Doubt and Certainty in Climate Science

Doubt and Certainty in Climate Science PDF Author: Alan Longhurst
Publisher: Critical Science Press
ISBN: 8412586751
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 281

Get Book

Book Description
In "Doubt and Certainty in Climate Science," well-known oceanographer Alan Longhurst offers a unique vision of climate change and its scientific study. His deep knowledge of oceanographic research, fishery productivity, and marine ecological changes over several centuries made him doubt some of the postulates of climate science by scientists working on computers with only a few decades of data. In this book, the author reviews what scientists know about climate change, the known unknowns, and the unknown unknowns that give rise to uncertainties about future climate change that is causing far-reaching social and political change. Longhurst provides an incisive critical review of numerous topics in climate change. Beginning with a review of some regional temperature measurements, he questions the robustness of the leading indicator of climate change, a global average of widely differing measurements of sea and land surface temperature. The book offers unique insights worthy of consideration by those seeking to understand climate change, particularly the important role of the oceans in climate.

Doubt and Certainty in Climate Science

Doubt and Certainty in Climate Science PDF Author: Alan Longhurst
Publisher: Critical Science Press
ISBN: 8412586751
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 281

Get Book

Book Description
In "Doubt and Certainty in Climate Science," well-known oceanographer Alan Longhurst offers a unique vision of climate change and its scientific study. His deep knowledge of oceanographic research, fishery productivity, and marine ecological changes over several centuries made him doubt some of the postulates of climate science by scientists working on computers with only a few decades of data. In this book, the author reviews what scientists know about climate change, the known unknowns, and the unknown unknowns that give rise to uncertainties about future climate change that is causing far-reaching social and political change. Longhurst provides an incisive critical review of numerous topics in climate change. Beginning with a review of some regional temperature measurements, he questions the robustness of the leading indicator of climate change, a global average of widely differing measurements of sea and land surface temperature. The book offers unique insights worthy of consideration by those seeking to understand climate change, particularly the important role of the oceans in climate.

Doubt and Certainty in Science

Doubt and Certainty in Science PDF Author: John Zachary Young
Publisher: Praeger
ISBN: 0313233640
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book

Book Description
Young's thesis concludes that the higher activities of humans can be illuminated through an examination of the actual brain functions that produce them, and that these processes can be closely compared to those of a calculating machine.

Unsettled

Unsettled PDF Author: Steven E. Koonin
Publisher: BenBella Books
ISBN: 195329524X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 321

Get Book

Book Description
"Unsettled is a remarkable book—probably the best book on climate change for the intelligent layperson—that achieves the feat of conveying complex information clearly and in depth." —Claremont Review of Books "Surging sea levels are inundating the coasts." "Hurricanes and tornadoes are becoming fiercer and more frequent." "Climate change will be an economic disaster." You've heard all this presented as fact. But according to science, all of these statements are profoundly misleading. When it comes to climate change, the media, politicians, and other prominent voices have declared that "the science is settled." In reality, the long game of telephone from research to reports to the popular media is corrupted by misunderstanding and misinformation. Core questions—about the way the climate is responding to our influence, and what the impacts will be—remain largely unanswered. The climate is changing, but the why and how aren't as clear as you've probably been led to believe. Now, one of America's most distinguished scientists is clearing away the fog to explain what science really says (and doesn't say) about our changing climate. In Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What It Doesn't, and Why It Matters, Steven Koonin draws upon his decades of experience—including as a top science advisor to the Obama administration—to provide up-to-date insights and expert perspective free from political agendas. Fascinating, clear-headed, and full of surprises, this book gives readers the tools to both understand the climate issue and be savvier consumers of science media in general. Koonin takes readers behind the headlines to the more nuanced science itself, showing us where it comes from and guiding us through the implications of the evidence. He dispels popular myths and unveils little-known truths: despite a dramatic rise in greenhouse gas emissions, global temperatures actually decreased from 1940 to 1970. What's more, the models we use to predict the future aren't able to accurately describe the climate of the past, suggesting they are deeply flawed. Koonin also tackles society's response to a changing climate, using data-driven analysis to explain why many proposed "solutions" would be ineffective, and discussing how alternatives like adaptation and, if necessary, geoengineering will ensure humanity continues to prosper. Unsettled is a reality check buoyed by hope, offering the truth about climate science that you aren't getting elsewhere—what we know, what we don't, and what it all means for our future.

The Certainty of Uncertainty

The Certainty of Uncertainty PDF Author: Mark Schaefer
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1532653433
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 277

Get Book

Book Description
The world is full of people who are very certain—in politics, in religion, in all manner of things. In addition, political, religious, and social organizations are marketing certainty as a cure all to all life’s problems. But is such certainty possible? Or even good? The Certainty of Uncertainty explores the question of certainty by looking at the reasons human beings crave certainty and the religious responses we frequently fashion to help meet that need. The book takes an in-depth view of religion, language, our senses, our science, and our world to explore the inescapable uncertainties they reveal. We find that the certainty we crave does not exist. As we reflect on the unavoidable uncertainties in our world, we come to understand that letting go of certainty is not only necessary, it’s beneficial. For, in embracing doubt and uncertainty, we find a more meaningful and courageous religious faith, a deeper encounter with mystery, and a way to build strong relationships across religious and philosophical lines. In The Certainty of Uncertainty, we see that embracing our belief systems with humility and uncertainty can be transformative for ourselves and for our world.

