Wednesday, February 13, 2013

{#10} D.LaFramboise The Delinquent Author - Shield'n Sword


This is chapter ten from Donna LaFramboise's book 
The Delinquent Teenager: "The Shield and the Sword"

For an introduction explaining why I'm reviewing this piece of work, please click here.


{Courier font identifies LaFramboise's words
Laframboise, (2011-10-09). T D T W W M W T C E (Kindle Locations 195-201). Ivy Avenue Press. Kindle Edition. }

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

10 - The Shield and the Sword   The IPCC boasts about peer-reviewed studies the same way it boasts about transparency. We're told we should trust the Climate Bible because it isn't based on just any research - but on peer-reviewed research. This is intended to wow us. According to the marketing spin, the world knows human-caused climate change is underway because the IPCC has consulted mountains of peer-reviewed scientific papers. 
~ ~ ~ 
Why would an investigative journalist start a chapter with
such dripping contempt, if not to play up to her audience's preconceptions?  She's doing political theater not journalism. 

Incidentally IPCC was organized expressly to collect and share the science - they don't pretend to be God as Donna wants you to believe, after all, everyone knows the science is constantly moving forward.  

Furthermore, that science originates from throughout the world and it has been disseminated through many other venues.  

The IPCC did not create the man-made global warming "consensus" it's the weight of the evidence which has driven that "consensus."

Speaking of consensus - here's some information Donna the "investigative" journalist will never share with you:

The Scientific Consensus on Climate Changehttp://www.wunderground.com/resources/climate/928.asp~ ~ ~ Scientific organizations endorsing the consensus{http://www.skepticalscience.com/global-warming-scientific-consensus-intermediate.htm}
The following scientific organizations endorse the consensus position that "most of the global warming in recent decades can be attributed to human activities":

The Academies of Science from 19 different countries all endorse the consensus. 13 countries have signed a joint statement endorsing the consensus position:
  • Academia Brasiliera de Ciencias (Brazil)
  • Royal Society of Canada
  • Chinese Academy of Sciences
  • Academie des Sciences (France)
  • Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina (Germany)
  • Indian National Science Academy
  • Accademia dei Lincei (Italy)
  • Science Council of Japan
  • Academia Mexicana de Ciencias (Mexico)
  • Russian Academy of Sciences
  • Academy of Science of South Africa
  • Royal Society (United Kingdom)
letter from 18 scientific organizations to US Congress states:
"Observations throughout the world make it clear that climate change is occurring, and rigorous scientific research demonstrates that the greenhouse gases emitted by human activities are the primary driver. These conclusions are based on multiple independent lines of evidence, and contrary assertions are inconsistent with an objective assessment of the vast body of peer-reviewed science."
The consensus is also endorsed by a Joint statement by the Network of African Science Academies (NASAC), including the following bodies:

  • African Academy of Sciences
  • Cameroon Academy of Sciences
  • Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences
  • Kenya National Academy of Sciences
  • Madagascar's National Academy of Arts, Letters and Sciences
  • Nigerian Academy of Sciences
  • l'Académie des Sciences et Techniques du Sénégal
  • Uganda National Academy of Sciences
  • Academy of Science of South Africa
  • Tanzania Academy of Sciences
  • Zimbabwe Academy of Sciences
  • Zambia Academy of Sciences
  • Sudan Academy of Sciences
Other Academies of Sciences that endorse the consensus:
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 
Journalists fell for this hook, line, and sinker. Seth Borenstein, a science writer with the Associated Press, covers the IPCC extensively. Because he works for a newswire service, the stories he writes often appear on the front pages of national newspapers as well as in numerous smaller publications. During the year 2007 Borenstein repeatedly told his readers that the IPCC relies on peer-reviewed scientific literature.
The science editor of the Times of London also did so. So has The Economist magazine, Australia's publicly-funded broadcaster, the bulletin of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and Ireland's Independent newspaper. 
~ ~ ~ 
Who's kidding whom, look at that list of scientific societies who have investigated these climate questions for themselves.  

Only a committed conspiracist can conjure such a fantasy.  It's just that the real world is what it is.  It doesn't care about our economic desires.  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 
In none of these instances did the journalist mention that peer review in no way ensures truth - or that it is often perfunctory in nature. That would have undermined the reason for alluding to it in the first place - which was to make the IPCC appear authoritative. 
~ ~ ~ 
The thing is that Donna has gone way overboard here -
peer review is not often perfunctory and simply because she claims it and has a couple cherry-picked opinions, it doesn't count as evidence.  
Of course, it isn't like all is perfect as this more objective WIKI article details:
 Criticism of the IPCC Fourth Assessment Reporthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_the_IPCC_Fourth_Assessment_Report       
But, we shouldn't toss out the baby with the bathwater.

