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Warming to the facts on climate
The Australian ^ | October 02, 2010 | Staff Editorial

Posted on 10/02/2010 12:18:23 PM PDT by neverdem

BRITAIN'S science academy, the Royal Society, has acknowledged the limits of current scientific understanding of climate change, revising its outlook.

A 19-page guide prepared by leading international scientists, including society fellows, is an honest account of where climate change science is clear and where it is less certain, such as the impact of energy emitted by the sun.

The ragged intersection between science and politics is the point at which much of the climate debate has been derailed. Politics demands certainty to make a convincing case for co-ordinated action. Science, on the other hand, is driven by scepticism. Each hypothesis formulated from empirical evidence needs to be challenged and tested to within an inch of its life before its veracity can be assumed. The 43 society members now believe the society's previous position was too strident and implied a greater degree of certainty than was justified.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's reports should have been seen for what they were, political documents. They were designed, quite reasonably, as a basis on which to build a political solution. The mistake was to elevate them to the status of divine prophecy. When the IPCC recommended in 2007 that nations reduce global emissions by 50 to 85 per cent by 2050 to have a reasonable chance of averting warming beyond 2C and "catastrophic" consequences, it was clear to those with a sophisticated view of science that the targets were based on assumptions fed into computer models. As the debate unfolded, those who exaggerated the evidence or presented only worst-case projections did much more to set back the cause of carbon restraint than the commentators they derided as deniers. Scare tactics have not worked, and will not work.

The Royal Society sets out a strong case for pursuing the cautionary, responsible approach long advocated by The Weekend Australian. The society cites strong evidence that increases in greenhouse gases due to human activity are the dominant cause of global warming. It is all the more convincing for its honesty and avoidance of doomsday scenarios pedalled by alarmists, whose proposals would wreak economic devastation. After a long, needlessly polarised debate, the guide is a welcome new start to help restore the credibility of climate science and civility to the discussion.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Editorial; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: agw; catastrophism; climatechange; globalwarming; globalwarminghoax
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1 posted on 10/02/2010 12:18:25 PM PDT by neverdem
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To: neverdem

All a person needs to know about “climate change” is that it’s the same thing we used to call “the weather” back during the time when the majority of the people living on the planet were sane and there weren’t so many greedy con men out there running scams to steal other people’s money.


2 posted on 10/02/2010 12:25:24 PM PDT by FlingWingFlyer (Help stamp out political correctness.)
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To: neverdem
Hey, to those concerned about AGW: cook up a plan to replace coal plants with nukes and I'll sign on.

Oh, and stop ripping down hydro plants and devising schemes to further snarl traffic by tolling roads.

Oh, and end all legal and tax-based obstacles to telecommuting.

But you really aren't going to do those things now, are you?

3 posted on 10/02/2010 12:27:18 PM PDT by Tribune7 (The Democrat Party is not a political organization but a religious cult.)
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To: neverdem
A 19-page guide prepared by leading international scientists, including society fellows, is an honest account of where climate change science is clear and where it is less certain, such as the impact of energy emitted by the sun.

What would the temperature of earth be without the sun?

Simple question. Inconvenient answer.

4 posted on 10/02/2010 12:30:58 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum ("The only stable state is one in which all men are equal before the law." -- Aristotle)
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To: FlingWingFlyer
and anything we experience weather-wise today, someone else has experienced before in years gone by.
5 posted on 10/02/2010 12:32:04 PM PDT by elpadre (AfganistaMr Obama said the goal was to "disrupt, dismantle and defeat al-Qaeda" and its allies.)
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To: elpadre

Exactly.


6 posted on 10/02/2010 12:34:02 PM PDT by FlingWingFlyer (Help stamp out political correctness.)
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To: neverdem

This is so depressing:

“...pursuing the cautionary, responsible approach long advocated by The Weekend Australian. The society cites strong evidence that increases in greenhouse gases due to human activity are the dominant cause of global warming.”

HE’S DEAD, JIM!


7 posted on 10/02/2010 1:15:52 PM PDT by Bhoy
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To: neverdem
...an honest account of where climate change science is clear and where it is less certain, such as the impact of energy emitted by the sun.

LOL - "honest account." Not counting value weighting, of course - just listing everything as equal, including the sun's impact on climate.

A similiar "honesty" would be like saying: "We are extremely clear about the exact color of the paint on this nuclear warhead. We are not so clear about the power of the warhead itself, however, which continues to be debated by experts contending everything from a firecracker all the way up to the hundred-kiloton range. But let us be clear - we are making an honest account here of both the paint color and the fact that we fully admit that the nuclear bomb does, indeed, have some level of danger to it."

