Many people trust the IPCC, that it tells governments around the world the truth about global warming. But their trust is being seriously challenged by accumulating lines of evidence that this is not a good characterisation of the IPCC’s process.
The IPCC is coming under ferocious attack by climate sceptics using documentary evidence of astonishing, widespread disregard of fidelity.
Never mind the incompetent science (which alone is enough for a catastrophic failure of the IPCC’s mission to prove mankind is wrecking the climate) – the deficiencies in procedure and breaches of minimum standards would make the most informal non-profit organisation blush. They are not a professional organisation.
Here’s one reason why the IPCC reports should not be automatically venerated, but instead subject to cool-headed independent scrutiny before publication — they are terribly written, the antithesis of plain speaking, such difficult writing that the frequent result is to obscure the truth.
Andy Scrase alerts us to this piece of impenetrable prose from Working Group 3 of the IPCC’s Fourth Assessment Report, 2007. He especially appreciates the thrilling expression “quasi-certain irreversibility”, as I do — it’s so excruciating that it’s delicious. I spent several minutes deciding on its meaning, holding my breath.
Supporters of the IPCC: please give your interpretation of this example of their breathtakingly disconnected ineptitude. Give us the scientific meaning of this scientific nonsense:
Human impacts on the climate system through greenhouse gas emissions may change the climate so much that it is impossible (or extremely difficult and costly) to return it to its original state – in this sense the changes are irreversible (Scheffer et al., 2001; Schneider, 2004). Some irreversibility will almost certainly occur. For example, there is a quasi-certain irreversibility of a millennia time scale in the presence, in the atmosphere, of 22% of the emitted CO2 (Solomon et al., 2007). However, the speed and nature of these changes, the tipping point at which change may accelerate and when environmentally, socially and economically significant effects become irreversible, and the cost and effectiveness of mitigation and adaptation responses are all uncertain, to a greater or lesser extent.
Views: 144
“Some irreversibility” takes a lot to get one’s head around too.
Isn’t it amazing?
For the record, I make it “uncertain changes”. So they’re saying nothing useful. Even when you’ve decided what they’ve said. Which must itself be quasi-certain, certainly.
Further interpretations very welcome!
The best situation is where socially insignificant effects become irreversible to a lesser extent on a millennia time scale in the presence of money.
They may then become economically significant in that the tipping point where the cost of adaptation responses becomes reversible to a greater extent, could then become quasi-certain. ie we’d all get rich!
But who knows?
Heh, heh. What fun!
I saw a similar phrase in this classic “social climate science” paper:
The Social Simulation of The Public Perceptions of Weather Events and their Effect upon the Development of Belief in Anthropogenic Climate Change
http://www.tyndall.ac.uk/content/social-simulation-public-perceptions-weather-events-and-their-effect-upon-development-belief
“This paper uses a dynamic simulation model to situate the role of variables representing environmental processes in the social construction of the issues of climate change and global warming. In effect, it presents a quantitative dynamic simulation model of the social construction of a quasi-reality.”
(my emphasis above)
My guess is that all this quasi stuff is that which is based on computer models. Maybe then it’s all a load of post-modern Marxist BS.
Either way, I can’t actually imagine writing this kind of rubbish and being able to sleep at night, especially if the public are paying me to do so.
Unbelievable! Yes, you couldn’t write like that and retain any sense of self-worth.
Simple really, it’s just plain English (but not that I’m an IPCC supporter).
Here goes:-
May = 1. (used to express possibility): It may rain.
Almost = very nearly; all but.
Quasi = resembling; seeming; virtual.
May (again) = see above
All = 4. every: all kinds; all sorts.
Greater = designating a city or country and its adjacent area: Greater New York; Greater Los Angeles.
Lesser = 1. smaller, as in size or importance; inferior: a lesser evil.
H/T http://dictionary.reference.com/
I hope this helps.
English it may be, but it’s neither plain nor simple. You must be an incurable optimist to believe it to be either. This sentence is not resolved by leaving its constituent words unconnected, nor does it become plain. Yes, all words, taken alone, have meaning, but they can be woven together to create what does not exist, or even to induce the insanity of meaninglessness, as here.
OK, I’ll give it another go with a loose paraphrase.
