SciAm article gets climate science deniers to shout denial about their denial...

Over at WUWT Eric Worrall has posted his take on an article in Scientific American (archived here). The article is by Margaret Hetherman, and she's written about climate change. Her article is about how we are reacting and coping with it, wondering how future generations will regard us, and speculates about why deniers think climate change is a hoax.

Eric wrote above a slab of copy and paste:

Scientific American thinks we are all so worried about climate change, our minds have snapped – that we’ve all turned to “climate denial” as a coping mechanism.

I read the article and there was no talk of snapping minds, or melting brains.

Cognitive dissidence: Quiet, if confusing, on the denier front, and a peep at Hansen (2016)

It's still quiet if a bit confusing on the denier front. Judith Curry admits to being a knowing dissident. She says she's suffering cognitive dissidence in one of her mixed up articles where, apart from that, she commits to little if anything as is usual with Judith. While it was probably a Freudian slip, it's a great term, isn't it. One that sums up disinformers rather well.

Other people seem to be afflicted by cognitive dissidence as well, arguing for the sake of arguing.

Over at WUWT, Bob Tisdale wants to know what Presidential hopefuls are going to do to protect the US populace against weather-related disasters (archived here), which he admits are happening now.

It's all too hard says veteran piker Anthony Watts at WUWT: on Hansen et al

Today I am writing about Anthony Watts at WUWT writing about Joe Romm at Climate Progress, who is writing about a new paper in PLOS by Hansen et al, which has been doing the rounds of science blogs and anti-science blogs alike.  (WUWT is an award winning anti-science blog.)

In a nutshell, what the paper shows is that if we allow 1000 Gt carbon to accumulate in the air, although the initial rise in surface temperature may be 2 degrees, over the medium term slower feedbacks would result in a rise of 3 to 4 degrees.  This of course means a lot of unpleasantness, not the least of which would be the huge sea level rise over time.

Going by his headline, Anthony Watts doesn't know the difference between being alarmed and being an alarmist.

Going by his article, Anthony Watts is a piker.  He gives up very easily.  He is a "can't be done" man, not a "can do" man.

Anthony Watts spends a bit of cyberspace letting his readers know that there is a chap called Tom Nelson who isn't familiar with people who work in climate science.  Apparently Tom didn't recognise any of these names:

James Hansen, Pushker Kharecha, Makiko Sato, Valerie Masson-Delmotte, Frank Ackerman, David J. Beerling, Paul J. Hearty, Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, Shi-Ling Hsu, Camille Parmesan, Johan Rockstrom, Eelco J. Rohling, Jeffrey Sachs, Pete Smith, Konrad Steffen, Lise Van Susteren, Karina von Schuckmann, James C. Zachos.

(I'm not sure why Anthony Watts thought that Tom Nelson's ignorance was in any way newsworthy. Even I recognise quite a few of the authors and I haven't been blogging about climate science for nearly as long as Anthony Watts and Tom Nelson have been protesting it.)


Anyway, Anthony Watts thinks that humans aren't capable of switching to clean energy.  He writes:

They are clamoring not only for a carbon tax, but also for green technology. But, real world data they cite suggests they are living in a dream world: 

I put Anthony Watts in the same category as people who used horses and donkeys and swore that the motor car would never catch on.  Although Anthony doesn't appear to favour a switch to renewable energy, one thing he is in favour of governments spending taxpayers' money on is nuclear energy.  Anthony writes:

I will give them props for calling for more nuclear energy, but the rest of the paper is nothing more than a climate activist’s wet dream.

I'm in a rush today with lots to do, so I'll just post a link to the Hansen paper and the Climate Progress article and an archived version of the WUWT article.  If you want you can comment below.

Oh, I've just got to post this comment from one of the WUWT deluded.  This is the most scientific rebuttal that most of the WUWTers can come up with!

DesertYote says:

December 3, 2013 at 5:46 pm
One can not assume good intentions that have been misdirected by stupidity. Ever single person in this list is a Marxist. The destruction of capitalism is the goal. Peoples lives are unimportant.

