This is both my personal learning project and my contribution in the struggle to confront the ongoing Republican/ libertarian assault on rational science and constructive learning, as manifested in their malicious strategic Attacks on Science ~ A collection of articles, scientific resources, plus my own essays and indepth critique of various presentations from unidirectional-skeptics ~ Hopefully a resource for the busy, yet discerning, student who's concerned about the health of our Earth
After reading Hulme's "Am I a denier, a human extinction denier?" he invites us to read: "‘We Always Get the Weather We Deserve’: The Tenacious Grip of Moral Accountability." So I did. It was an even deeper exploration into his Mindscape rather than climate science. Needless to say, this essay also deserves a serious examination.
I'm looking for a job, researcher and writer, dedicated to confronting the deliberate calculated lies of the climate science contrarian community! PO Box 56 Durango, Colorado 81326 citizenschallenge - at - gmail com
Different cosmologies, religious thought, political ideologies, social practices and scientific paradigms of knowledge all contribute to the rich cultural matrix in which theories of climatic change and causation have emerged, flourished and declined.
____________
Sure, but lets be clear, this is about our inner perceptions and not about understanding our climate system.
CLAIM "The science is clear, climate change is making extreme weather events, including tornadoes, worse.”SOURCE:Bernie Sanders, Facebook, 4 March 2019
Overstates scientific confidence: Research clearly shows that certain types of weather extremes are increasing as a result of climate change, but it is not clear how tornadoes are responding to a warming climate.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ClimateFeedback misses the point.
It’s not about tornadoes and score keeping, it’s about learning to appreciate how our climate engine operates.
Take back the narrative !
Research clearly shows us that our global heat and moisture distribution engine has accumulated a degree Centigrade worth of extra heat since the advent of the steam engine.
Weather's job is to circulate this heat (and moisture) from the broiling equator to the poles.
This warming also increases the moisture holding capacity of air.
Physics tells us this added energy gets circulated throughout the global weather system.
This extra heat is now available to be released through various destructive forms, not limited to tornadoes, consider destructive macrobursts, microbursts, downbursts, derechos, bomb cyclones, hurricanes and others.
It doesn’t much matter which particular meteorological conditions come together, the point is when they do, they now have increasingly more energy, heat and moisture available, meaning more intense events must to be expected.
It’s elementary. It's physics. It's certain as people can be about anything.
It’s about establishing an appreciation for what’s happening within our global heat and moisture distribution engine. Well that and learning to appreciate the fragility of the biosphere upon who's health we all depend on for everything.
Apparently, Jim Steele's What's Natural? column is a weekly affair. This week he cancelled his promised Changing Sea Levels #2 and instead shares pointers from Carl Sagan in his What's Natural? "The Scientific Baloney Detection Kit" Feb. 20th, Pacific Tribune. It promises to offers an interesting journey into the mindscape of double standards and blindspots. I'm limiting this post to his introduction which offered it's own share of talking points. Then I'll be looking into Sagan's specific points in a later posting.
REPRINTED UNDER PROTECTION OF FAIR USE COPYRIGHT LAWS.
My intention is a point by point review of libertarian deception in action.
(please click on image for sharp view)
Jim Steele writes: "Politicians from all sides manufacture "crises" and "demons" to promote their agendas superficially designed to fight those crises."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Okay, no arguing that. So far so good.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"In his book “The Demon Haunted World," Carl Sagan famously published his Scientific Baloney Detection Kit, a "do and don’t" list to guide honest scientific inquiry."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wait a minute. How did we get from “Politicians” to “Scientific Inquiry” via a book written for laypeople?
Serious scientific inquiry is something that only the learned can do. Of course, one can be self-taught. But expert status in any field demands, learning, acquiring real knowledge, skills and experience.
That is quite different from being a spectator trying to understand what the scientists and experts are talking about.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Sadly, climate science has been too politicized. But Sagan's advice can help separate the politics from honest science regards claims of a "climate crisis.”"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here again Steele strives to coalesce science with politics and public spin - that is deceptive nonsense.
Sagan’s advice is for us laypeople to develop some critical thinking skills in order to better recognize our thoughts and what to look for as we assess the various claims being tossed at us.