Donna's attitude is incredibly one-sided.  She only looks for weakness and incidents of failure (and yes, there have been some),  But Donna, hyper-inflates them while refusing to examine any and all counter-weighting evidence.

Her constantly reducing complex issues into melodramatic cartoons might play up to her audience, but it's not journalism and it certainly does nothing to help educate us about the actual state of the peer review process. 

Here's a more serious look at the review process:

Science Policy Council HANDBOOKhttp://www.epa.gov/peerreview/pdfs/prhandbk.pdf~ ~ ~Springer Publishing:  Introduction to peer review 
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 
But that's only the beginning of the peer review tale. Bursting with bravado, this spoiled child of an organization pushed the envelope still further. In its zeal to persuade us that its findings are credible, the IPCC has spent years claiming it relies only on peer-reviewed literature. 
~ ~ ~
Donna, this sort of language reflects poorly on your own intellect.  We need to learning, not do theater.  The IPCC guidelines are clear.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
In 2008, IPCC chairman Rajendra Pachauri addressed a committee of the North Carolina legislature. Here's what he said to those assembled law-makers:  
…we carry out an assessment of climate change based on peer-reviewed literature, so everything that we look at and take into account in our assessments has to carry [the] credibility of peer-reviewed publications, we don't settle for anything less than that. 
In 2009 a journalist asked Pachauri whether the IPCC's next report would take into account a discussion paper issued by India's environment ministry that questioned the idea that Himalayan glaciers are endangered by climate change. Pachauri's response was arrogantly dismissive. The "IPCC studies only peer-review science," he said. "Let someone publish the data in a decent credible publication...otherwise we can just throw it into the dustbin."  
~ ~ ~ 
As usual Donna doesn't give any details.  
Is Pachauri supposed to know every paper by heart?  Did Donna investigate to see if the said paper was included?  No.  But, she gives us one sentence, no actual context.  
This sort of smoke'n mirrors that Donna weaves her melodramatic story of vilification.  

PS. for the record, IPCC makes no secret about it:
"The authors will work on the basis of peer reviewed and internationally available literatureincluding manuscripts that can be made available for IPCC review and selected non-peer reviewed literature."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 
The outright claim (or the implicit suggestion) that every last bit of evidence considered by the IPCC has met the peer-reviewed threshold has been repeated far and wide. Journalists have had a hand in this. So have governments and scientists. 
~ ~ ~ 
Donna read IPCC's guidelines, below is a link followed by the index.

Appendix A to the Principles Governing IPCC Work
PROCEDURES FOR THE PREPARATION, REVIEW, ACCEPTANCE, ADOPTION,
APPROVAL AND PUBLICATION OF IPCC REPORTS
Adopted at the Fifteenth Session (San Jose, 15- 18 April 1999) amended at the Twentieth Session
(Paris, 19-21 February 2003), Twenty-first Session (Vienna, 3 and 6-7 November 2003), and
Twenty-Ninth Session (Geneva, 31 August – 4 September 2008) 
CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION
2. DEFINITIONS
3. IPCC MATERIAL
4. ASSESSMENT REPORTS, SYNTHESIS REPORTS, SPECIAL REPORTS AND METHODOLOGY
REPORTS
4.1 Introduction to Review Process
4.2 Reports Accepted by Working Groups and Reports prepared by the Task Force on National
Greenhouse Gas Inventories
4.2.1 Compilation of Lists of Coordinating Lead Authors, Lead Authors, Contributing Authors,
Expert Reviewers, Review Editors and Government Focal Points
4.2.2 Selection of Lead Authors
4.2.3 Preparation of Draft Report
4.2.4 Review
4.2.4.1 First Review (by Experts)
4.2.4.2 Second Review (by Governments and Experts)
4.2.5 Preparation of Final Draft Report
4.3 Approval and Acceptance of Summaries for Policymakers and Adoption of Overview Chapters of
Methodology Reports
4.4 Reports Approved and/or Adopted by the Panel
4.4.1 The Synthesis Report
5. TECHNICAL PAPERS
6. IPCC SUPPORTING MATERIAL
6.1 Workshops and Expert Meetings
6.2 Co-sponsored Workshops and Expert Meetings
ANNEX 1 TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES FOR LEAD AUTHORS, COORDINATING LEAD
AUTHORS, CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS, EXPERT REVIEWERS AND REVIEW EDITORS OF IPCC
REPORTS AND GOVERNMENT FOCAL POINTS
ANNEX 2 PROCEDURES FOR USING NON-PUBLISHED/NON-PEER-REVIEWED SOURCES IN
IPCC REPORTS
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

