Category Archives: Science

Depolarising the debate?

Posted on November 7, 2019 by

I’ve always been a little puzzled by the (mostly) social scientists who seem to argue that to develop effective climate policy we should stop using labels, be depolarizing the debate, and should prioritise civil disagreements. It’s not that I object … Continue reading →

Posted in advocacy, Climate change, Environmental change, Policy, Science | Tagged , , , , | 172 Comments

Statistical versus mathematical modelling

Posted on August 31, 2019 by

There’s a short comment by Andrea Saltelli in Nature Communications on Statistical versus Mathematical Modelling. The general premise is that, like statistics, there is also a crisis in mathematical modelling. However, there isn’t the same sense of crisis about mathematical … Continue reading →

Posted in Research, Science, Sound Science (tm), The philosophy of science, The scientific method | Tagged , , , , | 153 Comments

A little knowledge

Posted on August 7, 2019 by

There is apparently a paper from a couple of years ago that is currently doing the rounds and that argues that the Molar Mass Version of the Ideal Gas Law Points to a Very Low Climate Sensitivity. The suggestion is … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate sensitivity, Greenhouse effect, Pseudoscience, Science, The scientific method | Tagged , , , , , | 26 Comments

Vienna

Posted on June 30, 2019 by

I’m spending a couple of weeks in Vienna while attending a workshop on planet formation. Spent yesterday doing a bike tour, and wine tasting, in the Wachau Valley, and then spent today visiting some of the attractions in Vienna. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate change, ClimateBall, Philosophy for Bloggers, Science, Scientists, The philosophy of science | Tagged , , , , , , | 20 Comments

Extreme weather event attribution

Posted on June 11, 2019 by

This is a joint post between myself and Eric Winsberg, Professor of Philosophy at the University of South Florida. Eric has just published, together with Naomi Oreskes and Elisabeth Lloyd, a paper called Severe Weather Event Attribution: Why values won’t … Continue reading →

Posted in advocacy, Climate change, Research, Science, The philosophy of science, The scientific method | Tagged , , , , , , , | 182 Comments

Promises and perils of the Paris agreement?

Posted on June 2, 2019 by

A few people were sharing, on Twitter, a Science article called Promises and Perils of the Paris Agreement. It mostly seemed unobjectionable. It discusses the linear relationship between warming and emissions, and how this allows one to define carbon budgets … Continue reading →

Posted in Carbon tax, Climate change, Policy, Science | Tagged , , , , , , , | 32 Comments

The Carbon Cycle

Posted on May 24, 2019 by

Robert Rohde, who is lead scientist for Berkeley Earth, has created a really nice illustration of the carbon cycle. It shows how the CO2 cycles between the different carbon reservoirs, and how our emissions have perturbed the carbon cycle so … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate change, Research, Science | Tagged , , , , , | 40 Comments