What drives scientists? - Richard Alley's Golden Nugget
"The very foundation of scientific inquiry demands a vigorous skeptical challenge to every hypothesis. Several different hypotheses can explain the same phenomena. Anyone, scientist or layperson, can make assertions and models."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
No Jim. Not anyone can make assertions about climate models and other complex aspects of climate science. It may work in that Hollywood world so many seem to be inhabiting, but not in the real physical world that we depend on for our life support systems.
2018 was the climax of a decade long crescendo in my decades long effort to network with rationalists, scientists and science communicators, in what I fancied was our communal struggle to confront the mischief that corporate funded science contrarians and select politicians were so successfully peddling to an under-informed and mostly disinterested public - and since New Year's Eve is upon us, I feel like collecting some of my favorite posts in an effort to summarize my perspective.
This is the flip-side of my flier for the Democratic State Convention, it's a list of various important aspects of climate science communication along with key pit-falls and observations, in 14 verses.
It is a disservice to constantly allow trivial uncertainties to become the focal point of the public discussion.
In real life when we get mired or overwhelmed by increasingly complex situations, we stop, back off a little, get reoriented with the big picture, reacquaint ourselves with what we do know for certain, then move forward again.
I’m not saying ignore uncertainties! I’m saying keep reminding us of the overriding fundamental certainties! Thus putting contrarian trivial pursuits into real world perspective.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2) Map vs. Territory Problem
Scientists are Cartographers mapping out the geophysical realities of our planet, the Territory if you will. They do the best they can with the data they have available.
Too often we get trapped into assuming that until our scientists can define all aspects with statistical certainty, we should assume it's okay to ignore.
That's getting lost on the Map and forgetting we exist within the Territory.
I've been finishing up my line by line dissection of Mr. GOP's March Letter to the Four Corners Free Press Editor. Since he was complaining about how I presented climate science I figured I should include the column he was taking issue with. It appeared in the January 2018 Four Corners Free Press.
We need a real dialogue about climate.
by Peter Miesler, January 2018, Four Corners Free Press.
Early in December U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt told lawmakers he intended to organize a “Red team v Blue team” exercise to debate climate change.
Pruitt is being willfully blind to the fact that the scientific aspects of global warming have already been thoroughly debated by experts. It’s expected that Pruitt will orchestrate a lawyerly winner-take-all debate. One that’s based on rhetorical trickery and a ruthless disregard for facts.
It’s a shame, since we Americans needs a constructive educational dialogue. A debate where honestly representing your opponent’s arguments and data is as important as honestly representing your own data. One where objective learning is the goal, and where truth matters.
Speaking of honestly representing the science, on November 9th Dr. Kevin Trenberth, senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder and a lead author for IPCC’s Scientific Assessment in 1995, 2001, 2007, a giant in the field of climate assessment, gave a talk at the Fort Lewis College Climate Symposium explaining what scientists have learned about our planet. It sounded to me like a potential Blue team opening statement.
I've finally found a label I can wholeheartedly embrace and explain and defend. I am an Earth Centrist !
The reason I'm posting this is because it's some thoughts I've been working on for decades and I'm finally getting close and I want to share even if it's far from finished. Curious to see if anyone wants to bounce it around.
I am a fiercely independent guy and feeling more like H. Haller all the time so I don't make great internet intros, but feedback and networking is a requirement of life. It's fine and poetic to be the sound of one hand clapping, but I'm concerned with finding out if any of this resonates with any one of the few who'll read it. Some of you folks know many people within the climate science communication and politics interface, one of them is looking for me. Please help us connect.
Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated in comments or email.
Thank you. citizenschallenge at gmail com
_______________________________________________________ ( revisited and revised 7/31/2018 )
I've finally found a label I can wholeheartedly embrace and explain and defend.
I am an Earth Centrist !
Meaning that Earth and her physical processes and the pageant of her evolution are my touchstones. Understanding evolution and the biosphere I'm part of and how we got here is the foundation of all my reality.
Religions, God, political beliefs, they are all products of the human mindscape, generations of imaginings built upon previous generations of imaginings, all the way down.
Something real and to be reckoned with, yet in the end, it's only our mindscapes at work. While the real creation keeps on unfolding outside of our heads regardless and we're left to hang on for dear life.
In a way that mindscape is a product of Earth's evolution, yet it's certainly distinct and slightly separate from Earth's physical biological processes, something unique, ineffable, yet with the power to manifest personal gods and Earth shattering physical events.