To repeat, no one really says the IPCC is perfect, errors have been made ~ But, that doesn't justify Donna's hysterical spoiled child tantrums against the IPCC.   

Read through the actual IPCC pages, and find a professional approach that is seriously seeking to produce the best compendium of current climatological information available. For a more serious and objective review of IPCC errors and issues, there's this:

IPCC Errors: Fact and Spinhttp://insideclimatenews.org/news/20100218/ipcc-errors-fact-and-spin?page=show
~ ~ ~ 
The Big Picture: What Scientists Do and Do Not Know About Climate Change
4 Yale Professors Explain the Competitive Nature of Scientific Inquiry
By Mark Pagani, John Wettlaufer, Jeffrey Park and David Bercovici
http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20091211/big-picture-what-scientists-do-and-do-not-know-about-climate-change 
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 
The Earth Negotiations Bulletin describes itself as a "a balanced, timely and independent reporting service" that tracks the twists and turns of UN climate talks. Over the years it has received funding from numerous countries including Australia, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the UK, and the United States. Between 2001 and 2010 this bulletin sounded a constant refrain. Again and again, as part of its boilerplate description, it told its readers that IPCC reports are based on "peer-reviewed scientific and technical literature." 
~ ~ ~ 
It's not unusual for organization to use effusive rhetoric.  But, please notice how Donna always looks at the superficial.  The press release, a/q under fire and such.  But, what matter is what they are actually doing, how they dealing with the real world.

Sadly Donna is just in this for a political battle, and not very interested in any details.  Particularly if those details shine a good light on the scientists and functionaries making the IPCC process work.


Earth Negotiations Bulletin

ENB Background
The Earth Negotiations Bulletin is a balanced, timely and independent reporting service that provides daily information in print and electronic formats from multilateral negotiations on environment and development. It is published by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), a non-profit organization based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The office of the Earth Negotiations Bulletin is based in New York City, two blocks from the United Nations.
The Bulletin is a one-page, two-sided "desktop" publication that is distributed each day to participants at UN negotiations related to environment and development. 

In addition to the hard-copy version, the Earth Negotiations Bulletin is available in electronic format on IISD web site on the Internet and by electronic mail. At the conclusion of each meeting, the Earth Negotiations Bulletin Team writes and edits a 10-18,000-word summary and analysis of the meeting, which is circulated in electronic format. This has enabled it to reach a wide range of people interested in environment and development negotiations. 

Many UN delegates, NGOs and UN staff who track environment and sustainable development policy consider the Earth Negotiations Bulletin to be essential reading. The Bulletin has received high praise from diplomats, UN staff, government officials, non-government organizations, the business community, media and the academic community for its objective and comprehensive presentation of the facts.

In the 12 years that IISD has published the Earth Negotiations Bulletin, electronic mail and the World Wide Web have changed the way that information is gathered and exchanged. During this period, the Earth Negotiations Bulletin staff has developed several derivative electronic products, using the information gathered in the production of the ENB. These new forms of computer-mediated communications and derivative products have expanded the readership of the Earth Negotiations Bulletin to an estimated 35,000 people worldwide.
ENB History

The Earth Negotiations Bulletin began as the joint initiative of three individuals from the NGO community, who were participating in the preparations for the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. Johannah Bernstein, an environmental lawyer and Director of the Canadian Participatory Committee for UNCED (CPCU), Pamela Chasek, a doctoral student at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and Langston James Goree VI "Kimo", a former UNDP programme officer and NGO activist from the Western Amazon, created the Earth Summit Bulletin in March 1992.

