the 1930s. Adjusting the 1940 temperature blip downward makes a better-looking trend line in support of the notion of rapidly accelerating man-made warming. Collecting and evaluating temperature data requires the exercise of scientific judgment, but Wigley's emails suggest a convenient correction of 0.15 degree Celsius that fits the man-made global warming hypothesis. The adjustment may be reasonable—changes in instrumentation might need to be accounted for—but all raw data and the methodologies used to adjust them should be publicly available so others can check them to make sure.

Bonus: I'm sure I've linked this clip -- or clips like this -- three or four times before.

But worth watching again. The late great utterly-unexpected-out-of-left-field ally Michael Crichton explains what religion is, what science is, and why the cult of The Virgin Gaia is the former and why it shouldn't be.

That, by the way, is from a post by Adam "Jayne Cobb" Baldwin on Big Hollywood.

If they're going to quote swell actors for their cause, then damnit, so am I.

Cheek aside, it's a good piece. Who knew sociopathic meathead "Jayne" had it in him.

Thanks to "Dr. Spank" for that. And you can trust him: Because he's a doctor.

posted by Ace at 02:33 PM

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