Climate change: Foreplay

Binah has been asked a number of times to share his views on climate change and the "global warming" hysteria we've all been subjected to for the last 15 years. To discuss this subject properly would take a long sequence of interconnected blog postings,* but I have some foretastes to offer that readers can dig into on their own.

An excellent summary of climate observations, historical climate studies, and the intense politicization of the subject can be found in this public Senate white paper (PDF format). The author is Joe D'Aleo, a former official of the American Meteorological Society and a co-founder of the Weather Channel. (His document was part of Senate testimony that included Ben Herman, one of the founders of satellite-based climate observation, and Bill Gray, one of the founders of the modern science of hurricanes.) A deeper, more theoretical discussion is the wonderful book of Essex and McKitrick, Taken By Storm. Read it and learn about the 1D, 2D, and 3D cartoon mouse!

The entire subject is a case study in the disgraceful nature and nauseating aftereffects of politically-correct "science," a mix of careerism, cynicism, manipulation, fanaticism, and fear. It's not new. What's refreshing is that more and more scientists are fed up with it and no longer intimidated by the hysterics. Instead, they're dumping their guts - their scientific consciences - in public.

And of course, everyone should read Michael Crichton's shredding of "consensus science," a euphemism for "organized makebelieve and prejudice." Real science doesn't need "consensus." The politically-driven manufacture of "consensus" is what got us into this mess in the first place. Can climate science survive and recover from this hideous episode?
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* Starting: here!