Byway robbery - Josh 374

There is a fairly persistent alarmist idea that if only 'Climate Change' was properly communicated then everyone would believe all the hype, spin and misinformation and ignore the politicking, the dodgy science, and the duff statistics.

The latest study from the University of California outlines how to talk about climate change to increase donations.

How to talk about climate change so people will act

What can you do about climate change? The better question might be: What can we? University of California San Diego researchers show in a new study that framing the issue collectively is significantly more effective than emphasis on personal responsibility.

Published in the journal Climatic Change, the study finds that people are willing to donate up to 50 percent more cash to the cause when thinking about the problem in collective terms.

Thinking about climate change from a personal perspective produced little to no change in behaviour.

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More stink - Josh 373

Emma Thompson is in the news again with her mobile bake off protest against fracking in Lancashire.

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Told you so - Josh 372

There's been a lot of Twittering over an article in Nature Climate Change about the greening of the planet. It might not exactly be ground breaking science, it is after all something sceptics have been pointing out for some time, but it is great to see the story in Nature all the same.

But to get alarmists to admit this is good news will, I suspect, be like pulling hen's teeth.

Cartoons by Josh

Gav loses it - Josh 371

When Steve MicIntyre writes "In the past few weeks, I’ve been re-examining the long-standing dispute over the discrepancy between models and observations in the tropical troposphere." you might think you were in for a bit of a technical post - which, of course, it is - but it is also also very funny and well worth reading. It also inspired the cartoon below.

Click image to enlarge

H/t commenter 'See owe to Rich' for the 'hide the gap' phrase.

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In the news today - Josh 370

At Wind Energy's Absurd, they write:

We have repeatedly challenged the wisdom and morality of allowing multinational companies into the classroom to put their side of a story that is designed to cultivate acceptance of their industry into future generations.

You will remember Tommy the Turbine - a tale told to children in Ireland about the wonders of wind power. 

Well now Tommy has a rival - and our money is on Subsidy Sam getting the message out there. 
It is time the indoctrination of our children was stopped.

We have been requested to post this story and are delighted to oblige. 

Please share it as many times as you want and send it wherever you want.

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Democracy poll toll - Josh 369

Here is a delightful story:

After Internet users overwhelmingly voted to christen Britain’s new $300 million research ship “Boaty McBoatface” in an online naming poll, a government official suggested the name wouldn’t be used.

“There is a process now for us to review all of the public’s choices,” Science Minister Jo Johnson told the BBC Monday, per Newsweek. “Many of them were imaginative, some were more suitable than others.”

BBC host Nicky Campbell exclaimed that the government would “ride roughshod over democracy” if it did not go through with naming the ship “Boaty McBoatface,” which garnered 120,000 votes — four times that of the next closest choice.

More at the BBC, Graun, Mirror and, well, everywhere.

Cartoons by Josh and thanks to my friend Sue who came up with the Jo's new title.

Money to burn - Josh 368

Lots of news about renewables, especially wind and solar, feeling the sharp stab of economic reality and the burn of bankrupcy - see SunEdison, German renewables, more SunEdison, Dutch wind and British green blundering - all via The GWPF.

This would be cheery news if governments hadn't wasted so much taxpayers cash on such pointless policies in the first place.

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Ward off - Josh 367

As you may know, Microsoft recently launched a Chat-bot called 'Tay' as an experiment in "conversational understanding." "The more you chat with Tay", said Microsoft, "the smarter it gets, learning to engage people through "casual and playful conversation." " 

But as the Verge noted.

Unfortunately, the conversations didn't stay playful for long. Pretty soon after Tay launched, people starting tweeting the bot with all sorts of misogynistic, racist, and Donald Trumpist remarks. And Tay — being essentially a robot parrot with an internet connection — started repeating these sentiments back to users, proving correct that old programming adage: flaming garbage pile in, flaming garbage pile out.

Sounds familiar? Well, we learned the other day that Bob Ward's Twitter account may be manned by something very similar.

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Uncharted - Josh 366

Climate super sleuth Brandon Shollenberger discusses a strange climate expertise chart over on his blog which made us wonder about what kind of other data might be lurking down the dimmest corridors of climate science. Brandon and Anthony helped with locating the data points.

Cartoon by Josh

Putting the boot in - Josh 365

From the GWPF site:

To reduce CO2 emissions, the EU plans to cut emissions rights for the steel industry. According to the industry, this policy threatens its very existence.

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Déjà vu - Josh 364

A hilarious possibility but one which Zeke has already said has been fixed or was wrong. Well, that's a relief - these things do tend to happen in Climate Science.

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Safely spaced out - Josh 363

A slightly different angle on a familiar topic - the far left's battle against free speech. It was inspired by Rod Liddle's excellent article in the Sunday Times.

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Exit Stage Left - Josh 362

Following this story about the US Republicans attempting to get the National Science Foundation to do more science rather than musicals, I wondered what songs they would sing. Maybe readers can suggest some other appropriate numbers.

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A cartoon week - Josh 361

It's been a fun week.

First there was a survey of 17 countries showing the people of Britain ranking 15th in its concern over climate change. H/t GWPF

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New Era - Josh 360

Thanks to Robert B over at WUWT who thought up a great name for the era of climate science we are currently enduring – The Adjustocene, where no one will ever know what the temperature is.

Cartoons by Josh