After publishing daily issues during the five weeks of the Fourth Preparatory Committee meeting for UNCED the three raised funds to publish at the Conference in Rio. Following the conclusion of UNCED the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) approached the three founders with an offer to continue publishing the Earth Summit Bulletin at follow-up negotiations to the Earth Summit. In November 1992 the Earth Summit Bulletin was renamed the Earth Negotiations Bulletin.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 
For its part, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) celebrated the role its employees had played in the Nobel Prize-winning IPCC by devoting a page to that topic in an official publication. Its description of the IPCC makes a point of mentioning that it relies on "published peer-reviewed literature." A bit more of the commentary from that page sheds light on how our delinquent teenager {You know Donna this is really starting to sound pathetic and desperate, don't you ever get ashamed of yourself?} got to be quite so impressed with himself. According to this government publication: 

The IPCC Assessments, internationally recognized as the premier source about climate change, are used by scientists and policy makers worldwide...The IPCC relies on world-class scientists from 113 governments to scour and evaluate the body of scientific literature on climate science. 

Sounds great, doesn't it? Until you discover that world-class scientists include 20-something graduate students {shown to be bogus complaint}. Until you learn that the IPCC prevents expert reviewers from looking too closely at the science. {shown to be bogus complaint} (Incidentally, the NOAA publication proudly mentions one staff member in particular - Susan Solomon, the very person who threatened to expel Steve McIntyre because he'd asked for more information.) 
~ ~ ~ 
Oh dear pumping up her melodrama touch stones again. 

Actually, McIntyre was harassing them for information he should have looked for elsewhere.  Steven has a track record of that along with other shenanigans:

  1. Filed under: Climate Science Paleoclimate — gavin @ 11 May 2012

Steve McIntyre is free to do any analysis he wants on any data he can find. But when he ladles his work with unjustified and false accusations of misconduct and deception, he demeans both himself and his contributions. The idea that scientists should be bullied into doing analyses McIntyre wants and delivering the results to him prior to publication out of fear of very public attacks on their integrity is ludicrous. 

By rights we should be outraged and appalled that (yet again) unfounded claims of scientific misconduct and dishonesty are buzzing around the blogosphere, once again initiated by Steve McIntyre, and unfailingly and uncritically promoted by the usual supporters. However this has become such a common occurrence that we are no longer shocked nor surprised that misinformation based on nothing but prior assumptions gains an easy toehold on the contrarian blogs (especially at times when they are keen to ‘move on’ from more discomforting events). 

So instead of outrage, we’ll settle for simply making a few observations that undermine the narrative that McIntyre and company are trying to put out . . .    For the rest of the story, click
~ ~ ~ 

Steve McIntyre and Ross McKitrick, part 1: In the beginning

Posted on February 4, 2010


Steve McIntyre and Ross McKitrick, part 2: The story behind the Barton-Whitfield investigation and the Wegman Panel

Posted on February 8, 2010 | 


~ ~ ~ 

McIntyre’s concerted efforts to derail the science and harass scientists

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 
While journalists and bureaucrats may be prone to exaggeration, scientists are supposed to refrain from making declarative statements about matters beyond their firsthand knowledge. Nevertheless scientists themselves have actively promoted the peer-reviewed meme. 
~ ~ ~ 
Listen to this: "scientists themselves have actively promoted the peer-reviewed meme."  
Well, yeah!  
It's only been the backbone of scientific progress for hundreds of years. 

Consider what Donna wants to replace it with.  A wild wild west blogosphere of unschooled dilettantes who believe they are smarter than experts?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
In 2006 Andrew Dessler, a Texas professor who specializes in the physics of climate change, declared (on a website) that the public shouldn't consult websites when seeking global warming information since, unlike IPCC reports, they weren't "based entirely on peer-reviewed literature." 
~ ~ ~ 
Here again Donna doesn't tell what he said.  She picked six words and wove her tale around that.  It took a little digging, but I've found it:

"One of the SEJ panelists [ed. note: Marc Morano] implored listeners to go to the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works web page to get information on climate change. Don't. Unlike the IPCC reports, this web page has not been produced by a rigorous IPCC-like process. It is not based entirely on peer-reviewed literature, but instead refers to press releases and blogs. And it has not been reviewed by independent scientists in ensure that it accurately reflects the peer-reviewed literature. In other words, it is not a credible representation of the science."

Well as I remember at that time Senator Inhofe had his hands all over that website.  Considering what an extremist that man is, how can you blame Dessler for steering folks away from it?  Here's little more detail, that will help put Dessler rejection into better context:
~ ~ ~
Marc Morano is Mr. dirty tricks politician (Swift Boat lies and such) 

Some of the world's most prominent climate scientists offered a detailed rebuttal of Inhofe's main claims about climate science in a post at RealClimate. 

