Judith Curry resigns — “battle of scientific integrity versus career suicide”

It is sad to see that Judith Curry will not be continuing her research. The dead hand of buracademia drives out the best.

From Mark Steyn, who doesn’t hold back:

“…distinguished climate scientist Judith Curry had decided to resign from her position at Georgia Tech:

The superficial reason is that I want to do other things…

The deeper reasons have to do with my growing disenchantment with universities, the academic field of climate science and scientists.

Dr Curry elaborates:

A deciding factor was that I no longer know what to say to students and postdocs regarding how to navigate the CRAZINESS in the field of climate science. Research and other professional activities are professionally rewarded only if they are channeled in certain directions approved by a politicized academic establishment — funding, ease of getting your papers published, getting hired in prestigious positions, appointments to prestigious committees and boards, professional recognition, etc.

How young scientists are to navigate all this is beyond me, and it often becomes a battle of scientific integrity versus career suicide (I have worked through these issues with a number of skeptical young scientists).

By “career suicide”, Dr Curry means that, if you dissent from the Big Climate orthodoxy, thug enforcers like Dr Michael E Mann will take the hockey stick to you until there’s nothing left…

Read the whole scathing post. Mark Steyn has no fear of Michael Mann.

9.7 out of 10 based on 111 ratings

108 comments to Judith Curry resigns — “battle of scientific integrity versus career suicide”

  • #
    mmxx

    Dr Curry

    Your name and scientific reputation will stay on top tier in my assessment.

    You have always kept an open scientific mind to the debate about anthropogenic climate change influence and any significance.

    511

    • #
      Environment Skeptic

      I continue to remain skeptical about the scientific environment in general and, with respect to Dr Curry in particular, the scientific environment that she finds herself in…..

      100

    • #
      Oliver K. Manuel

      I have not spoken with Professor Curry since she announced her decision, but . . .

      Today I would be honored to be the first, of what will hopefully be many, many nominations of Professor Judith Curry to serve in the highest possible administrative position in the of incoming President Donald J. Trump to help end as quickly and justly as possible seventy one years of abuse of public-funded science to enslave and control humanity for a tyrannical one-world government.

      See also the legal problems now faced by another competent climatologist, Dr. Tim Ball: https://jonrappoport.wordpress.com/2016/12/31/warning-to-trump-dont-approve-gmo-pesticide-fda-horror-show/#comment-199361

      260

      • #
        Bulldust

        Because the first thing someone with scientific integrity who is fed up with the politicisation of the field would want is to become a political appointee…

        It would shred her credibility as an independent sceptical sciuentist. As a Curry admirer I think it is the worst thing she could do.

        00

    • #
      BernardP

      The timing is surprising. President Trump is coming to power. Academic circles should be expected to hedge their bets and allow more space for discussion of non-conforming views.

      And this is precisely the time that Dr. Curry choses to quit her tenure? I wouldn’t bet against her getting a high-ranking post in a federal organization that has much to do with climate science.

      111

      • #
        jorgekafkazar

        Someone on another thread mentioned that Dr. Curry’s concerns focus largely on the difficulty of advising students in the field:

        I no longer know what to say to students and postdocs regarding how to navigate the CRAZINESS in the field of climate science.

        Connect the dots from Trump’s election, his stand on AGW, his cabinet appointments, to current student unrest, general academic insanity at the highest levels, to likely climate policy, to expenditures over the next four years, and you realize that the best advice Dr. Curry can give those students is the path she has chosen herself:

        GET OUT WHILE YOU CAN!!

        Still, for Dr. Curry, herself, it’s tragic, despite the sense of relief she must feel. Her bravery in the face of her Lysenokist opponents deserves our deepest respect and highest praise. I pray that someday in the near future, she will be generally recognized in some tangible way for her character, as well as her intelligence.

        130

        • #

          jorgekafkazar January 6, 2017 at 6:06 am ·

          “Someone on another thread mentioned that Dr. Curry’s concerns focus largely on the difficulty of advising students in the field:”

          Perhaps Dr. Curry was\is interested in advising\educating newcomers to the practice of weather forecasting. This is not science”, this is instead a more important skill of picking out the ‘deterministic’ from the absolute chaos of weather. Such skill requires continual determination in the face of abject frustration. I truly admire those that can do that well. At every weather station, their advice much helped me to avoid many ‘AW-shits’ I leave the pontification of ‘Climate research’ to others.
          All the best! -will-

          00

      • #
        John F. Hultquist

        See comment 19, below.

        10

      • #
        Oliver K. Manuel

        Professor Curry’s timing is perfect.

        The MS and/or PhD graduates that worked with me on “The Origin of the Solar System and Its Elements” (1964-2006) were all forced to change research careers after graduation.

        50

        • #
          William

          So what was so controversial about your work?
          Please explain.
          (Amazon does not have a book with your title)

          01

        • #
          William

          OK. Found more than enough to read.
          Google is our friend (kinda more or less, sometimes)

          10

        • #
          Oliver K. Manuel

          William, please read the recently published tribute to PAUL KAZUO KURODA in the International Journal of Advanced Research.

          Kuroda was the first scientist sent from the Imperial University of Tokyo to examine the ruins of Hiroshima in August 1945.

          Kuroda risked the rest of his life trying to discreetly expose the subsequent abuse of science to deceive and enslave humanity*.

          I will post a hyperlink to the paper showing the logical error that:

          _1. Prevented Hitler’s nuclear scientists from building an atomic bomb during WWII

          _ 2. Hid the source of energy in atomic bombs from the rest of the world after WWII.

          *All Humanity was enslaved to save the lives of frightened world leaders who would also die in the event of worldwide nuclear annihilation!