A bland premise with a flimsy basis leads to wild speculation that bad things might happen and if the speculation is assumed to be internally correct – it is correct.
More precise speculation restates that the bad things might happen in a million years
But a wild guess at when it all starts and some more speculation shows that we are just making stuff up – more or less.
Better?
quasi from Latin ‘as if, almost’
Certain, Middle English: from Old French, based on Latin certus ‘settled, sure’
irreversibility not able to be undone or altered.
Its the sort of stuff that put most to sleep. .
Good info, Gary, thanks. It might induce sleep, but it’s not the product of sleep, and that’s why this passage and others like it are so dangerous. It’s designed to obscure the truth, which is unpalatable, which is that there’s no climatic problem of our doing. If we don’t sit for a moment and unpick it, who will? And then who believes the message it sends, and, believing, follows the speaker into who knows what dark and ignorant future? It’s simply unpicked, that doesn’t need much skill; it only requires the will and the capacity to judge this evil writing for what it is: designed to confuse. Once unpicked, it loses its venom, like a dead snake.
Great Picture of a truely evil man.
In climate terms, squealing may be the portal to tipping points.
We’ll need to pay attention
Quango is a favourite of mine from the quasi stable.
As in bonfire of the quangos
And quark, mustn’t forget quarks.
As in quarks gluons and leptons
Not to be confused with the charm antiquark
Not strictly from the quasi stable but a great name nonetheless, I’m sure you will all agree.
Quark Quark
The Quark is named after a phrase in James Joyce’s book Finnegan’s Wake.
Three quarks for Muster Mark!
Sure he has not got much of a bark
And sure any he has it’s all beside the mark.
Finnegan’s Wake is a pretty impenetrable piece of prose too, it should be said, but unlike IPCC WG3, people do actually read it.
So that should have been:
Quark Quark Quark
Much more of this and I’ll go quackers
I think you’re just ducking the issue, Richard.
No, just applying the Duck test
Also Quaker.
As in Polar Bears down Quakers at snowy Stevenson
Reserve bench must be the Quasi-Quakers
Queezy, as in climate.
e.g. Hot, Damp, Thirsty, Queezy, Restless… SUMMER!
Are you experiencing these symptoms of anthropogenic global warming?
Yes? Then here’s the cure:-
So don’t be agitated by the trapped heat, there’s help just around the corner at your local Chinese herbalist.
Oh well, I stand (partly) corrected. It seems that the expression “quasireversibility” (as opposed to “quasi-ireversibility” which is a different concept), has a meaning in queuing theory.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quasireversibility
However, the literal expression “quasi-certain irreversibility” has only 17 results if you Google it (with quotes around it).
The first two are from the source IPCC document. The third result is this page. The other results are all quoting the source IPCC document.
They really are breaking new grounds with the English language.
We know that the WWF are “embedded” in the IPCC, but Coca Cola now seem to have become entangled with WWF too.
If you ever needed a reason not to drink Coke, here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBRpSHgHVTs&feature=player_embedded#!
Hi Richard T,
Good to see you keeping up the fight. We are certainly winning. I see that your blog gets wide exposure but I see on Kiwiblog there are always a number of supporters for our view. David Farrar seems to be sceptical and we have had several exchanges about qeustions he had. He does welcome guest posts. His readership is vast and includes many senior politicians. I was wondering if you might be interested in doing a post on his blog?
cheers
D
Perhaps an opportunity to cross-post Richard T (or just point to the Matt Ridley lecture). Did some checking and the last Climate Change post was December 1st, 2010.
Followed a link in comments under the CSC v NIWA Kiwiblog post to this at Baptist Churches of New Zealand:-
Clearing the air
http://www.baptist.org.nz/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1429:clearing-the-air&catid=172:general&Itemid=196
Forum panelists: Barry Brill (good photo), Ian Wishart, James Renwick and Andy Reisinger among others.
Stephen Tollestrup, executive director of Tear Fund stormed out after being rebuffed by Barry – no more donations from me.
