Tag Archives: Global Warming

Podcasts

Stephen C. Meyer vs. Chris Mooney on the Michael Medved radio show

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Dr. Stephen C. Meyer (Ph.D from Cambridge) takes on Chris Mooney (B.A. in English) on the scientific method. This is commercial-free.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Topics:

  • science and public policy, e.g. – global warming as science
  • what is the definition of science?
  • can scientific ideas be questioned by those who disagree with the consensus?
  • should we allow scientists to debate scientific questions?
  • is name-calling an adequate response to intelligent design?
  • is it OK to be skeptical of scientific consensus?
  • can a person with a BA in English be a “science journalist”?
  • can a person with multiple degrees in science be a “scientific illiterate”?
  • is evolution testable? is it falsifiable? can it be criticized at all?
  • what about the Altenberg 16? are the “science-deniers” because they doubt Darwinism?
  • are scientific theories open to being revised based on new evidence?
  • what about the hundreds of credentialed scientists who dissent from evolution?
  • what about solar cycles – isn’t that the cause of global warming?
  • isn’t Al Gore making billions from the myth of global warming?
  • what about documentaries like “An Inconvenient Truth”? Is that science?
  • Should science journalists report both sides of scientific disputes?
  • Should public schools teach the controversy surrounding scientific issues?

My impression of Mooney is that he never took a single high school course in math or science. English? Is that even something that you can get a degree in? Seriously? English? Shouldn’t “science correspondents” have some qualifications

News

Mongolia suffers one of the worst winters in 50 years

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From Breitbart. (H/T Gateway Pundit)

Excerpt:

Nearly 20 percent of Mongolia’s livestock has died as a result of one of the worst winters in 50 years, and the figure could double by the end of the year unless some $18 million in humanitarian funding is met, the United Nations said Wednesday.

“We are looking at a very serious loss of livelihood for the population,” Rana Flowers, a representative of the U.N. Children’s Fund in Mongolia who is also coordinating U.N. assistance in the country briefed reporters while in Geneva.

At least 8.1 million out of Mongolia’s 44 million cattle have perished this winter due to the extreme weather, locally known as a “Dzud”.

The phenomenon is characterized by dry summers followed by long, cold and snowy winters. Its impact on livestock is longer, as the following summer will be too short for the livestock to regain its strength before the next winter.

Rana said that one-third of Mongolia’s population, or nearly 180,000 households, are dependent on herding for their livelihoods.

So far, the United Nations estimates that 30,000 households have seen at least half of their livestock perish, and a further 9,000 families lost all of their animals.

I am seeing a lot of snow and hail in various North American locations, too. In MAY!

News

VA attorney general demands that university account for AGW research grants

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From Watts Up With That.

Excerpt:

No one can accuse Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli of shying from controversy. In his first four months in office, Cuccinelli  directed public universities to remove sexual orientation from their anti-discrimination policies, attacked the Environmental Protection Agency, and filed a lawsuit challenging federal health care reform. Now, it appears, he may be preparing a legal assault on an embattled proponent of global warming theory who used to teach at the University of Virginia, Michael Mann.

In papers sent to UVA April 23, Cuccinelli’s office commands the university to produce a sweeping swath of documents relating to Mann’s receipt of nearly half a million dollars in state grant-funded climate research conducted while Mann— now director of the Earth System Science Center at Penn State— was at UVA between 1999 and 2005.

If Cuccinelli succeeds in finding a smoking gun like the purloined emails that led to the international scandal dubbed Climategate, Cuccinelli could seek the return of all the research money, legal fees, and trebled damages.

“Since it’s public money, there’s enough controversy to look in to the possible manipulation of data,” says Dr. Charles Battig, president of the nonprofit Piedmont Chapter Virginia Scientists and Engineers for Energy and Environment, a group that doubts the underpinnings of climate change theory.

The Attorney General has the right to make such demands for documents under the Fraud Against Taxpayers Act, a 2002 law designed to keep government workers honest.

More at The Hook.

Cuccinelli is a Republican, of course. I hope he starts a trend! I also note that he is a graduate of the George Mason School of Law, one of the best places for conservatives to do a law degree (or an economics degree).

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