          10

  • #
    Robert Rosicka

    One of the few in the upper echelons of the climate elite that was prepared to call the CAGW scam for what it was .
    If Trump is half the man we think he is he will give her that schmuck Manns job .

    361

  • #

    Watch how the Green-Left will twist this into a story suggesting that Judith Curry resign due to not being able to justify her views or something similar. The smear campaign will be mandatory.

    301

  • #
    MurrayA

    Cue Harry Twinotter to come in and start crowing at her departure, and spitting his own bile.

    261

  • #
    sophocles

    Her departure from academe is sad, in a way. She is one of the few honest scientists in the field and is comparable with the late Dr. Richard Feynman; both giants in their own spheres. Dr. Curry is a commentator of note, I will miss her clear aand direct contributions.

    I wish her all the best in her future years. I don’t need to hope she will achieve well in any new fields or new enterprises of her choice; she will do that anyway.

    I enjoy her blog immensely. I hope she keeps it going, her style is notable: calm, measured and straight as an arrow … no hookey sticks in evidence at all. 🙂

    321

    • #
      sophocles

      Yep, she’s planning to keep the blog going, with more guest material. 🙂

      170

    • #
      Glen Michel

      A true scientist.She found the theory wanting – rejected the orthodoxy with measured reason. Impressive person. She deserves a prominent post in this upcoming administration.

      61

  • #
    el gordo

    Even though Dr Curry denied the suggestion, she is predestined to go to Washington.

    181

    • #
      el gordo

      ‘Apparently Trump’s transition team has been quite active, but there have only been a few clues as to who he would appoint (p.s. I have not been contacted by the Trump administration). It will certainly be interesting to watch this play out.’

      Judith Curry / November 9, 2016

      150

    • #
      Peter C

      I hope So

      70

  • #
    TdeF

    In Melbourne, Prof Geoffrey Blainey was forced out by heckling violent students, because he disagreed with the politicization of history. His subsequent success and unintended revenge was to become a best selling author. A lovely man driven from his job by his inferiors who want to rewrite history.

    So I expect Judith Curry can do more from the outside than under siege from the inside. It is not necessarily a bad thing and she has shown the strength of character and professionalism to rise above the slings and arrows. I expect in a new Trump world, you will see her rise much higher as a trusted scientist who is not intimidated, exactly the sort of person Trump needs. It could be a great career move and even more significant for deluded conservative deplorables.

    441

  • #
    PeterS

    Another victim of the pseudo-science of modern times – and I’m not referring only to climate science. Too much of what passes as science in schools and Universities these days is more about philosophy than real science. No matter – there’s plenty of alternative sources for those who dare investigate and research the truth using critical thinking. Fortunately, fake science just like fake news has an expiry date.

    181

  • #
    philthegeek

    The politics of science can be brutal. Always sad when someone feels they have to disengage.

    But, for a bit of light relief, Kiwis calling it out.

    probably the saddest thing about his entry into Australia politics, spending so much time in Canberra, is he has denied a village somewhere in Australia of its idiot.

    132

    • #
      AndyG55

      Maybe the SHMOO could get someone a bit more relevant, like SHY, or Gillard, or the local janitor, to make comments about Malcolm Roberts.

      71

    • #
      Glen Michel

      Bad call from the Kiwis in my opinion. Roberts is over the top with his response. He will become an embarrassment during his tenure in the Senate. Here’s hoping a new Conservative party replaces the nongs that are One Nation.

      09

    • #
      el gordo

      ‘…which sees long-term visa holders deported if they are sentenced to one or more years in prison….’

      Seems perfectly rational and that should include the islanders who come to Australia through the kiwi backdoor.

      70

  • #
    Peter C

    I despise Michael Mann for many reasons, not least for the damage his peculiar insecurities have done to honest inquiry and scientific integrity. But his disgusting treatment of Dr Curry ranks high on my list. And, however long it takes, I will ensure that her prediction from 2012 comes true.
    Mark Steyn

    Mark Steyn’s Book; A discrace to the Profession” is a good read.

    Order it here.
    http://www.steynstore.com/product133.html

    180

    • #

      One tree-ring to rule them all,
      one tree-ring to define them,
      One tree ring to fool them all
      and in the darkness bind them,
      one tree ring to rule them all.

      Mann’s YAD061, lest we fergit it.

      260

    • #
      graphicconception

      +1 for “A Disgrace to the Profession”.

      I particularly liked the “Volume 1” part for all that it implies. 🙂

      It is amazing how many respected scientists do not regard M Mann very highly and Steyn seems to have rounded up a good number of quotes to show that.

      It really does reinforce the difference between a true scientist with integrity like Curry and the narcissistic wannabees like Mann.

      70

      • #
        Ted O'Brien.

        Wannabee what?

        For me, an Australian farmer, this all began in December 1986, when the Hawke “Labor” (read “Socialist/Marxist) government changed the management of our marvellous (socialist but not Marxist) CSIRO, appointing a new partisan board, with the National President of the ALP, Neville Wran, as chairman. A lawyer, he was the first non scientist to hold that position.

        The only possible explanation for this was and is that they intended to direct the CSIRO’s scientific output to their political purposes. And, sure enough, a couple of years later it surfaced with a full front page headline: “Cows Australia’s biggest source of Greenhouse Gases!” This had been “discovered” by a CSIRO scientist named Galbally working in Tasmania. Now I don’t believe that any scientist, Mr/Dr Galbally or any other, said any such thing. It was a monstrous lie, calculated to lead the urban population to believe that (capitalist) farmers and their exotic animals were arch villains in the wider society. This was the CSIRO’s publicity machine taking a bit of Mr Galbally’s work and extrapolating it across Australia.