Richard Storey, Clearing the Air Organising Committee, was a bit grumpy afterward: “It is disappointing and rather frustrating to see yet another journalist fogging the issue with an article that mixes reporting with mis-reporting, and coloured with a very strong element of personal opinion (“Clearing the Air,” August NZ Baptist)”.
http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/tag/climate_change
Martin Roberts thought the ETS should be global
http://www.baptist.org.nz/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1577:clearing-the-air-&catid=166:letters&Itemid=210
A more recent forum (July 2011?) Church and Environment exposes the Green faction of Evangelical Christianity that seems to indicate that the object of their worship is as much Gaia as God. 4 out of the 5 Dr’s presented the man-made climate change proposition (the Christian Socialist version) and 2 that environmentalism restores the earth to the “order that ought to be”.
http://www.baptist.org.nz/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2316:forum-clears-the-cloud-over-church-and-environment&catid=180:carey&Itemid=198
The issue of man-made climate change could be the beginnings of a schism in the Baptist Church, either that or they just go all out Gaia.
Not Gaia but the “Evergreen God” apparently
Page 1, “The rich world gets richer burning fossil fuels while ‘downstream’, without resources to defend themselves, the poor suffer consequences.”
Page 2, reflect on God, creation and climate change.
Page 4, songs for creation care and climate change
e.g. “May You Live in the Love of the Evergreen God”
Page 5, “shocked” about the fact that our world is still warming and clues as to the socialist/communitarian underpinnings of this movement e.g. “Barack Obama titled his first book The Audacity of Hope, which is a phrase he heard in a sermon by Reverend Jeremiah Wright”
Also a link to “A theology of Climate Change”
Page 6, Cathy Cook has a Masters in Theological Ethics focusing on ecology from Edinburgh University.
There’s also a bastardization of the bread and wine that I wont go into here. Suffice to say that this Green “Christian” doctrine is not unusual in modern Christianity especially in the USA and the Pope is big on it too.
Take a look at Hope For Creation Partners. Includes World Vision that has recently picked up a $200m UN contract.
Theology of Climate Change
http://www.micahchallenge.org.au/assets/pdf/Theology-of-climate-change.pdf
1. Introduction
Climate change is as much a social and moral issue as it is an environmental issue. Its far reaching effects will touch all of us in some way. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) a group of over 2,500 leading scientists from around the world are now predicting a rise in globally‐averaged temperatures of between 2◦C and 6◦C by the end of this century1. With these changes in temperatures, scientists are predicting that we in Australia will experience more extreme weather events such as droughts, floods, and heat waves, further water shortages and more intense bushfires.2 The most recent IPCC Fourth Assessment Report stated that it is now very likely that most of the observed increase in globally‐averaged temperatures in the last 50 years is attributable to human activities.3 The current climate change that the world is experiencing has historically been caused by those of us in wealthy countries as we have developed our economies. However, the people who stand to lose the most are people in impoverished countries, who have historically contributed least to the problem. Furthermore, they lack the financial resources to cope adequately with the problem. The deep injustice of wealthy countries’ actions and the disproportionate effect this will have on people in poorer
countries, requires a moral and ethical response.
Climate change threatens to cut across the success of all the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). These eight goals were developed in response to the world’s main development challenges and include:
Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development
Climate change is already beginning to undermine poverty reduction
[MDG is a UN initiative http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/ ]
3. A Christian response to economics The Greek word for house is oikos. This is also the source of the words economics, ecology and ecumenicity. Sallie McFague argues, “The three belong together: in order for the whole household of the planet to flourish, the earth’s resources must be distributed justly among all its inhabitants, human and earth others, on a sustainable basis.”
4.1 Hope for the future
To start moving towards a more just and sustainable world we have to first have hope that a different world is possible and imagine what that world will look like. In 1987 the Brundtland Report, also known as Our Common Future, alerted the world to the urgency of making progress toward economic development that could be sustained without depleting natural resources or harming the environment.
4.2 Acknowledging Sin
Christian Aid’s Paula Clifford defines sin:
4.4 Eight principles for sustainable living these guiding principles inform an understanding of how our relationships might be re‐ordered so that our relationships better reflect a right relationship with God. These principles also acknowledge that the particulars of what is ‘sustainable’ is not going to be the same for every situation. For example, whilst switching to renewable energy rather than relying on coal fired electricity is an important step in reducing our greenhouse gas emissions and becoming more sustainable, the type of renewable energy that is appropriate will change depending on the situation – some sites are very suited to solar, for others wind would be more appropriate. These principles are therefore only a first step on the path towards sustainability.
