These idiots can’t take no for an answer, so they string dozens of incoherent thoughts together in hopes of baffling their audience.
The future of human life depends on how we respond to the risks of climate change. How we respond to those risks depends on how well the general public understands the messy world of real science.
……………….
Because of that, NOAA says it would be problematic to claim the recent spate of tornadoes in the Southeast were caused by climate change. But that’s not the same as saying tornadoes can’t be caused by climate change. It’s not the same thing as saying that climate change isn’t a contributing factor. Or that tornadoes won’t be caused by climate change in the future. It’s not even the same as saying that, years from now, with better data and technology, we won’t look back and see a trend happening that isn’t obvious today. NOAA’s assessment is based on indirect evidence focused on one area of one country. The big question–Are tornadoes caused by climate change?–is made up of lots of little questions. And we don’t know all the answers to the little questions yet. This is still good science. We still have enough information to say something about how the world works. But that statement comes with a lot of caveats.
It’s not really just a “yes” or “no” answer. It doesn’t follow party lines. And it doesn’t tell us what we should expect in the future.
This is scientific uncertainty–where the things we know and the things we don’t know collide, and we are left to figure out how to use what we have to make decisions anyway. If we want people to understand science, we can’t just give them facts to memorize. Scientific literacy isn’t about being able to win a game of quiz bowl. It’s about understanding how science works, and how science can be used to guide human decision-making. It’s about knowing that we don’t have all the answers. But it’s also about knowing that “we don’t have all the answers” isn’t the same thing as “we don’t know anything.” If we pump people full of facts, but don’t teach them about uncertainty, then we can’t be surprised when they dismiss anything that isn’t 100% certain.
http://www.boingboing.net/2011/05/27/tornadoes-climate-ch.html
“This is scientific uncertainty–where the things we know and the things we don’t know”
He forgot the the things that we don’t know that we don’t know, there.
“…they string dozens of incoherent thoughts together in hopes of baffling their audience.”
EXACTLY!!! That was the inspiration for my latest and hopefully greatest Quick Glance Guide to Global Warming poster.
My catharsis is complete. Dealing with these not so cuddly cultists who would send me to a gulag, had they their way, through indulgence in champagne, laughing gas and hookers, my old punk roots were reconnected to in order to inspire my new Authority info-graphic:
http://oi53.tinypic.com/nqzj1f.jpg
I’m not quite done reading their pitiably pathetic, insightless and juvenile books about us “deniers” so the content will change a bit, but that’s what the scrapbook format was meant to handle.
Speaking of babble………. snow, a thing of the past? Ski industry doomed? Warmer world?
Cool weather keeps deep snow around for Memorial Day
……..Normally, holiday motorists can cruise at altitudes surpassing 11,000 feet but not this year…….In Oregon, some resorts were still trying to dig out cabins – let alone campgrounds – from snowpack……”We’re telling people to be prepared for snow,”……… “May snow depths are deeper than anything we have seen in the last 45 years,”…….. a historic Sierra Nevada snowpack……. some popular campgrounds in Tahoe National Forest aren’t expected to open for several weeks…….. “We’re getting amazing ski traffic for this time of year because of this snowpack,”……”Insane weather! Snowing like crazy here,” Lookout’s Twitter feed…….
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_MEMORIAL_DAY_SNOW?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-05-27-04-51-12
They ignore this and look for the ‘bad things’ not the ‘good things’ coming back. Remember one simple rule: global warming is good for ‘bad things’ and ‘bad for good things’. Look at polar bears and penguines as opposed to mosquitoes and fleas. Cherry picking at its very finest. 😉
“It’s not the same thing as saying that climate change isn’t a contributing factor. Or that tornadoes won’t be caused by climate change in the future. It’s not even the same as saying that, years from now, with better data and technology, we won’t look back and see a trend happening that isn’t obvious today.”
Which may quite possibly be downwards.
F3 to F5 in the US has been downwards over the last few decades – during the warming spell!!! [Based on NOAA graph]
A F-5 tornado hitting a densely populated area is a rare, but deadly combination.
Which is a result of more densely populated areas than more F-5 storms.
Extreme weather events cause climate change. Weather is the cause and climate is the effect.
Chicken Little thinks wet sidewalks cause rain!
The BoingBoing blog is the site of an old zine I used to subscribe to before there was an Internet. They now moderate out almost all of my attempted skeptical comments. They have featured my products in the past though and I still do read it regularly, but they allow all manner of skeptic bashing and nasty image jokes but wont post any of my info-graphic posters. Maybe I’ll try again to test the waters. I notice the same thing on the gadget blog Gizmodo. This gives their readers the impression that a huge majority agrees with their AGW enthusiasm so comments degenerate into a snicker fest against the few mildly skeptical views they allow to pass through their moderation. I wonder if the hipster bubble will ever burst? It certainly took a beating here, where Williamsburg suddenly became overpriced for them and blue haired steampunks had to move way out to the boondocks of Long Island.