        Knowing a bit about cows I knew this was a monstrous lie, you just couldn’t extrapolate Tasmania’s result across Australia like that. And no consideraton had been given to sequestration of carbon in the ag carbon cycle. But so little research had been done that nobody knew what the real picture was, and that lie stood unchallenged and was taught in our academies, our schools and our media for years. With the advancement of science Agriculture, including Cows, has now been relegated well down the list of GHG generators. But that lie did awful damage to our public image.

        This after Hawke’s ACTU had spent the whole of the 1970s busting small and medium sized businesses out of the manufacturing sector. It’s all part of an ongoing plan to eliminate private management/ownership of industry.

        50

  • #
    Antoine

    If I were Michael Mann right about now I would be quietly retiring to pretend to write my memoirs.
    The US is about to become a cold and ungracious home for people like him.
    He’s already finished, he just doesn’t know it yet.

    140

    • #
      dannz

      Sorry, we want him in the dock, answering questions under oath.
      We also need to expose who funds his lawyers and protects him.

      50

  • #
    Gee Aye

    isn’t she continuing emeritus and collecting her pension? The “Dr Curry elaborates” grab from her website has a different context to that implied. Maybe people should read her Jan 1 statement and not the tosh here.

    515

    • #

      Yes, people should read her own statements. Meanwhile, here is what I commented on the american thinker site yesterday:

      “Judith Curry is no hero. She believes in the ‘consensus’ science–the ‘greenhouse effect’, and the ‘radiation transfer theory’ of atmospheric warming–she is just a ‘lukewarmer’ who doesn’t think the ‘global warming’ is as big, or particularly bad, as the alarmists do, and she goes no farther than to emphasize the ‘uncertainties’ when she should be questioning and attacking the false assumptions underlying the mess that is ‘global climate science’. She is fascinated by the ‘sociology of science’ exhibited in the debate/war, and does not question the need for governmental ‘climate policy’ (which she obviously wants to have a hand in). Her blog is just a continuing therapy session for those who refuse to question their theories when the facts overwhelmingly disprove them. The truth is, the basic ‘settled science’ is anything but; there is NO global-warming greenhouse effect and radiation does not determine temperature in the atmosphere, it is just the reverse.

      Climate scientists cannot even prove they can measure the global mean surface temperature accurately enough to show ANY real ‘global warming’ over the last century. They have even been caught changing their data–‘adjusting’ it, over and over again–when it doesn’t conform to their theories.”
      —————-

      When someone (calling himself “hayseed”) suggested I “step up” to straighten it all out, I added this comment:

      “Already done, bumpkin (look up ‘Venus: No Greenhouse Effect’, by me), and you should know, since you’re so willing to spout off. The century-old Standard Atmosphere (SA) model–ignored by all the ‘climate change’ claimants, including all the climate scientists–rules the global mean temperature, and it is utterly stable against rising carbon dioxide or other ‘greenhouse’ gases. Everyone still uses the 288K enshrined in the SA a century ago (and it is higher than what they claim to measure today, despite all of that claimed ‘global warming’), while ignoring that stable global temperature model, just as they ignore my definitive, 2010 Venus/Earth temperature-vs-pressure comparison, that precisely confirms the SA. I’ll say it again: There is no valid global climate science today, and no competent climate scientists.

      Curry’s blog is filled with ad hominem comments like yours, that make all ‘debate’ vain and just kick the can (of correcting the science) down the road, without end. You are not getting the therapy you really need there.”

      113

      • #
        Yonniestone

        Dr Curry was seen as a CAGW fence sitter here for years until recently, a Dot Earth article from 2009 shows Dr Curry’s hedge betting and her 2015 testimony House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space and Technology Hearing on the President’s UN Climate Pledge.

        I didn’t see Jo Nova or David Evans riding the gravy train while privately condemning its fuel supply.

        50

  • #
    DonS

    Hi Jo,

    Sad to hear that one of the alarmingly shrinking number of scientists left in academia has decided to throw it in. I feel more sorry for her students who will now be indoctrinated into the right type of thought by the right type of scientist no doubt. They will find themselves stuck with huge student loans for an “education” not worth a fig.

    Talking of the right type of scientist did you catch that acknowledged scientific giant and chief bishop of the global warming religion, Tim Flannery, giving a sermon from his favorite pulpit (ABC “News” radio) on the topic of 2016 being declared the hottest ever, ever and ever by the BOM, ABC and all the usual quality outlets for misinformation?

    The highlight for me was when as an example of the global warming he mentioned a mass fish kill off Western Australia that apparently happened early in 2016. Did anyone else hear of this? I recall a couple of incidents about 2-3 years ago but not last year. Anyway according to the great professor of Biology the fish died because the water was so hot it that became anoxic and all these fish suffocated! Not due to algal blooms or some fishy disease, no, it was the global warming monster that the BOM spokesman, in another great moment for science, could not quantify or give any actual evidence for asserting that it is working in the background to drive global temperatures to record highs. According to the BOM. Science replaced by the worst type of speculative opinion, terrific!

    What a joke.

    We are not talking about Tim’s bathtub, his swimming pool or even a lake here, we are talking about the Indian Ocean for gods sake. I’m certain that if the Indian Ocean had at some point deoxygenated I would have heard about it before now. Seems like some pretty important news to go unreported for so long. With a scientific intellect like this wouldn’t Tim be a sure thing to replace Judith Curry in the space she has vacated?