I suggest most people are unaware of the Map v Territory Problem, thus society commits the same ME FIRST self-destructive errors that it has repeated for thousands of years, never learning a god-damned thing.
Just as mega-corporations that have grown big enough to destroy governments, so too our mega-species has become big enough to destroy our life sustaining biosphere.
That evolving creature that has existed since Earth bounced back from the last big comet strike about 65 million years ago.
The one that had achieved a splendid plateau 8-10 thousand years ago, but that now humanity has reset to something the likes of which Earth has not experienced in hundreds of millions of years. It’ll take a few decades and centuries to fully blossom, but it is as down to Earth physically certain as tomorrow's sunrise. Such a tragedy, yet that is where we find ourselves in 2018.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Then there's the God v Science question.
Knowledge of God is the ultimate in personal intimate relationship, your experience can not be transferred to, or replicated for, others.
Religions are human constructs for enabling people to reconcile themselves with the seasons and hardships of their lives and to enable human societies to function in a civil organized manner.
A God, if there be one, is All Things to All People, well beyond all human* understanding as the Holy Books warn us (*read petty, fearful, greedy, self-serving humans)individuals. If you are fortunate enough to be touched by God, that is your gift alone, something for you in your unique life. It is not a recipe for your neighbors or the world.
Science on the other hand is humanity’s recipe for learning about the physical world and its processes as honestly as possible.
Science is:
Learning is the goal.
Fidelity to physical facts is the gold standard.
Free Speech doesn’t mean it’s okay to lie and slander with malicious intent. Informed constructive skepticism is the rule.
It is a disservice to constantly allow trivial uncertainties to become the focal point of the public discussion.
In real life when we get mired or overwhelmed by increasingly complex situations, we stop, back off a little, get reoriented with the big picture, reacquaint ourselves with what we do know for certain, then move forward again.
I’m not saying ignore uncertainties! I’m saying keep reminding us of the overriding fundamental certainties! Thus putting contrarian trivial pursuits into real world perspective.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2) Map vs. Territory Problem
Scientists are Cartographers mapping out the geophysical realities of our planet, the Territory if you will. They do the best they can with the data they have available.
Too often we get trapped into assuming that until our scientists can define all aspects with statistical certainty, we should assume it's okay to ignore.
That's getting lost on the Map and forgetting we exist within the Territory.
I'm sharing this from the other blog I've started ConfrontingScienceContrarians.blogspot.com, it's part of my continuing struggle to understand the roots of the past decades worth of climate science communicators failure to sway public understanding, along with their failures in confronting alt-right juvenile liars and their childish distractions. On November 9th Dr. Trenberth visited our local Fort Lewis College and was the featured speaker at an afternoon climate change symposium.
A Distinguished Senior Scientist (in the Climate Analysis Section at the National Center for Atmospheric Research), he is a cartographer if you will. His entire being is about getting the science, the models, the map, as close to representing reality as resources and ability allow. This dedication has made him among the best in his field of climate studies.
As a self-taught Earth and climate science enthusiast I’ve been familiar with his work for decades and have learned a great deal from his articles and in past years talks on YouTube and I was glad to finally have the chance to see and hear him in person.
Although he gave an interesting talk reviewing many aspects of our warming climate system including hurricanes,
“Scott Pruitt, the deeply mistrusted head of the US Environmental Protection Agency, confirmed ... his plans to launch a “red team-blue team” exercise on the subject on climate change could reach fruition as early as next month. …”
“Scott Pruitt’s call for a ‘Red Team, Blue Team’ debate on climate change is a farce and a distraction,” said Peter Frumhoff from the UCS after Pruitt’s hearing. “If he has questions about climate science, he should turn to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, not hacks from the Heartland Institute. …”
The internet is abuzz with handwringing over the prospect of Pruitt's "red team - blue team" competition to "establish" the validity of the scientific understanding of human caused global warming, (see the recent SkepticalScience.com article I’ve reposted below.)
Trump Administration is looking forward to making a theater out of climate science and scientists are rightfully upset.
Yet, it seems to me this exercise provides a wonderful opportunity for some savvy science and history communicators with the right stuff to stand up and turn the table on these fraudsters.
Reject their script and use this opportunity to expose the contrarian mishmash of inconsistent nonsense, lies and slander.
Use the moment to expose their dishonest rotten underbelly!
