Community | December 12, 2009 | 16 comments

Associated Press- IMPACT: Science not faked, but not pretty

source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gRa5F7Lv_zO0ZKaHmbQENlyV3KdgD9CHPLC00

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SleepDirt

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gRa5F7Lv_zO0ZKaHmbQ...

LONDON — E-mails stolen from climate scientists show they stonewalled skeptics and discussed hiding data — but the messages don't support claims that the science of global warming was faked, according to an exhaustive review by The Associated Press.

The 1,073 e-mails examined by the AP show that scientists harbored private doubts, however slight and fleeting, even as they told the world they were certain about climate change. However, the exchanges don't undercut the vast body of evidence showing the world is warming because of man-made greenhouse gas emissions.

The scientists were keenly aware of how their work would be viewed and used, and, just like politicians, went to great pains to shape their message. Sometimes, they sounded more like schoolyard taunts than scientific tenets.

The scientists were so convinced by their own science and so driven by a cause "that unless you're with them, you're against them," said Mark Frankel, director of scientific freedom, responsibility and law at the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He also reviewed the communications.

Frankel saw "no evidence of falsification or fabrication of data, although concerns could be raised about some instances of very 'generous interpretations.'"

Some e-mails expressed doubts about the quality of individual temperature records or why models and data didn't quite match. Part of this is the normal give-and-take of research, but skeptics challenged how reliable certain data was.

The e-mails were stolen from the computer network server of the climate research unit at the University of East Anglia in southeast England, an influential source of climate science, and were posted online last month. The university shut down the server and contacted the police.

The AP studied all the e-mails for context, with five reporters reading and rereading them — about 1 million words in total.

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16 comments // Associated Press- IMPACT: Science not faked, but not pretty

  • EdJoyProductions
    • 0
      EdJoyProductions  
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    • Even if it is a hoax, and I am not saying it is, what is wrong with just finding renewable sources and better, cleaner technology for energy?

      I honestly don't know because I am not a scientist that studies this. I have to depend on experts and from the data that I have seen, it looks very plausible. However, even if it is just a normal earth cycle, burning fossil fuels is just bad for the environment. Oil companies and the coal industry have stagnated any kind of technological advances in energy production out of greed. Of that, there is no question.

      Personally, I do not have a problem if it is a hoax. If it scares the right people enough to start working on better energy solutions and to actually start implementing them, then the ends justify the means. If we could live in a world where we did not ever have to worry about another oil tanker disaster destroying beautiful untouched wilderness, how OPEC is going to rape us this week, that Inuit women's breast milk is toxic waste because of pollution or whether the air that we breathe is killing us, then please LIE LIE LIE!

      Misinforming the public is rampant anyway. It is so often used for evil purposes. So, even if global warming is bull shit, there are a million other reasons to start acting responsibly about where we get our energy.

    • 3 years ago
  • artemis6
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      artemis6  
    • EdJoyProductions:

      As long as power gets decentralized and we get OFF fossil fuels (like we know we should) I am okay with it . I know some scientists who did research in this area , though , I do not doubt it IS happening .

    • 3 years ago
  • EdJoyProductions
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      EdJoyProductions  
    • EdJoyProductions:

      I don't doubt it either. I just want to make a point that even the lie is nonsensical. It still does not substantiate the behavior of governments. No mater how you cut it, our current methods of energy production leave us vulnerable and pollute the earth.

    • 3 years ago
  • SleepDirt
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      SleepDirt  
    • EdJoyProductions:

      Yes, and current energy consumption habits, particularity the dependence on foreign oil is anathema to global peace. The solutions are out there, all the technologies presently exist and only the lack of political will stands in the way.

    • 3 years ago
  • KSirys
  • larrysnotes
  • thedirtman
    • 0
      thedirtman  

    • I can believe that the scam is legitimate. I can believe scientists attempting to oversimplify the problems in order to make the task more believable. Nonetheless, global warming can only be real (the extent less determinable). Global temperatures will not go up nicely in a way that will convince the skeptics. Instead, they will go up and they will go down, and suddenly one summer they will bite us on the behind.

    • 3 years ago
  • SleepDirt
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      SleepDirt  
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    • thedirtman:

      What you seem to overlook is that science has been besieged by a cadre of industrialists and evangelicals and probably other special interests, including what is the contemporary version of the KGB, who appear to have been the hackers in this case.

      It seems like the right is more than willing to heart the KGB, so long as it suits there needs.
      I'm frankly shocked.

      OK, I can see friending the bin Ladens and Saddam Hussein and Hitler on their Facebook page... but the Commies? My word!

      Then again, Bush did look into Pootie's eyes and saw his soul, didn't he.

    • 3 years ago
  • MSchaut
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      MSchaut  

    • The science WAS in fact, faked. Yes it is ugly. A commitment to the idea of global warming doesn't justify falsifying the science and the raw data. It is things like this that destroy the credibility of all mainstream news sources, and well it should be destroyed if this is how they behave. The AP clearly has its interests with those who want climate change to be real for the benefit of their own power and wealth, instead of investigative reporting and genuine science for the benefit of all. Don't count on the AP for facts any longer- they'll distort, minimize or cover them for their own reasons.

    • 3 years ago
  • SleepDirt
    • 0
      SleepDirt  
    • MSchaut:

      "The science WAS in fact, faked."

      Please quantify one instance where you are convinced that that is the case and present empirical evidence to support your contention.. Take a single fact and show how it is faked. Just one.

      tick tock....take your time.

    • 3 years ago
  • slimpunk
    • 0
      slimpunk  
    • MSchaut:

      A typical response from global warming deniers when they're shown to be wrong.

      "AP must be in on the conspiracy too. Don't trust anything they say! You can only trust our band of shadowy internet sources, petroleum-funded lobby groups, and general nutcases around the world!"

    • 3 years ago
  • nursediesel
    • 0
      nursediesel  

    • AP found what? Nothing in the e-mails? And that proves what exactly? That they knew people would read their e-mails? And why just e-mails? Why not bank accounts? And follow the money trail...........bingo!

    • 3 years ago
  • Psymoniac
  • SleepDirt
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      SleepDirt  
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    • nursediesel:

      Who said 'proof'?
      AP offered their expert analysis, just like the wall-eyed Nazi on Glenn Beck who espouses HIV internment camps and projects his own classic Nazism on youthful climate protesters offered his 'expert' opinion.

    • 3 years ago
  • plusaf
  • SleepDirt
  • SleepDirt
    • 0
      SleepDirt  
    • plusaf:

      **if i notice any soon, i will. otherwise, "why?" do you really think it would make a difference?

      in my experience, it would not. beliefs don't change easily.**

      So no, then. It's just your 'belief'. (see above)

      **enjoy their writings...**

      Thanks.

    • 3 years ago
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