    The good news is that Flannery has now taken to describing himself as a Biologist, at least I can start telling people that I studied Paleontology without feeling so embarrassed anymore.

    As you would expect with the ABC no tricky questions were asked of Tim about the RECORD amounts of rain in Australia last year and as usual no other points of view were heard.

    192

    • #
      philthegeek

      Don, i think you are referring to this??

      http://www.fish.wa.gov.au/Documents/research_reports/frr222.pdf

      That was a bad one.

      My understanding that we have have very unusual SST’s over 2015/16 on the hot side around Australia. However, weirdly, the W.A. coast between Naturalist and about Exmouth had a relatively “Cool Blob” up against the coast for a long time.

      50

      • #
        sophocles

        DonS:

        No, no, Don, we have a vastly superior candidate for the position: our very own Frank. According to him, Dr, Curry didn’t have any facts. So, if he is so knowledgeable, so fully in possession of all the facts to so certainly know and be able to state that so unequivocably, wouldn’t he be perfect for the position?

        20

  • #
    Analitik

    I hope she stays around long enough to see if the Trump influence will return universities to teaching the scientific rather than the political method in science departments.

    80

    • #
      Analitik

      She should be part of it

      60

    • #
      Fuel Filter

      Her revenge will arrive shortly.

      Take a gander at this latest James Delingpole article. 

      http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/01/03/delingpole-trump-versus-the-green-blob-heres-how-we-know-he-means-business/

      Note: He says there are more columns to come (he’s already written a few on Trump but this is his first since he’s had a meeting in NYC with Trump advisors…yes, DJT invited him, probably due to the influences of Farage and Bannon). 

      To the GreenBlob in the U.S.A.:  Be. Very. Afraid. Hide your wives and children. Put your Teslas and Priuses under camouflage netting.  Go to ground in your bunkers and hunker down with your free-trade coffee, gluten-free food and Birkinstocks. Your days are numbered in my country.

      (On a side note, I do feel sorry for you guys in OZ with that dolt Turnbull and all the other politicos that have and are selling you down the river. I read this blog at least twice a weeks as well as Quadrant so I know probably more than most Americans of your situations.  Here’s hoping there will be some knock-off effect from us towards you to throw your  own bums out and drain your swamps.)

      140

      • #
        Mark D.

        To the GreenBlob in the U.S.A.:…..Go to ground in your bunkers and hunker down….

        someone doesn’t know the GreenBlob very well. They might find sanctuary in a Right wing neighbors bunkers but never their own.

        10

  • #
    TdeF

    An aside on global temperature. As Nobel Prize winning Physicist Ivar Giaever noted, the amazing thing about ‘global temperature’ whatever it means is that it is remarkably constant.

    What that tells you is not that the world is that for every frozen arctic jetstream, every freezing winter, every snowfall in Cairo, there is a corresponding warm event somewhere else. That tells you that the troposphere is remarkably constant in total energy. So while the media report only warming events, you can be sure that the cooling events are there. A satellite measured difference of a ridiculously small 0.02C from one year to the next tells you global warming is fantasy, that there is no cooling, no heating and the Flannerys of the world, the profiteers of Doom are seizing on the heating events and ignoring the wintry blasts.

    Judith Curry knows this. Everyone knows this. The man made global warming story is simple deceit. The whole world is waiting for a new President of the US and the truth. The days of domination by the far left media will come to an end. Quite amazingly, Donald Trump is using twitter to his advantage and communicating directly with the people and bypassing the journalists and the media. No one expected that. Two weeks to go. You have to wonder what else Obama can do to burn the place down before he leaves.

    212

    • #
      Speedy

      G’day TdeF

      Tossing a coin and getting a Head does not prove the coin is double-headed. Nor does getting a Head on the second, third or fourth throw. Or the fifth. But getting Head on toss # 6 pretty well sinks the theory.

      So it is with global warming. We hear lots of stories that SUPPORT the theory, but when we come up with observations that QUESTION (demolish) the theory+, those crickets sure do get noisy, don’t they?

      Cheers,

      Speedy

      +Paleoclimate, tropospheric hot spot, non-correlation with CO2 concentration over history etc.

      121

    • #
      Speedy

      G’day TdeF

      Tossing a coin and getting a Head does not prove the coin is double-headed. Nor does getting a Head on the second, third or fourth throw. Or the fifth. But getting Head on toss # 6 pretty well sinks the theory.

      So it is with global warming. We hear lots of stories that SUPPORT the theory, but when we come up with observations that QUESTION (demolish) the theory+, those crickets sure do get noisy, don’t they?

      Cheers,

      Speedy

      +Paleoclimate, tropospheric hot spot, non-correlation with CO2 concentration over history etc.

      31

    • #
      Oliver K. Manuel

      “The amazing thing about ‘global temperature’ whatever it means is that it is remarkably constant” – although the pulsar core of the Sun is remarkably violent and seemingly unstable.

      50

    • #
      ianl8888

      You have to wonder what else Obama can do to burn the place down before he leaves

      Yes, I’ve wondered that too.

      His last act is likely to be the Pardon List. It should make interesting reading.

      100

    • #

      TdeF January 5, 2017 at 11:07 pm

      “An aside on global temperature. As Nobel Prize winning Physicist Ivar Giaever noted, the amazing thing about ‘global temperature’ whatever it means is that it is remarkably constant.”

      OK!

      “That tells you that the troposphere is remarkably constant in total energy.”

      Indeed correct over the lifetime of any Earth critter, including Redwoods, but not mountains.
      Can Earthlings ever start to comprehend needed ‘warm intervals’ betwixt ‘Ice Ages’!

