It's being discussed at RealClimate already - what is clear from all I heard up to now is that everyone, including Mann, have lots of praise for the methodology. This really seems to be quite a methodological improvement regarding tree ring proxies. With regards to the conclusions Esper et al. draw regarding radiative forcings, there is more skepticism. It is speculative indeed. We gotta see how the multiproxy reconstructions fare when corrected by the new tree ring method.
Well, it is definitely an interesting paper, but one has to keep in mind that it shows higher than estimated historical temperatures localized in northern Scandinavia. More interesting is the fact that their analysis gets rid of the divergence problem. Anyway, the underlying cooling trend was actually expected from other studies for high latitudes - it does not extend to the tropics though. For example, Lake Tanganjika sediment proxies do indeed not show such a trend. Other multiproxy reconstructions give a somewhat lower cooling trend in the -0,2 K per millenium rate, while Esper et al give -0,32. I don't think we will throw hundreds of other proxies out of the window because of one. In the end, the fact that it might have been about as warm as today in historical times does not change the fact that the current rate of temperature rise is still unprecedented on that timescale.
So that wild jungle ecosystem of HP-UX, Solaris, IRIX, Linux, Windows, MS-DOS (!) and whatnot-based machine that grew over the years at the department where I did my PhD work supposedly means I did not do serious science there? Right....
Because that libertarian bullshit is trolling by nature? You can't tell me you are taking yourself serious, do you? That nonsense adds nothing to the discussion, being prima facie worthless.
Hm. Transformation into a free-floating ageless, sightless and boneless slug. Now give me some Spice and I am set for my transformation into a Guild Navigator.
Yeah. Moral regression, like women being self-determined, them niggers getting uppity and gays being allowed to come out. Hell on earth. The only abomination I can see here is your hate-filled "morality" and bigotry.
Pro tip: When your privilege is cut back to normal size, you are not oppressed, you are just a whiny bigot with a sense of entitlement larger than your brain.
The mechanism of thought is similar, I give you that. "They hate us for our freedoms" is pretty much the definition of the persecuted hegemon. Now if we could come up with any course of action except facepalming at the idiocy.... I am lost, though...
This is not a problem with atheism, this is a problem with the decent congregations not making themselves heard. I have no doubt that your local church is made up by decent people, and I have no desire to see it razed from the face of the earth. However, the vocal churches, the ones that make themselves heard are largely infested by the above mentioned asshattery.
This is actually rather new. A critical evangelical blogger I occasional read (me being atheist, but interested in the insights on american evangelical culture he delivers) calls it tht "persecuted hegemon". Whining about oh how oppressed they are while actually being privileged in every conceivable manner is the big thing with fundamentalist christianists these days.
The "everyone is lying"-approach is not exactly productive, either, is it? I am somewhat fed up by the success of the conservatard "teh scientist are frauds and are only doing it for teh funds!!! lol !!!" meme. Skepticism is good, but it has to be based in facts, not in some herp-derp-it's all lies conspiratorial bullshit. You got any indication that the WHO is covering something up here? If so, I'll play along.
Actually, on the same grounds - I do believe it. What reason would the WHO have to cover something up? They have no history of political cover-ups. I take it they investigated and actually found nothing. As you say, there is enough real abuse one should care about.
The most vocal advocates of vouchers are self-entitled white assfucks who want segregated schools back. Don't lie. It doesn't become you. Also, basically every country that outclasses the US by lightyears in educational tests has public education. Free. Try to think for once.
As I said, I am out of touch - in the antediluvial times when I went to university, administrative fees where about 75 Mark and included the bus ticket;)
With "we" I meant Germany, just in case that was ambiguous. MBA mills are still quite rare here. Not that most of the economy studies at public universities are much better, though. I left academia myself after getting fucked over by inter-departmental bickering once too much, though. Whoring myself out at a patent law firm these day. It pays the bills, and, fortunately, I got to deal with actually technical stuff, so it is not that bad. Good luck with your academic career!
We go with hand woven silken asswipes these days. Hand woven by thai child prostitutes for the extra smooth feeling. Apart from that, spot on. Don't listen for the black helicopters, they are in whisper mode anyway.
The bigger picture here, as alumnus from a German public university, is that private unis have the only purpose of fucking you in the arse, grabbing your purse, slitting your throat then fucking your corpse for good measure. Degree mills for MBAs at an outrageous cost, scientifically worthless. Education is provided by evil socialist public universities.
Actually, we don't have that problem on the same scale. Private universities like this are pretty much Mickey-Mouse-outfits. Real science is done on the public funded universities.
Private universities are a rare breed in Germany, there are only a couple, and, like the article demonstrates, they are largely in the ripping-people-off business. The majority of universities, and, in particular, the scientifically good universities, only change a nominal fee per semester - something like 500 euros nominal administrative fee or such. Been a while - I attended while the dinosaurs still roamed the earth;)
Slashdot Mirror
It's being discussed at RealClimate already - what is clear from all I heard up to now is that everyone, including Mann, have lots of praise for the methodology. This really seems to be quite a methodological improvement regarding tree ring proxies. With regards to the conclusions Esper et al. draw regarding radiative forcings, there is more skepticism. It is speculative indeed. We gotta see how the multiproxy reconstructions fare when corrected by the new tree ring method.
