Climate change, getting our boots on …

BPSDB “A lie can get halfway around the world before the truth can even get its boots on…” possibly Mark Twain The past few years have seen the internet change fairly significantly with respect to the issue of climate change.  As a tool for public education the internet is invaluable. Unfortunately as a tool for [...]

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Global Warming Panic Explained

BPSDB In my last post about machinima I said: “Now, a fun piece of culture jamming would be to identify the game engines in question and do clones of these videos [2 climate change Denier screeds], but have the “libural” stating the facts (with sources) just as we do in real discussions. Then give these [...]

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Dogs, Climate Change Deniers and Machinima

Machinima is? BPSDB a) a technique for video production that progressives barely use; b) a German cyber-goth band; c) a name for pit-bull/doberman hybrids; d) videos produced using computer game engines. Recently climate blogger (and scientist) Michael Tobis posted Dogs and Deniers, a post illustrating the similarity between a particular Far Side cartoon and real [...]

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Climate change journalism: massacring the messengers

Shoot out at the “I’m OK” Corral BPSDB Tom Yulsman at CEJ is not upset. Apparently people are criticising media coverage of climate issues, leading him to ask “Environmental journalists: Are we really that awful?“ At first he was upset with Anthony Watts, Brad Johnson and Joseph Romm, but now the list includes  Michael Tobis, [...]

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Im Westen nichts Neues

BPSDB When I went to Google News this morning  the “Top Stories” are about some skiers and the beginning of the Federal election campaign. Only much lower down do I find anything about floods in Australia and Sri Lanka, or mudslides in Brazil. Apparently there is nothing new about climate change here in the Industrialized [...]

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Some much needed climate change humour

BPSDB Huge thanks to Brian D for reminding me about Marcus Brigstocke. I went to fetch the video that he refers to in his comment and was delighted to find a new one … it’s awesome The Return Of Marcus Brigstocke In a six minute piece a comedian debunks more Denier memes and gets more [...]

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Snowmageddon, Déjà vu all over again

BPSDB Yes, Christmas is over, so it’s that time again. Time for the Denialosphere to once more be shocked and amazed that it snows in winter. So like 3 year olds they are; naturally they have  seen snow and cold before, but they just don’t remember. Both Potholer54 and Greenman3610 have new videos to explain [...]

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What common sense tells us about climate change

BPSDB After babbling on with a number of factoids about global population, the land surface area of Texas and so on, the ‘Tennessee Conservative Watch (TCW)” asks “Considering that the earth’s atmosphere extends 50 miles up from the surface, how can anyone with half a brain think that humans can do anything to change the [...]

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What If There Had Been No Oil Spill?

The Real BP Gulf Tragedy BPSDB Grist reports that “Gulf oil spill panel urges overhaul of oil industry and safety practices.” Apparently a presidential panel in its final report stated that: “The central lesson to be drawn from the catastrophe is that no less than an overhauling of both current industry practices and government oversight [...]

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Climate Progress : 2010 tied with 2005 for hottest year on record

Climate Progress has the story: BPSDB According to the Global Historical Climatology Network, 2010 was the wettest year on record, in terms of global average precipitation…. These records are especially impressive because we’ve been in “the deepest solar minimum in nearly a century.” All 12 of the hottest years on record have occurred since 1997. [...]

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Skewed views of science and other bits

BPSDB A couple of useful resources from QualiaSoup to share with Deniers who cannot seem to grasp what science and critical thinking actually are. Skewed views of science Granted most Deniers will never look at them, but at least we can try. They are obviously created for the anti-science vs Evolution crowd, but since they [...]

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Climate change Deniers: dark minds lost in their own shadows

BPSDB Argumentum ex bardus Omnologos cannot logically exist The lottery fallacy Standing on their heads Dark Minds Potentia ex verum Getting to the point of this post requires walking through some rather tedious Denier thinking and I apologise for that. I ask you to bear with me because I believe the walk through is rather [...]

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The ten most infuriating climate change Denier scams

The Top Ten BPSDB Ben of Wott’s Up With That? commented on “Guide for dealing with the “Denier” label” that “the “skeptic” fig-leaf is what annoys me most about climate change deniers” which led me to respond that “And there is so much to choose from too. I wonder if I could pick which are the [...]

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Guide for dealing with the “Denier” label

BPSDB If someone refers to you as a “Denier”: To convince them that you are a “Skeptic”, NOT a “Denier”: Ignore the label and keep the discussion focused on the issue(s) of substance; Point to and discuss the relevant facts and evidence; Use reliable sources, either peer reviewed science or sources that track back to [...]

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New Climate Change Denial Crock and other flotsam

Mimsy BPSDB This one has to come with an audience advisory … DO NOT attempt to watch the first 30 seconds of this video if: your stomach is at all unsettled, and/or you are holding/drinking hot liquids, and/or you are standing, and/or there are any heavy objects at hand that you may reflexively fling in [...]

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Endgame: The problem of trivialization

PSDB On the advice of many Derrick Jensen’s “Endgame” has been on the ‘should read’ list for years, but somehow I have never gotten around to it. More recently a youtube clip of him reading an excerpt was brought to my attention, so I watched that, and then checked out sections of the books that [...]

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Myth making by Scientific American

Dear Michael Lemonick BPSDB In general I have appreciated your work, that of Climate Central, and of Scientific American. As such I have been hugely disappointed, indeed flabbergasted by the piece you did on Judith Curry. Not by the subject, but by the fact that it promotes a narrative that is largely fiction. Of the [...]

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