      Earthlings can never know, until admitting on knees ‘I do not know’! Only then can Earthlings back off a bit, and with friends and beer, begin to learn of this wonderful surround.

      10

    • #
      DennisA

      Minus 25C current forecast for Moscow this weekend!

      20

  • #
    Anton

    New claim that the transition from ship-based to buoy-based air temperature measurements recorded at the sea surface contain a technical error, which when correct suggests that the warming continued through the 15-year pause:

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-38513740 (BBC report)

    http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/3/1/e1601207.full (Full paper on journal website)

    Time for skeptical bloggers to subject this to close scrutiny.

    91

  • #
    Lionell Griffith

    “They” overreached philosophically. “They” overreached scientifically. “They” overreached politically. Now “they” have overreached socially. “They” are now in full panic mode because there is nothing else left to overreach.

    It will not end well for “them”. Unfortunately there is and will be a huge amount of collateral damage from the resolution of all of “their” overreaching. “Their” eventual downfall is certain. They have been at war with reality and that is a war that cannot be won. It is simply a matter of time.

    Our challenge, as always, is to survive the side effects of the collapse.

    140

  • #
    PhilJourdan

    A very classy lady. I hope she keeps her blog going.

    80

    • #
      bobl

      She says it’s her plan to, but as she is moving into her company full time she will have less time to do that and she will be relying more on Guest Authors.

      30

  • #
    John F. Hultquist

    Folks need to go read what she wrote and then the comments.
    She has left Georgia Tech.
    She has not left Earth.
    Over the past few years, she and others have developed an alternative income. Thus she can afford to do this.

    70

    • #
      Analitik

      We realise this. What is lamentable is the loss of yet another teaching scientist who has stuck with the basic principle of science that was defined by the Royal Society – Nullius in verba (Take nobody’s word for it).

      Students who would have been taught by her may well no longer find this principle given the emphasis that it deserves when taught by others in the geoscience/climate sciences area.

      50

  • #
    pat

    5 Jan: RealClimateScience: Tony Heller: Earth Cooling At The Fastest Rate On Record
    Global temperatures have plummeted this year at a record rate. Over the last ten months, temperatures have dropped more than three quarters of a degree, breaking the previous global cooling record set in 1999.
    Much of the Arctic was extremely cold last month, not “super-hot” as claimed by the Washington Post…READ ON
    http://realclimatescience.com/2017/01/earth-cooling-at-the-fastest-rate-on-record/

    5 Jan: Reuters: Alister Doyle: World heat shatters records in 2016 in new sign of global warming
    Last year was the hottest on record by a wide margin, with temperatures creeping close to a ceiling set by almost 200 nations for limiting global warming, the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service said on Thursday.
    The data are the first of the New Year to confirm many projections that 2016 will exceed 2015 as the warmest since reliable records began in the 19th century, it said in a report…
    Dick Dee, deputy head of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, said Thursday’s data were available quickly because they draw on temperature stations and satellite measurements used to make weather forecasts…
    U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has sometimes called man-made climate change a hoax and threatened to “cancel” the Paris agreement…
    http://www.reuters.com/article/us-climatechange-temperatures-idUSKBN14P24Z

    20

    • #
      TdeF

      To a casual reader, reliable satellite records have been going since the 19th century.
      As the largest contributor to temperature records for the bottom 1/3 of the planet, as far as I can tell Australian’s BOM still ignores all the records it inherited from the States and our ‘reliable’ 19th century records only begin in 1909, leaving out the entire Federation drought.
      Plus 75% of the planet is covered with water (including Antarctica) so where on earth did they get the records for the 19th century for a planet? Luckily scientists are absolutely certain they know what happened where there were no measurements, by the miracle of extrapolation pioneered by Dr Manne with his hockey stick.

      80

  • #
    Geoffrey Williams

    Intellectually Judith Curry is a free thinker who is miles ahead of the field. She hs been ostracised because she dared to speak out against the establishment of AGW. We wish her all the very best.
    GeoffW

    120

    • #
      Frank

      Judith’s free thinking wasn’t backed up by evidence that’s why she was ‘ostracised’ and got nowhere.

      118

      • #
        Rereke Whakaaro

        Really Frank? Were you privileged enough to sit in on all the conversations, and afterwards discuss the best course of action, with her?

        No Frank, only in your dreams!

        As Geoffrey points out, she appears to have been ostracised for not adhering closely enough to the script.

        Ockham’s razor, and lex parsimoniae, Frank. I assume that you know what those two statements mean?

        191

        • #
          Frank

          It’s very simple RW, she doesn’t have the evidence.
          It’s called the fact razor.

          011

        • #
          Rereke Whakaaro

          “The fact razor”? Now you are just being silly, and making things up!

          Ockham’s Razor would say that Judith was not willing to add her professional voice to some of the more ludicrous claims about climate change, and consequently was pushed.

          It happens all of the time in the legal profession, especially around litigious circumstances.

          Climate catastrophe is only viable, for as long as “the consensus” (as a proper noun) of specialists in the area, remain “on-script”, and follow the mantra.

          In nature, albino pigeons get pecked to death. Anthropogenic climate change zealots have about the same level of IQ.

          90

          • #

            Rereke Whakaaro January 6, 2017 at 11:23 am

            (“The fact razor”)?

            “In nature, albino pigeons get pecked to death. Anthropogenic climate change zealots have about the same level of IQ.”

            My kitten ‘Shadow’, loves to dine on albino pigeons. If I am available, she brings them up for inspection. Good kitty! No petting upon is needed as she finds so very easy, so slow! They cannot even walk without that silly head thing!

            30

      • #
        AndyG55

        “why she was ‘ostracised’”

        NO Fronk, the reason she was ‘ostracised’ was because she DID have the evidence.