Well, it is definitely an interesting paper, but one has to keep in mind that it shows higher than estimated historical temperatures localized in northern Scandinavia. More interesting is the fact that their analysis gets rid of the divergence problem. Anyway, the underlying cooling trend was actually expected from other studies for high latitudes - it does not extend to the tropics though. For example, Lake Tanganjika sediment proxies do indeed not show such a trend. Other multiproxy reconstructions give a somewhat lower cooling trend in the -0,2 K per millenium rate, while Esper et al give -0,32. I don't think we will throw hundreds of other proxies out of the window because of one. In the end, the fact that it might have been about as warm as today in historical times does not change the fact that the current rate of temperature rise is still unprecedented on that timescale.
Linux is the only tool used in serious science
So that wild jungle ecosystem of HP-UX, Solaris, IRIX, Linux, Windows, MS-DOS (!) and whatnot-based machine that grew over the years at the department where I did my PhD work supposedly means I did not do serious science there? Right....
Are you talking about the voices in your head or about libertarianism?
An underlying long term linear cooling trend would make the recent warming more significant, no?
Because that libertarian bullshit is trolling by nature? You can't tell me you are taking yourself serious, do you? That nonsense adds nothing to the discussion, being prima facie worthless.
Hm. Transformation into a free-floating ageless, sightless and boneless slug. Now give me some Spice and I am set for my transformation into a Guild Navigator.
Yeah. Moral regression, like women being self-determined, them niggers getting uppity and gays being allowed to come out. Hell on earth. The only abomination I can see here is your hate-filled "morality" and bigotry.
Pro tip: When your privilege is cut back to normal size, you are not oppressed, you are just a whiny bigot with a sense of entitlement larger than your brain.
The mechanism of thought is similar, I give you that. "They hate us for our freedoms" is pretty much the definition of the persecuted hegemon. Now if we could come up with any course of action except facepalming at the idiocy.... I am lost, though...
This is not a problem with atheism, this is a problem with the decent congregations not making themselves heard. I have no doubt that your local church is made up by decent people, and I have no desire to see it razed from the face of the earth. However, the vocal churches, the ones that make themselves heard are largely infested by the above mentioned asshattery.
The strawman, it burns. The goggles, they do nothing!!!
This is actually rather new. A critical evangelical blogger I occasional read (me being atheist, but interested in the insights on american evangelical culture he delivers) calls it tht "persecuted hegemon". Whining about oh how oppressed they are while actually being privileged in every conceivable manner is the big thing with fundamentalist christianists these days.
Oh, butthurt much. I get it. Whatever goes for objectivity in your orthogonal universe. No it is not parallel.
So you want security, indemnity and you do not want to do anything for it, yes?
The "everyone is lying"-approach is not exactly productive, either, is it? I am somewhat fed up by the success of the conservatard "teh scientist are frauds and are only doing it for teh funds!!! lol !!!" meme. Skepticism is good, but it has to be based in facts, not in some herp-derp-it's all lies conspiratorial bullshit. You got any indication that the WHO is covering something up here? If so, I'll play along.
Actually, on the same grounds - I do believe it. What reason would the WHO have to cover something up? They have no history of political cover-ups. I take it they investigated and actually found nothing. As you say, there is enough real abuse one should care about.
The most vocal advocates of vouchers are self-entitled white assfucks who want segregated schools back. Don't lie. It doesn't become you. Also, basically every country that outclasses the US by lightyears in educational tests has public education. Free. Try to think for once.
Much appreciated. Can you send me your contact information, so that I may support your campaign with a little donation?
As I said, I am out of touch - in the antediluvial times when I went to university, administrative fees where about 75 Mark and included the bus ticket ;)
With "we" I meant Germany, just in case that was ambiguous. MBA mills are still quite rare here. Not that most of the economy studies at public universities are much better, though. I left academia myself after getting fucked over by inter-departmental bickering once too much, though. Whoring myself out at a patent law firm these day. It pays the bills, and, fortunately, I got to deal with actually technical stuff, so it is not that bad. Good luck with your academic career!
We go with hand woven silken asswipes these days. Hand woven by thai child prostitutes for the extra smooth feeling. Apart from that, spot on. Don't listen for the black helicopters, they are in whisper mode anyway.
The bigger picture here, as alumnus from a German public university, is that private unis have the only purpose of fucking you in the arse, grabbing your purse, slitting your throat then fucking your corpse for good measure. Degree mills for MBAs at an outrageous cost, scientifically worthless. Education is provided by evil socialist public universities.
Actually, we don't have that problem on the same scale. Private universities like this are pretty much Mickey-Mouse-outfits. Real science is done on the public funded universities.
Private universities are a rare breed in Germany, there are only a couple, and, like the article demonstrates, they are largely in the ripping-people-off business. The majority of universities, and, in particular, the scientifically good universities, only change a nominal fee per semester - something like 500 euros nominal administrative fee or such. Been a while - I attended while the dinosaurs still roamed the earth ;)