Climate Deniers, What Causes Doubt

Climate Deniers, What Causes Doubt PDF Author: Alicia Au
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781773698823
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book

Book Description
Climate denial is a readily used concept, often referring to a public debate discourse that challenges the views of mainstream climate scientists and advocates of environmental policy. Climate deniers fuel an economic and political campaign structured to undermine the public trust in climate science functions as a mechanism for doubt and manufactured uncertainty. In eleven chapters, this book identifies and profiles the potential risks and solutions to the current state of climate change literacy and what causes doubt and distrust among climate change deniers. In particular, this book looks at the internal and external influences on one's own climate beliefs and how something that is close to a scientific certainty faces so much opposition. This book looks to provide new perspectives and ways to view literature surrounding climate change denial, and how we can use hope to build a better future.

A Climate for Change

A Climate for Change PDF Author: Katharine Hayhoe
Publisher: FaithWords
ISBN: 0446558265
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 181

Get Book

Book Description
Most Christian lifestyle or environmental books focus on how to live in a sustainable and conservational manner. A CLIMATE FOR CHANGE shows why Christians should be living that way, and the consequences of doing so. Drawing on the two authors' experiences, one as an internationally recognized climate scientist and the other as an evangelical leader of a growing church, this book explains the science underlying global warming, the impact that human activities have on it, and how our Christian faith should play a significant role in guiding our opinions and actions on this important issue.

Global Warming and Climate Change

Global Warming and Climate Change PDF Author: Maria Taylor
Publisher: ANU Press
ISBN: 1925021912
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 231

Get Book

Book Description
1988: coming to grips with a terrifying global experiment The Toronto conference statement made it clear that climate change would affect everyone. It called greenhouse gas atmospheric pollution an ‘uncontrolled, globally pervasive experiment whose ultimate consequences could be second only to nuclear war’. World governments were urged to swiftly develop emission reduction targets (The changing atmosphere: implications for global security, 1988). Relevant to both Australian and overseas audiences, here is the untold story of how Australia buried its knowledge on climate change science and response options during the 1990s — going from clarity to confusion and doubt after arguably leading the world in citizen understanding and a political will to act in the late 1980s. ‘What happened and why’ is a fascinating exploration drawing on the public record of how a society revised its good understanding on a critical issue affecting every citizen. It happened through political and media communication, regardless of international scientific assessments that have remained consistent in ascribing causes and risks since 1990. How could this happen? The author examines the major influences, with lessons for the present, on how the story was reframed. Key have been values and beliefs, including economic beliefs, that trumped the science, the ability of changing political leaders and the mass media to set the story for the public, as well as the role of scientists’ own communication over time and the use and misuse of uncertainty.

Climate Change Denial

Climate Change Denial PDF Author: Haydn Washington
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136530053
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 194

Get Book

Book Description
Humans have always used denial. When we are afraid, guilty, confused, or when something interferes with our self-image, we tend to deny it. Yet denial is a delusion. When it impacts on the health of oneself, or society, or the world it becomes a pathology. Climate change denial is such a case. Paradoxically, as the climate science has become more certain, denial about the issue has increased. The paradox lies in the denial. There is a denial industry funded by the fossil fuel companies that literally denies the science, and seeks to confuse the public. There is denial within governments, where spin-doctors use 'weasel words' to pretend they are taking action. However there is also denial within most of us, the citizenry. We let denial prosper and we resist the science. It also explains the social science behind denial. It contains a detailed examination of the principal climate change denial arguments, from attacks on the integrity of scientists, to impossible expectations of proof and certainty to the cherry picking of data. Climate change can be solved - but only when we cease to deny that it exists. This book shows how we can break through denial, accept reality, and thus solve the climate crisis. It will engage scientists, university students, climate change activists as well as the general public seeking to roll back denial and act.

The Triumph of Doubt

The Triumph of Doubt PDF Author: David Michaels
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0190922664
Category : Deception
Languages : en
Pages : 343

Get Book

Book Description
"Opioids. Concussions. Obesity. Climate change. America is a country of everyday crises -- big, long-spanning problems that persist, mostly unregulated, despite their toll on the country's health and vitality. And for every case of government inaction on one of these issues, there is a set of familiar, doubtful refrains: The science is unclear. The data is inconclusive. Regulation is unjustified. It's a slippery slope. Is it? The Triumph of Doubt traces the ascendance of science-for-hire in American life and government, from its origins in the tobacco industry in the 1950s to its current manifestations across government, public policy, and even professional sports. Well-heeled American corporations have long had a financial stake in undermining scientific consensus and manufacturing uncertainty; in The Triumph of Doubt, former Obama and Clinton official David Michaels details how bad science becomes public policy -- and where it's happening today. Amid fraught conversations of "alternative facts" and "truth decay," The Triumph of Doubt wields its unprecedented access to shine a light on the machinations and scope of manipulated science in American society. It is an urgent, revelatory work, one that promises to reorient conversations around science and the public good for the foreseeable future"--Provided by publisher.

The Power of Narrative

The Power of Narrative PDF Author: Raul P. Lejano
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0197542107
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 205

Get Book

Book Description
Introduction -- Ideology as narrative -- When skepticism became public -- Skeptics without borders -- Unpacking the genetic meta-narrative -- The social construction of climate science -- Ideological narratives and beyond in a post-truth world.