James Hansen to head up new Climate Science and Policy Program at Columbia Earth Institute

If you were wondering how Dr James Hansen was going to spend his time, here is the answer (or part). From the Earth Institute, Columbia University:

Leading climate scientist and activist James Hansen will direct a new policy-oriented climate program at the Earth Institute. Hansen, long known as the U.S. government’s top climate scientist, retired this year as director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies; he will now direct the newly founded Program on Climate Science, Awareness and Solutions. The program will adopt a two-fold strategy of climate research coupled with communications and outreach, aimed at conveying the results directly to high-level civic leaders and the media. Hansen said he hopes the program will drive policy and market reforms “needed to preserve a habitable planet.” He said these would include questions relevant to policymakers and civic leaders, issues such as the fossil fuel-emission targets that he argues must be achieved to stabilize climate.

The new program will conduct original research, including analyses of data on ongoing climate variability and projections of future changes; , the interplay of different physical forces at work; and the earth’s long-term past climate history. It will also look into ways to mitigate climate change. Hansen said, "The public is beginning to realize that climate is changing, but they need to know the implications for policies. To provide that information, we need to stay on top of the science."

The program will work closely with climate scientists, policy experts and faculty and staff across the Earth Institute, with the goal of reaching a broad audience and extending the program’s impact. "We are thrilled that the Earth Institute will host Jim Hansen's new climate program, which promises to make a major global contribution to a sustainable planet. The Earth Institute is blessed with truly great global leaders in climate science and policy, including James Hansen, Wally Broecker, Klaus Lackner and several others, plus superstar young Earth system scientists throughout the University. The Earth Institute aims to support this remarkable, indeed unique, assembly of talent to help the world to find a safer trajectory. Hansen's upcoming work will do that directly and also inspire the efforts of countless others," said Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute. The Grantham Foundation has pledged up to $1 million over the next three years as a matching gift to encourage others to support the effort. It will contribute one dollar for every three raised in support of Hansen's program.

Hansen has been a pioneer in climate science and a leader in the field since the early 1980s, when he began testifying before Congress about projected climate changes that have since taken place. He was trained in physics and astronomy at the University of Iowa, where he received a PhD. in physics in 1967. He spent virtually all of his career at the Goddard Institute, which has supplied much of the basic data on the effects of carbon dioxide and other substances on climate. In recent years, Hansen has become an increasingly outspoken advocate of using science to counteract human-influenced changes to the climate.

Hansen on CBC - plus WUWT HotWhopper of the Day: Wood is a Fossil Fuel

WUWT-ers are up in arms about Dr James Hansen appearing on CBC and reasserting that: if nothing is done to stop Canada's oilsands development it will be "game over for the climate,".   They were particularly incensed by Hansen saying about the Canadian Government: "Well, the current government is a Neanderthal government on this issue...".

Speaking of the advances of Neanderthals, this WUWT comment caught my eye.  Did you know that wood is a fossil fuel and that burning it is what 'created fire'?:

Kenty Blaker says:April 27, 2013 at 6:30 pm  While the global warmists complain about the burning of fossil fuels they never coment (sic) on the fact that it was the burning of wood (a fossil fuel )that created fire. Without fire where would we be?

You learn something new every day!

Here's the interview with James Hansen from CBC News:

Dr James E Hansen: A Whopper of a Man - moving from great to greater

I've read a few articles about James Hansen since he announced his resignation from NASA. The ones that have had the most impact have been those touching on the personal.

Eli Rabett has written an article, saying quietly: Eli Appreciates Hansen.

A man of worth, who is shifting societies towards a clean future

Eli's post is well worth a read.  It includes a brief bio plus a couple of lovely anecdotes that help put the blogosphere  and we piddly bloggers in perspective.  (The blogosphere does not shape the world, it's people like James Hansen who shift societies.)

A man of science and courage

350.org has posted a photo tribute to Dr Hansen:

A climate maverick and best-known public figure in climate research

Justin Gillis has written a nuanced article in the New York Times.  He describes how Dr Hansen emerged into the public spotlight when "on a blistering June day in 1988 he was called before a Congressional committee and testified that human-induced global warming had begun."

The Gillis article also gives a thumbnail sketch of Hansen's life and career.

More about James E Hansen

For a biography, I suppose Wikipedia is a general source, but to appreciate the essence of the man, I think Eli's post and Justin Gillis' article are better.

For some of Hansen's writings, go to his personal website at Columbia University.  There is a heap of material to read there.  And if you haven't already done so, get a copy of his most well-known book:

from Amazon or Google or other source.

Thank you Dr Hansen

Thank you, Dr Hansen for your courage, science and ongoing efforts to help all of us shift to a cleaner world and give hope for a bright future to generations not yet born.