[Graeme]

The Inquisition of Climate Science: A Scientist Exposes the Business of Denial

James Lawrence Powell’s The Inquisition of Climate Science is a straightforward, thorough and well-researched account of the assault on climate science.

The book is scholarly, yet entertaining, as a quick review of the titles in the Table of Contents reveals. Among the best are: “Toxic Tanks” (think tanks), “An Industry to Trust” (in which he contrasts the oil and gas companies’ and Insurance companies’ positions on global warming), “Climategate: Much Ado About Nothing” (in which he drives yet another wooden stake in the heart of this travesty and dispatches other “gates”).

Powell’s account is – pardon the pun – intelligently designed to thoroughly debunk the baseless dogma and diatribes coming out of the denier community.

The structure of the book is iterative, much like science itself. Just as a scientific observation proceeds from an initial hypothesis to a theory supported by empirical evidence and a body of replicable research, Powell’s organization educates his reader on how science works, even as he increases the specificity and sophistication of his discussion.

He first establishes the difference between skeptics and deniers, explaining that skepticism is at the core of science, but noting that when mounting evidence causes so-called “skeptics” to cling ever more desperately to their pre-ordained positions, they forfeit the title and move into the camp of deniers.

thinkprogress

[Keith_McClary]

Environmental scientists struggle to close giant hole in climate change denier's layer of reasoning

GENEVA – Researchers at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) are currently working hard to seal the chasmal gap in the arguments regurgitated by deniers of global climate change and other non-scientists.

The colossal hole in logical reasoning, which began to form in the public sphere sometime in the mid 20th century, appears to double in size whenever anyone makes assertions such as “if global warming is real, then why is it so cold?” and “the earth has seen worse.”

“The situation is critical,” said Dr. Jeff Bowden, head of the Layman Speculation Laboratory. “But we are throwing everything we got at this [gaping fissure in intelligent inference]: rigorous analysis, fact, scientifically grounded statements. Hopefully this won’t be a problem at the end of the century.”

The hole reached its all-time maximum area three years ago, after a man at a beach resort exclaimed that “if this is global warming, then count me in.”