5. We should favour regulated solutions that take account of natural, human and social capital.
7. …….The World Council of Churches has also been promoting the concept of ecological debt ‐ the idea is that industrialized Northern countries ‐ their institutions and corporations – have a debt towards Southern countries because of the manner in which they have used these countries’
5.4 Mission/Outreach
Conduct one event to demonstrate the church’s commitment to being a “green” church.
7. References
Climate Institute, Common Belief: Australia’s faith communities on climate change, December 2006,
http://www.climateinstitute.org.au/images/reports/commonbelief.pdf
Common Belief
AUSTRALIA’S FAITH COMMUNITIES ON CLIMATE CHANGE
December 2006
© Copyright Climate Institute (Australia) Ltd 2006
The Climate Institute (Australia) Ltd
“for most of us, the fate of the planet as a
result of global warming is really a moral issue”
ABORIGINAL PEOPLE 6
ANGLICANS 8
THE AUSTRALIAN CHRISTIAN LOBBY 10
BAHÁ’Í BELIEVERS 12
BAPTISTS 14
BUDDHISTS 16
CATHOLICS 18
EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANS 20
GREEK ORTHODOX 22
HINDUS 24
JEWISH PEOPLE 26
LUTHERANS 28
MUSLIMS 30
THE SALVATION ARMY 32
SIKHS 34
THE UNITING CHURCH 36
http://www.climateinstitute.org.au/images/reports/commonbelief.pdf
Climate Institute of Australia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Funding for the Institute is provided by the Poola Foundation’s Tom Kantor fund. The current cycle of funding is for five years at a rate of approximately A$2 million per annum.[1][2]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_Institute_of_Australia
The Poola Foundation’s approach
Mark [Mark Wootton, Director of the Poola Foundation] began his presentation by explaining that the Poola Foundation is a charitable entity. He and his wife (the Director’s of the Poola Foundation) consider it to be the ‘divestment arm’ of their family company. The Foundation’s primary areas of focus are on the environment, social justice, and peace. In its activities, the foundation aims to inspire, to educate and to demonstrate solutions. The Foundation tends to provide larger grants but has made grants ranging from $2,000 to $10 million in size. By 30 June 2007, the Foundation expects to have distributed about $30 million in grants.
The Climate Institute defends its coal alliance
Has The Climate Institute damaged their brand by announcing a “historic alliance” with the World Wildlife Fund, The Coal Association and the CFMEU?
[WWF actually now the World Wide Fund for Nature and still using the former name in the U.S. and Canada http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WWF ]
http://www.crikey.com.au/2008/04/18/the-climate-institute-defends-its-coal-alliance/
Analysis of “Common Belief” follows.
Being green is God’s work, says Costello
ALL Bible-reading Christians should be ”greenies” because ”creation carries the imprint of the maker”, says the head of World Vision Australia, the Reverend Tim Costello.
Speaking at the start of a national day of prayer on climate change yesterday, Mr Costello said it was incumbent on Christians to take the problem of global warming seriously, and to battle cynicism and despair.
[…]
He was speaking as a new coalition, Hope for Creation, launched the national day of prayer, with thousands of Christians taking part nationally and joining those from 40 other countries.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/being-green-is-gods-work-says-costello-20111106-1n21y.html#ixzz1d0OJdO9X
In the same vein as ‘Common Belief’ up-thread e.g. the Anglicans:-
Which (for those biblically illiterate) tallies with a prophesy of a “falling away” or apostacy (2 Thess 2:3). This fundamentalist website puts it this way in their ‘Apostacy’ category:-
Greenie ‘Christians’ have varying takes on Genesis 1:28 – a point-of-difference between Fundamentalist and Greenie Christians:-
Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams:-
Echoed by the Salvation Army in ‘Common Belief’:-
But more read into it in this book:-
The words steward and stewardship present a problem too, they are used about two dozen times in the KJV but not once in the context of the earth but that doesn’t sway the Anglicans:-
There are more problems with the notion of “Redeeming Creation” and that the earth is an “object of God’s redemptive purpose” (page 26). Evidently, God’s redemptive purpose for the earth is limited. Going by the book of Revelation (that Greenie ‘Christians’ avoid like the plague), the earth undergoes major climatic and geologic upheaval before ultimately in Revelation 21:1:-
It shouldn’t be improbable to anyone that believes in an entity powerful enough to create the universe and the earth, that the same entity is equally powerful enough to take the whole thing down and put up a new one – but that’s not “being green” and doing “God’s work”, apparently.