Inhofe receives more campaign funding from the oil and gas sector than from any other source, receiving sums totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars over the past five years.

Inhofe has said: "You know, God's still up there. We're now going through a cooling spell. And the whole issue there was is it man-made gases, anthropogenic gases, CO2, methane. I don't think so." 

The senator's staff handed out literature arguing against listing the polar bear as endangered which stated: "Mars has global warming despite absence of SUVs." He has also cited the fiction writer Michael Crichton to support his contention that the warming of the planet since 1850 has been due to natural causes. 

In a 2006 interview Inhofe compared those on the "other side of the debate" to the Third Reich. In 1994 he compared the US government's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to the Gestapo. When Rolling Stone magazine listed him at 7th in its feature on "the planet's worst enemies" he responded by saying: "I should have been no. 1." 

Inhofe told CNN he believed the stolen emails from the CRU "pretty well debunked" climate science in December 2009. He appears to have misrepresented the views of the World Meteorological Organisation during a TV interview about the issue.
~ ~ 
Despite drought, Inhofe's stance on climate change remains firm


~ ~ ~ 

Inhofe disputes link between heat wave, droughts and climate change


~ ~ ~

James M. Inhofe

As for Andrew Dessler, he seems like a much more trustworthy fellow:
TCN Interview

Andrew Dessler of Texas A&M: Climate scientist, science communicator

http://texasclimatenews.org/wp/?p=1329

~ ~ ~ 
Interview with Andrew Dessler: Science and the Politics of Climate Change -          October 23, 2012
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 
In 2008 physicist Joseph Romm, writing under a headline that promised The cold truth about climate change, told Salon.com readers that the IPCC "relies on the peer-reviewed scientific literature for its conclusions, which must meet the rigorous requirements of the scientific method..." 

In 2009 Greenpeace-linked marine biologist Ove Hoegh-Guldberg described the IPCC process to a reporter as "always using the peer-reviewed literature as the base." Philip Duffy, a physicist with 20 years climate modeling experience, asserted in 2010 that a "core principle of the IPCC is that only peer-reviewed literature is cited." 
~ ~ ~
Yup.  And that is absolutely true, notice he did not say every shred of paper.  
Donna is trying to set impossible expectations; she approaches the IPCC with palpable hostility.  

In all this LaFramboise is trampling on our collective need to learn and understand what is going on.
~ ~ ~



Structure of IPCC reports and levels of endorsement

"In general IPCC reports consist of individual chapters containing the underlying scientific, technical and methodological assessment, a

Summary for Policymakers (SPM) or overview chapter and an optional technical summary.

Underlying reports are accepted by the Working Group responsible for preparing it. 

Acceptance means that the text has not been subject to line-by-line discussions and agreement, but nevertheless represents a comprehensive, objective and balanced view of the subject matter."
{...}
"The authors will work on the basis of peer reviewed and internationally available literature, including manuscripts that can be made available for IPCC review and selected non-peer reviewed literature.  

Source, quality and validity of non-peer reviewed literature, such as private sector information need to be critically assessed by the authors and copies will have to be made available to reviewers who request them. 

Disparate views for which there is significant scientific or technical support should be clearly identified in IPCC reports, together with relevant arguments. Expert meetings and workshops may be used to support the preparation of a report."
~ ~ ~ 
 The IPCC's guideline clearly state that it will review certain other categories of reports.  So Donna can point to individual that over-stated - bad them.  

But, the matter we need to think about is how that impacts the final reports.  Donna's implication is that IPCC reports are inferior.  So far we've seen innuendo, hearsay, melodrama, vilification, what-ifs, can-you-imagines, cops and vampires to build her case out of.  She's revealed the IPCC isn't perfect - but she hasn't explained why that means we don't need and why we should trust the IPCC's reports.

