All Shuk up

The BBC's media correspondent, Nick Higham, tweets that David Shukman is to be the new BBC science editor.

Comments

[Barry Woods]

I am quite inclined to agree with Richard's definition... hence my distinction..

http://bishophill.squarespace.com/blog/2011/11/9/dangerous-climate-change.html

Richard Betts:
*I prefer to distinguish between "climate scientists" (who are mainly atmospheric physicists) and "climate change scientists" who seem to be just about anyone in science or social science that has decided to see what climate change means for their own particular field of expertise.

While many of these folks do have a good grasp of climate science (atmospheric physics) and the uncertainties in attribution of past events and future projections, many sadly do not.

"Climate change science" is unfortunately a rather disconnected set of disciplines with some not understanding the others - see the inconsistencies between WG1 and WG2 in IPCC AR4 for example. We are working hard to overcome these barriers but there is a long way to go."

[HuhneMustGo]

O/T but have you seen that our despicable energy secretary is suspcted of leaking Cabinet papers to the Grauniad?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9019357/Chris-Huhne-leaked-new-Royal-yacht-letter.html

What a shyster - surely he must go.

[Dave Salt]

Come on, chaps... maybe Shukman's new role may make him open his mind to stuff like this from Penn & Teller...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Yb56lLnyyE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8GZjfBhhNA&feature=related
...but then again, maybe not :-(

[DennisA]

Susan Watts - Whilst she may be the only one qualified, she moved over to the warm side a long time ago. She does have the credentials though, she was science and technology correspondent for the Independent, technology correspondent at New Scientist magazine in the late Eighties and, before then, news editor at Computer Weekly.

Here is an example of her reports, quite Shukmanesque really, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/9483790.stm. In any programme abnout the Arctic she always trots out Peter Wadhams, who has been proclaiming an ice free Arctic in Summer within two to three years, for about the last twenty years, but Watts up with that?

[only me]

i feel sorry for richard black, i think he would have got the job but he doesnt look middle class enough. I guess someone who looks like a used car salesman just doesnt cut the mustard to become an editor.

i wonder if it was internal complaints that resulted in the deletion of the word "expert" from his job description