8 posted on 10/02/2010 1:34:44 PM PDT by Talisker (When you find a turtle on top of a fence post, you can be damn sure it didn't get there on its own.)
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To: neverdem
A 19-page guide [...] is an honest account of

Beware any (ANY) document that starts out with "this is an honest account".

9 posted on 10/02/2010 1:41:14 PM PDT by Izzy Dunne (Hello, I'm a TAGLINE virus. Please help me spread by copying me into YOUR tag line.)
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To: elpadre

Very true. I am still waiting for the Delaware temperatures to exceed the summer of 1930, almost half the days had temperatures of over 90 degrees F, and the highest recorded temperature was set during that year as well. After more than 80 years, that record still hasn’t been beat, both for the summer as well as for the single-day temperature. Never mind the fact that people didn’t have A/C during that time. The start of the 20th century was hotter than it is now. Believe it.


10 posted on 10/02/2010 2:41:25 PM PDT by Morpheus2009
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To: Tribune7

Excellent post.

No matter what the “crisis” is, the solution proposed by the left is always totalitarianism.


11 posted on 10/02/2010 2:56:22 PM PDT by Tax-chick (Beware of the owrk!)
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To: Tax-chick
No matter what the “crisis” is, the solution proposed by the left is always totalitarianism.

Yup. And I like the quote marks around "crisis".

If one doesn't exist a good Little Stalin can always make one up.

12 posted on 10/02/2010 3:06:59 PM PDT by Tribune7 (The Democrat Party is not a political organization but a religious cult.)
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To: Izzy Dunne
A 19-page guide prepared by leading international scientists, including society fellows, is an honest account of where climate change science is clear and where it is less certain

Translation: All our old stuff was lies and we have been caught and now we won't be able to milk this and live the high life. Don't really want to stock shelves at WalMart , so lets put out a PR memo to try to keep our jobs

13 posted on 10/02/2010 3:32:27 PM PDT by BRL
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To: neverdem

More nonsense from the left trying to rescue their pet theory.


14 posted on 10/02/2010 4:04:14 PM PDT by devere
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To: neverdem; carolinablonde; SolitaryMan; rdl6989; livius; DollyCali; IrishCatholic; meyer; ...
 


Beam me to Planet Gore !

15 posted on 10/02/2010 4:09:09 PM PDT by steelyourfaith (ObamaCare Death Panels: a Final Solution to the looming Social Security crisis.)
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To: neverdem
The 43 society members now believe the society's previous position was too strident and implied a greater degree of certainty than was justified.

Implied? Try CLAIMED! This is a whitewash.

16 posted on 10/02/2010 5:19:45 PM PDT by sionnsar (IranAzadi|5yst3m 0wn3d-it's N0t Y0ur5:SONY|TV--it's NOT news you can trust)
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To: neverdem
The Royal Society sets out a strong case for pursuing the cautionary, responsible approach long advocated by The Weekend Australian. The society cites strong evidence that increases in greenhouse gases due to human activity are the dominant cause of global warming.

Seems like the same old stuff repackaged with a new label.

17 posted on 10/02/2010 5:21:32 PM PDT by CedarDave (Ten-year anniversary - proudly Freeping since Aug 17, 2000)
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To: neverdem; 11B40; A Balrog of Morgoth; A message; ACelt; Aeronaut; AFPhys; AlexW; America_Right; ...
DOOMAGE!

Global Warming PING!

You have been pinged because of your interest in environmentalism, alarmist wackos, mainstream media doomsday hype, and other issues pertaining to global warming.

Freep-mail me to get on or off: Add me / Remove me

Please ping me to all note-worthy threads on global warming.

Top meteorologist exposes carbon fraud

EPA Rule Could Kill Nearly 800,000 Manufacturing Jobs

Global Warming on Free Republic

Latest from Global Warming News

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Latest from Greenie Watch

18 posted on 10/02/2010 5:47:54 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks (Muslims are not the problem, the rest of the world is! /s)
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To: BRL

“I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg.”


19 posted on 10/02/2010 7:42:18 PM PDT by Tax-chick (Beware of the owrk!)
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To: Tribune7

I was born in 1966. The world should have ended half a dozen times already, if you listen to people getting paid to say it, plus we’ve all died of cancer, food additives, and electricity. And alcohol.

Maybe that explains all the zombies in the news ...


20 posted on 10/02/2010 7:43:58 PM PDT by Tax-chick (Beware of the owrk!)
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