Bishop Hill has just posted an excellent piece by Matt Ridley on scientific heresy and pseudoscience
http://www.bishop-hill.net/blog/2011/11/1/scientific-heresy.html
Judging by the comments from Anthony Watts et al, I suspect this article is going to get a lot of exposure.
It is certainly worth the read.
There ya go,
Oh Jeez not another thread about bloody ducks. We had one of those at Bishop Hill.
Can’t we stick some, ehem, duck tape on you Rich? 😉
Hmm, perhaps we should. But we don’t want to get too stuck up about it.
OK, duck tape in place
On a serious note, I agree. This is a top-shelf gilt-edged lecture that should get the exposure it deserves.
Although I think I recall it not being well received at Deltoid (seems to be the hangout for the “B” Hockey Team – C at SkS, D at HT)
Yes, here it is. Not quite the BH reception:-
Richard C .
cheers for the Deltoid link.
can’t imagine I’ll be spending much time there. do these guys just slag everyone off?
An uncouth bunch, checking in does leave an unpleasant aftertaste but it provides an insight into the mindset of some whose influential work and writing we hear about from time to time – Lambert and Vermeer in that post and thread,
I am curious about this:-
5 When Delingpole writes that “professor Muller sets up his straw man”, I think that he actually means that Muller sets up a faithful image of Delingpole himself.
Posted by: Andy S | October 22, 2011 1:44 PM
It’s a different Andy S I can assure you. I have never left a comment at Deltoid.
apologies if you’ve already seen this book “The Delinquent Teenager Who Was Mistaken for the World’s Top Climate Expert ” by Donna Laframboise… its about petulant child which is the IPCC… get at amazon here http://www.amazon.com/Delinquent-Teenager-Mistaken-Climate-ebook/dp/B005UEVB8Q/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1318551567&sr=8-4#reader_B005UEVB8Q
more at Donna’s site: http://nofrakkingconsensus.com/2011/10/28/a-paperback-is-born/
cheers
I have read the book, but no apologies needed Lisa.
I highly recommend it to everyone.
Brooke LaFlamme (a graduate student) vicariously reviews Donna Laframboise’s Delinquent Teenager (via Fox News article) – and comes up with this gem:-
“For example, the article on foxnews.com states, “Grad students often co-author scientific papers to help with the laborious task of writing. Such papers are rarely the cornerstone for trillions of dollars worth of government climate funding, however — nor do they win Nobel Peace prizes.” I will assume that the bit about “Nobel Peace prizes” was a mistake made by the Fox News writer, since as I’m sure you’re aware, scientific achievements do not lead to Peace prizes. Further, most science of any kind doesn’t lead to a Nobel Prize. They really don’t hand out that many of them.”
http://nittygrittyscience.com/2011/11/03/an-open-letter-to-donna-laframboise-or-you-have-got-to-be-f-kidding-me/
Brooke is now older and wiser after La Flamme-out
H/T Tom Nelson.
Funny, I started the “troll” influx on that one, possibly after noting the link on Hot Topic’s twitter feed and cross posting to Donna (No Frakking Consensus) Facebook link.
(Yes I am the same “Andy” on Brooke’s page)
The joy of social networking.
Rely on the IPCC…
Their assessments of the state of knowledge on the subject are the “gold standard of climate change information,” said Gerald Meehl, a senior scientist at the US government-funded National Centre for Atmospheric Research and chair of the National Academy of Science. He would rather refer to them.
CLIMATE CHANGE: How to spot a dodgy study
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=94171
The IPCC’s Fake Review Editor
http://nofrakkingconsensus.com/2011/11/09/the-ipccs-fake-review-editor/