        It is very much the AGW alarmist side that is bereft of evidence..

        As your continued EMPTY posts show everybody.

        51

      • #
        Geoffrey Williams

        Evidence? Evidence! Dear Frank WTF have you been?
        GeoffW

        20

  • #
    michael hart

    It’s an honourable thing to do. She knows that any students of hers will likely suffer discrimination at the hands of climate enforcers.

    I still think the best hope is to limit the wider damage to publicly funded science. So-called “Climate science” has been dead in the water for more than a decade. Like the last hours of The Bismark, it travels in a circular path waiting for merciful release. Will it be sunk by external forces, or scuppered by the remaining crew?

    I don’t care.

    90

  • #
    ianl8888

    It is true enough that Judith Curry became disillusioned with hypocritical scientists after reading through the Climategate emails. She took a long time to admit that the activists were successfully abusing the power of the public megaphone (ie. the MSM) with the willing collusion of the journos and editors, however.

    She also stubbornly refused to find a credible electrical grid engineer for comment on her website for a long, long time. The person known as Planning Engineer eventually joined – I think he’s commented here a few times as well – but he comments from an academic, hypothetical viewpoint which blunts reality.

    Still, Judith C eventually headbutted with Mann, a delightful development. It was interesting enough to watch her develop into an “agente provocateur” over time as the activist establishment developed their own totalitarian techniques. Apostasy is such a terrible social crime, it seems.

    80

  • #
    stan stendera

    I am a rambling wreck, a reference to Georgia Tech’s mascot, a rebuilt model A ford. I avidly follow GaTech’s (American) football team. I was a student there. I love Georgia Tech. I am horrified at the loss of Dr. Curry, who I put on a plane with Jo Nova. It diminishes Georgia Tech.

    As some of you here may recall I was a supporter of Mr. Trump. I know it has been suggested within his transition team that Dr. Curry be included in his administration. It may be up to her. I hope she joins for her views on the climate jibe with his.

    As for Michael Mann I must stop. Jo would throw me so far off of her blog if I expressed myself I probably couldn’t find my computer.

    60

    • #

      stan stendera January 6, 2017 at 9:56 am

      “As for Michael Mann I must stop. Jo would throw me so far off of her blog if I expressed myself I probably couldn’t find my computer.”

      The MODs here are very forgiving if you avoid ‘naming’, violence, and avoid certain religious wording!!
      Lets see. Mark Steyn’s accuser at Penn State may soon be accused and found guilty of abusing the US legal system. Is it permissible to applaud the swinging below the yardarm?

      51

  • #
    Andrew Lock

    That will happen when you go down an intellectual rabbit hole like Curry has. No one has really explained why her papers’ content differ so much from her stated position. So many of her papers are based on the premise that global warming is happening. To me she is eyeing the opportunity to cream money off like minded people now the republicans and Trump are in power. She will use her consultancy to provide ideological based reports for Government that don’t trust their own departments.

    23

    • #
      Geoffrey Williams

      Andrew , you have a point of and I respect your freedom to express it. But that’s all. As for the content of your blog regarding Judith Curry I am in total disagreement!!
      GeoffW

      20

  • #
    Roy Hogue

    …climate science would be stronger without Curry. …she routinely engaged in character attack, “confusionism and denialism” and eroded scientific discussion. — Michael Mann as quoted by Mark Steyn

    Climate science and Dr. Mann appear to be disjoint sets. — Roy Hogue

    41

    • #
      Roy Hogue

      As for the bigger picture, I have wondered about Judith Curry so much in the past that I once asked Jo for her opinion of Curry. Her answer was not all that reassuring at the time. So I can certainly understand comments wondering which camp Curry has really been in. And this comment immediately above is an example. In the end I concluded that Curry is an honest scientist who should receive no criticism from me, even if I don’t understand her completely.

      The real tragedy in all this is the total disregard for honesty and the ability of some to engage in character assassination with so little regard for a fellow scientist.

      70

      • #

        Roy Hogue January 6, 2017 at 10:31 am

        “I concluded that Curry is an honest scientist who should receive no criticism from me, even if I don’t understand her completely. The real tragedy in all this is the total disregard for honesty and the ability of some to engage in character assassination with so little regard for a fellow scientist.”

        Like with all politics; money corrupts regardless of personal integrity. Cutting off most\all government funding for science is the only way.
        I was encouraged by the Trump camp stating that NSF science funding shall be no more than 50% of corporate funding. This funding is only to keep corporations honest!

        21

        • #
          Roy Hogue

          We don’t yet know how good Trump will be at keeping all his promises. We both know that he remains an unknown until we see what he actually does. He has a formidable array of money and political clout still working against him and opposed to his every move. It’s probably a worse situation than has faced any of his predecessors going all the way back to George Washington.

          But I sure do hope he cleans house very thoroughly. And along that line, I see something today saying Trump has ordered all Obama appointed ambassadors to resign. I didn’t get to read it yet but it’s looking hopeful.

          00

      • #
        Glen Michel

        Agree Roy. Judith deviated somewhat- at least to acknowledge natural variation in the system; something that many scientists rolled over on in order to conform. Or for other more sinister reasons.

        20

        • #
          Roy Hogue

          It’s apparently built into human nature that many times two equally qualified and experienced “experts” will see the same thing differently.

          The only thing I can do is look for evidence of something not on the up-and-up. And absent anything questionable I have to give the benefit of the doubt. I think she could have had a stronger position if she hadn’t been so close to falling off the cliff with her position. But with MIchael Mann it wouldn’t have made any difference.

