- NASA GISS says Jan 2009's global surface temperature anomaly was +0.52°C, much warmer than the previous January's +0.15°C.
- This is wholly depressing: According to a new poll from Gallup, only 39% of Americans say they believe in Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection. 25% do not believe in it, and 36% had no opinion. Even among people with postgraduate degrees, 27% did not believe or had no opinion. And maybe even worse, only 55% could associate the name "Darwin" with the correct scientific idea.
- A recent email from DeSmog blog advertises an upcoming book, Keeping Our Cool, by "Nobel Laureate" Dr. Andrew Weaver. This guy. The Nobel Laureate appellation is because of his participation as an IPCC scientist.
I have all the respect for any IPCC scientist and they can be certainly be proud of their part in its being awarding half the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. But as the prize went to the organization, comprised of hundreds (if not thousands) of scientists, it seems to me a bit haughty to then call yourself a "Nobel Laureate." Ironically (and hypocritically), DeSmogBlog called this out when Fred Singer did something similar. It shouldn't depend what side of the fence you're on.
By all means, any IPCC scientist deserves to note that he/she was part of the Nobel-winning IPCC team. But "Laureate?" It seems appropriate the way Mann notes it:
"Co-awarded (along with several hundred other scientists) the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for involvement in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (lead author of chapter 2 of the Third Assessment Report, 2001)."
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Thursday, February 12, 2009
Stuff
Stuff I've come across lately:
I understand your critcism, since the 2007 Nobel peace prize was given to the IPCC as a whole.
ReplyDeleteHowever, how would you delineate who legitimately may receive the Laureate appellation?
Perhaps DeSmogBlog didn't use this term only because of his participation (this is not theirs, but your understanding of why they used this term). He was one of the few climate scientists (along with Gore) to actually receive a medal (his to keep), as one of the lead authors of IPCC report number 4. So he was a bit more of a participant than most (for example, more than a contributing author, or a reviewer or commentator).
His book is not upcoming, it has been out for almost a year, I think. It is a general interest book on climate change.