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Scientists Explain Why Chairman of House Committee On Science Is Wrong

Lasrick writes "Michael Oppenheimer and Kevin Trenberth take apart Rep. Lamar Smith's (R-Tex.) Washington Post op/ed on climate science saying: 'Contrary to Smith's assertions, there is conclusive evidence that climate change worsened the damage caused by Superstorm Sandy. Sea levels in New York City harbors have risen by more than a foot since the beginning of the 20th century. Had the storm surge not been riding on higher seas, there would have been less flooding and less damage. Warmer air also allows storms such as Sandy to hold more moisture and dump more rainfall, exacerbating flooding.'"

11 of 476 comments (clear)

  1. email leak by anthony_greer · · Score: -1, Troll

    I was 100% on board with global warming until the email leaks of a couple years ago - it seems like someone is not shooting straight here...I am not a scientist but I can tell you I now have some doubts about the validity of the climate science.

    1. Re:email leak by anthony_greer · · Score: -1, Troll

      Investigated by whom? people who stand to profit from climate change and / or the laws or restrictions that it brings about?

    2. Re:email leak by anthony_greer · · Score: 1, Troll

      This is part of the reason why people are against global warming - when people mention reasons why they don't believe it, or ask real questions about it seeking clearer understanding, all we get is attacked, demeaned and insulted.

      One of the things I do remember from high school science class is that when you don't understand something in science, you should ask hose saying it to clarify or explain their position, that is all I am going - I thought that was the scientific process, but apparently in the case of global warming, this doesn't apply because its easier to just insult those who dont clearly understand or would like details.

    3. Re:email leak by plague911 · · Score: 1, Troll

      Than I have reason to doubt your ability to perform critical thinking.

      The "leaks" worst offense was that in some cases scientists' felt pressure to modify the way they presented their facts to the public.

      Scientists, just like the rest of us are human. The client researchers' work is constantly under question, misinterpreted and derided by the simpletons on the right.

      It is a natural in this situation for people to have to take a "war footing".

      Portions of the public have refused accept that the overwhelming majority of facts point to one conclusion. They blow out of proportion that .1% which MAY support ulterior conclusions. As a reaction to that some elements of the informed population realize that some portion of the uniformed population are not capable of making logical and reasoned conclusions.

      This results in the unfortunate situation where some of the informed must manipulate the incompetent to move society forward.

    4. Re:email leak by craigminah · · Score: -1, Troll

      I bet the only reason you're on /. is because you're a mindless liberal zombie and you realize (most) people on this site have a delicious brain. Begone liberal AC and take your "Fox new sucks because I was told to say that" attitude with you. Begone or I'll be forced to fetch my torch and pitchfork.

    5. Re:email leak by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

      Faux Knews is ridiculous. As one study proved that watched recordings of more than a month of their prime time shows, not a single thing they said in the show was true. Not one damn thing. They are proven liars. They even went to court and fought and won for the right to lie constantly. They admitted it under oath in court. They lie. They do nothing but lie. It's the same with you CONservatives.

    6. Re:email leak by ArcherB · · Score: -1, Troll

      people who stand to profit from climate change

      If you think that anyone would profit from even the average predicted scenario, you must be living comfortably on another planet. Droughts, floods, food shortages, heat waves, extreme weather patterns, economies destroyed? Where's "profit" in that, for any economy?

      Al Gore seems to have done quite well.

      --
      There is no "I disagree" mod for a reason. Flamebait, Troll, and Overrated are not substitutes.
    7. Re:email leak by stenvar · · Score: 0, Troll

      Again, though, I'm a specialist, so I won't be able to answer all your questions

      Unfortunately, climate scientists rarely show even that modest degree of scientific care and honesty. Don't believe me? Just RTFA.

  2. If you actually READ those emails... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    ... and you are not outraged by the deceptions and manipulations on the part of the advocates of AGW then you are either one of the authors, or you are a fanatic who accepts any act, no matter how bad, as long as your side does it; this makes you a dangerous, anti-intellectual sycophant.

    Legitimate scientists do not need to rig the peer review process and rig the paper publishing systems.

    By their actions these people outed themselves as charlatans and frauds who lacked sufficient confidence in the "science" they were pushing... they clearly did not believe the quality of their work could withstand the scrutiny that all other (actual) science regularly gets as part of the normal order

  3. Re:So we now call speculation "conclusive evidence by Xyrus · · Score: 0, Troll

    Also, I don't even have a problem with saying that CO2 is the primary driver of increased temperatures - but I do have a problem with

    a) anything that goes beyond CO2 (that is 1.3K for a doubling) that is pure speculation, consists of poorly researched feedback mechanisms, with the poor state of research in cloud formation being among the worst offenders and most important negative feedbacks that are currently being ignored due to the poor state of knowledge...

    Bullshit. You're ignoring the decades of research on these topics. You're ignoring the physics, and the simulations built on those physics. Now you may simply be ignorant of this, or you're being willfully deceitful, but either way these are certainly not "poorly understood phenomena".

    b) I do have a problem with the constant one-sided discussion of the effects of increased temperatures. They are always held in the tone of horoscopes and greek oracles to avoid any clear statements that could be easily contradicted. "Extreme weather events" being the worst offender. That's says nothing and is obviously taylored to feed a constant media frenzy. This is combined with a complete lack of reporting on past "extreme weather events". Thus even decidetly average events like hurricanes Katrina or Sandy (in their historical and geographical context!) become "unprecedented monster storms", which is just laughable for anyone who bothered to look into the history of hurricanes on the US south and east coast.

    That's because you have no idea what you are talking about. And it is people like you which make scientists not even want to bother to try and explain anything. If you don't even understand the most basic research concepts and results, why bother trying to explain something more advanced. You don't want to listen. You don't want to know. And that's perfectly fine. But you have no credibility even with someone who has a passing knowledge of the actual research,

    --
    ~X~
  4. Re:Rich people deserve safe beachfront homes by Mattcelt · · Score: -1, Troll

    What on Earth makes you think the NYT or CNN is more credible a source than FOX?

    Show me a news source that isn't catering to ratings (i.e., money), and I'll show you one worth listening to. Until then, they're all suspect, and all they spew is bollocks.