          00

    • #
      ExWarmist

      The set of scientific activity and Michael Mann are also disjoint.

      Michael Mann operates in a subset of the political activity set.

      10

  • #
    Bulldust

    Off topic – in regional weather related news, Perth had a relatively cold year last year:

    https://thewest.com.au/news/wa/perths-coldest-year-in-a-decade-ng-b88346741z

    50

  • #
    Dennis

    Yesterday I posted two articles from ABC and SBS quoting different BoM personnel, one claimed that 2016 was the hottest on record and the other claimed 2016 was the 4th hottest year.

    Now this from another source;

    http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-01-06/world-heat-shatters-records-in-2016/8165426

    20

  • #
    thingodonta

    From my experience within science research, I would make the following points:

    -Scientific research is subject to human flaws and foibles, just like any other human endeavor, because it is conducted by people who are human. At a minimum, it has to be externally supervised and regulated, and it MUST follow agreed procedures to work properly and effectively. In some cases, a lack of oversight and supervision of such procedures is a result of a lack of resources, but in other cases it is deliberate and systemic.

    -In too many cases, people within research get treated according to whether they conform to a particular academic, and by inference, political culture. This is easily abused and includes access to materials and information, supervision, promotion, and general treatment. In many cases it often has little to do with actual character or ability.

    -Some academic researchers turn academia into a type of culture that acts in competition with other cultures in society, rather than being a collector and point of dissemination of information and values. Some researchers also automatically assume they have both the authority, and an innate superiority, over all other cultural expressions. They see themselves as having a kind of ‘right’ to operate outside of normal community expectations and values. They may also ‘commodify’ aspects of the community, and those within it. Extreme examples of such includes both physical and social experimentation on subjects without consent.

    -Those academic fields which are more ‘out of touch’ with the surrounding culture, whether because of the type of field, or the lack of market-based relevance, tend to be more easily politicized, and tend to have more issues. It is the responsibility of the broader culture and society in which they operate to ensure such fields of research follow basic community values and standards. In other words, academic institutions have to be partly supervised by the values and standards of the broader community, they do not exist in complete isolation from the communities and cultures in which they operate. The international nature of academic research also exacerbates the problems of aloofness and being ‘out of touch’.

    -It also my opinion, that just like there is a higher proportion of Nobel prize winners which have schizophrenic tendencies (around 4%, as opposed to around 1% in society, because schizophrenia is also associated with higher levels of creativity when it manifests on a weaker level), there is a higher level of people with sociopathic and psychopathic tendencies who are attracted to academic careers in the first place, because of both its’ innate authority as part of ‘higher’ knowledge, as well as providing opportunity for high levels of freedom of expression and control, including corrupt expressions of freedom and control, that many other careers. The ‘rogue element’, both good and bad, is more easily expressed.

    Further points would require a much longer post with more context, but these sorts of issues are not new, they have plagued ‘knowledge institutions’ for thousands of years.

    40

  • #
    • #
      ianl8888

      … and even (Kevin) Rudderless – I saw a TV clip where Rudd was haranguing Pielke Jr one on one, in a public forum.

      Disgraceful.

      30

  • #
    pat

    5 Jan: GWPF: David Whitehouse: Death Of Global Temperature ‘Pause’ Greatly Exaggerated
    Any estimate of temperature trends that have their endpoint on the uptick of the El Nino curve will give a misleadingly high trend. A new paper falls into this trap, claiming the global temperature hiatus never existed…
    http://www.thegwpf.com/death-of-temperature-pause-greatly-exaggerated/

    not bothering to link to any of the monolithic FakeNewsMSM, which has jumped on the “no pause” story as one, forgetting how many articles they previously carried explaining why there was a pause, etc. the “no pause” rubbish is just one more piece of anti-Trump-Presidency propaganda:

    5 Jan: CarbonBrief: DailyBriefing: NOAA challenged the global warming ‘pause.’ Now new research says the agency was right.
    New ocean temperature research backs previous findings suggesting there has been no slowdown in the rate of warming at the Earth’s surface, report the Washington Post and many others. The new research “disprove[s] there was a hiatus in global warming” between 1998 and 2014, reports Agence France-Presse. Many researchers had previously accepted the idea that warming had slowed during the first 15 years of the century, says the BBC, noting that this slowing disappears in the latest data backed by today’s study. InsideClimate News, Ars Technica, Think Progress and Scientific American all report on the research. Associated Press also covers it under the headline “Global warming data that riled doubters is confirmed”. The Guardian says researchers that first suggested there had been no global warming “pause” were “harassed by Republicans for publishing inconvenient science”, adding that today’s study “proves them right”. The co-authors of today’s research, writing at Scientific American, say independent scientific replication, not political investigation, is the best way to verify controversial findings. Read the details on the science behind today’s research at Carbon Brief.
    Washington Post Read Article
    https://www.carbonbrief.org/daily-brief/noaa-challenged-global-warming-pause-china-plow-360-billion-renewable-fuel-202

    20

  • #
    pat

    4 Jan: StuffNZ: RHYS CHAMBERLAIN: Unseasonable cold snap brings summer snow to Central Otago
    An unseasonable cold snap brought early morning snow down to about 800m on the Old Man Range and more was likely.
    MetService forecast meteorologist Tuporo Marsters said more snow, likely less than 5cm, was expected through until Thursday.
    “There is a cold front working its way up the east coast at the moment. Inland areas, you should still feel that cold.”
    Temperatures plummeted to a bone-chilling 5degC about 5am on Wednesday and would likely not get above 14degC, Marsters said. Thursday’s low could be even cooler, getting down to 3degC in some parts of the region…
    National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research National Climate Centre principal scientist Chris Brandolino said colder than average temperatures would continue for the rest of the week.
    “Here you are in the first week of January and to have snow … it is unusual.”.
    Neither Marsters nor Brandolino had concrete information about previous snowfall events at this time of year…
    The icy blast came right in the thick of the stone fruit season in Central Otago.
    Fairview Orchard owner Stephen Jeffery said rain on Tuesday forced helicopters into action to dry his cherry crop and prevent damage.
    COMMENT:
    DeProf: The timing of the seasons looks to be shifting a bit. Real summer may well be March through May again this year…
    DonKey: You certainly don’t live in NZ these days for the lovely summer weather!! Gotta love climate change!…
    Kelvin Watson: There is a fresh coating of snow on Mt.Oxford and a good covering on the Torlesse Range…
    jo2lo: I’ll be asking Met Service for a refund. This summer sucks big time!…
    Clockwork Kiwi: Yep! Definitely global warming….. If it gets any warmer I’ll freeze…
    StunTheMullet: Global cooling!…
    Lennard: Ummm…no. Global warming is simplistic term, but part of climate change, and caused by the same factors.. Although temperatures are risings due to global warming, the term makes a lot of people think there is a global steady rise in temperatures at all times of year. (i.e warmer winters and hotter summers). The truth is a lot more complicated, hence the term ‘climate change’. Although the average surface temperature is increasing, the weather patterns are becoming more erratic. Both are part of the climate, hence the term ‘climate change’…
    CharlesXavier: Actually, it IS global warming. Only, because the Southern Hemisphere is dominated by water area, in the short term we will get colder as the North gets warmer. The more global average temps rise, so do sea levels, and the increasing area of sea surface holds the temps down in the South. Eventually it will balance out at an elevated temp, but not for hundreds of years at least…
    DangerD: Trump has been right all along. There is no global warming…
    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/88115411/unseasonable-cold-snap-brings-summer-snow-to-central-otago

    30

  • #
    pat

    4 Jan: Idaho Statesman: Record Snowfall in Boise keeps Treasure Valley schools closed, side roads daunting
    As of Thursday morning, the National Weather Service measured a record 15 inches on the ground at the NWS office at the Boise Airport, up from 7 inches before the latest wave of snowstorms rolled in.
    The previous snow depth record was 13 inches (Dec. 30, 1983 and Dec. 2, 1985). And yes, that’s the record for total snowfall sitting on the ground, any day of the year.
    In case you’re wondering how long Boise’s ground has been snow-covered this year, NWS meteorologist Jeanne Allen said there’s been steady “measurable snow depth” since Dec. 15…
    Another record: The 6.5 inches of new snow on Wednesday is the most ever recorded on Jan. 4, surpassing the previous high of 3.2 inches, set in 1951. And it ranks 15th among the heaviest one-day snowfalls recorded in this area since 1892, the National Weather Service reports.
    Don’t expect that daunting snowcover to melt until Sunday, and it’s possible the snow total will go up a little on Saturday, when a new weather system moves in.
    Once the snow stops falling, it’s going to get cold. Very cold.
    The temperature in Boise could reach -4 degrees on Friday and the outlying areas could get as cold as -10 degrees, according to Korri Anderson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boise. The valleys could range from -10 to -20 degrees. The predicted low in Fairfield on Friday is -28…

    Continuing snowstorms and freezing temperatures over the past several weeks in the Treasure Valley have caused stress to roofs above attics with inadequate insulation or lacking proper ventilation.
    METRO MEALS ON WHEELS NOT DELIVERING THURSDAY
    Metro Meals on Wheels won’t be making home visits Thursday due to dangerous road conditions…
    “We’ve never done this,” said Grant Jones, director of the group. “We just feel the safety of our employees and volunteers is paramount.”
    STATESMAN DELIVERY MAY BE DELAYED
    Because of the heavy snowfall and poor road conditions, Idaho Statesman delivery will likely be delayed in some areas Thursday.
    Because of unplowed roads, the newspaper may be delivered to driveways on some routes rather than the normal delivery location. The carriers cannot reach newspaper tubes in some cases so papers might be in the driveway…
    http://www.idahostatesman.com/news/local/article124608669.html

    20

    • #
      Dave in the States

      That’s Fahrenheit not Celsius. Quite a ways from Boise in a neighboring state, but we had -40 degrees this morning. That’s both F and C. Of course that wasn’t the official report. When I told an old timer the official report a few weeks ago his retort was : “It was like **** !” Piles and piles of snow too. Just like winter……

      00

    • #
      Mari C

      For those without a handy calculator, or a mind that doesn’t do conversions quickly:

      -4 (F) is -20 C
      -10 (F) is -23 C
      -20 (F) is -29 C
      and
      -28 (F) is -33 C

      00

  • #
    ExWarmist

    I propose the inauguration of the Trofim Lysenko award.

    A yearly award given to anyone who excels at promoting and profiting from the politicization of science.

    Perhaps M. Mann and Al Gore could be joint winners in the first year.

    50

  • #

    Eventually politicians and charlatans will be forced to understand that Mother Nature does not do politics or take direction.

    30

  • #
    DavidR

    Dr Curry should be remembered for these statements:

    [Humans] do contribute to climate change; very few people would question that. The question is, how much relatively to natural variability?”

    “If they are right — and they could be, I acknowledge that — if they are right, the policies we’ve put into place are woefully inadequate”.

    The fact that she was never able to identify the natural causes of AGW that she claimed could exist leaves plenty of scope for budding climate scientists.

    http://www.eenews.net/stories/1060047798

    00