Nor has she given the IPCC any sort of fair hearing, she won't even tell you about this:
Structure of IPCC reports and levels of endorsement:
"The authors will work on the basis of peer reviewed and internationally available literatureincluding manuscripts that can be made available for IPCC review and selected non-peer reviewed literature."
~ ~ ~
Climate Scientists Defend IPCC Peer Review as Most Rigorous in HistoryBy Stacy Feldman, InsideClimate News - Feb 26, 2010
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 
In other words, peer review has become both a shield (behind which the IPCC hides) and a sword (with which it skewers dissenting voices). Anyone who attempts to challenge IPCC findings is told to go read the peer-reviewed literature. Moreover, unless a criticism has been published in a peer-reviewed journal IPCC-affiliated scientists consider it beneath their notice. 
~ ~ ~ 
This is ridiculous, the scientific work of serious contrarians has received a great deal of interdisciplinary attention.  The Iris Effect; The Cosmic Rays; Heat Island Effect; Surface Temperature record's reliability; Spencer's satellite measurements; It's not CO2 and more.  All of this has received extensive serious attention, including plenty of peer reviewed publication. 

The contrarian claim that this stuff get's swept under the table is wrong - but that's because like creationists they ignore what they don't want to see and see all who disagree with them as conspirators.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 
In 2003 climatologist Michael Mann was asked to respond to concerns expressed in an article written by a former US Defense and Energy Secretary and published in a major newspaper. Much like Chairman Pachauri - who said that research that hadn't appeared in a journal was fit only for the dustbin - Mann haughtily replied: "I am not familiar with any peer-reviewed work that he has submitted to the scientific literature." 
~ ~ ~
You know I tried tracking this down ran out of time and interest.  Given Donna's one sided treatment there's no telling what this is actually about.  Interesting though, these description are like those fuzzy Big Foot pictures... never know what to make of them.
~ ~ ~

But, speaking of the Department of Defense, here's what they have to said:
~ ~ ~
From The Halls of Montezuma

Posted on 9 April 2011 by citizenschallenge, Daniel Bailey


~ ~ ~

US Navy Chief Oceanographer: I Was Formerly a Climate Skeptic


~ ~ ~
The NAS also has a report (story here):
FINDING 2.5 (page 69):
"In the post–Cold War era, the U.S. Navy has had a very limited surface ship presence in true northern latitude, cold-weather conditions. According to information presented to the committee, the U.S. military as a whole has lost most of its competence in cold-weather operations for high-Arctic warfare."
RECOMMENDATION 3.4 (page 84): 
"For risk management purposes, U.S. naval leaders would be prudent to err on the side of overestimation of future sea-level rise when renovating existing or planning new coastal facilities. The Navy and other branches of U.S. services that have historic commitments to HA/DR efforts for the United States and beyond need to consider as highly probable the need to enhance these capabilities to be prepared for increased damage from coastal storms."
RECOMMENDATION 6.2 (page 119): 
"The Chief of Naval Research, the Oceanographer of the Navy, and the Commander, Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command, should consider findings by the MEDEA Program (and take lessons from MEDEA actions within the intelligence community) to develop and support a Navy philosophy for providing access to previously classified information that can be used by the climate research community. 
Such actions would enhance the potential of these researchers to help the Navy better prepare for its mission in a future with a warmer climate."
Acronyms: humanitarian assistance/disaster relief (HA/DR)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
In 2011, the following tagline appeared beneath an opinion piece published in an Australian newspaper: Cathy Foley is president of Science & Technology Australia, Australia's peak body for science and technology. She has had 82 refereed papers published in international journals. 

In that opinion piece Foley declared that  a climate skeptic then on a speaking tour in her country would lack credibility "until he is willing to subject his views to the rigorous peer review process." He shouldn't be listened to, she said, because he: 

has never published a single peer-reviewed paper on any scientific topic in his life... The challenge for him is to test his ideas by submitting of years providing the community with information that it can trust. 
~ ~ ~ 

Donna, What's wrong with that?

Here is an excellent example of the double standard.  We are talking about one Lord Monckton here.  Interestingly, beloved by Republicans and FreeMarket UN-hating groups throughout the world.  No one seems to matter that Monckton has been caught telling more lies than is possible to track at this point.

Donna are you actually defending Lord Monckton as a person people should listen to?  It's one thing to defend Monckton's right to spew utter lies and ad hominem emotionalizing and entertainment from beginning to end - But to say he deserves the same weight as a serious researcher in incredible and revealing.
Time for Lord Monckton to really test his ideas

Cathy Foley | Opinion | July 19, 2011
{Here's a snippet from the middle:} 

The truth is, Monckton's ideas have been repeatedly shot down by climate scientists as fabrications, misrepresentations and, at times, sheer nonsense.

Even the scientists whose evidence he holds up to support his arguments claim he that he is misrepresenting their work.

By any standard, his credibility is nil and will remain so until he is willing to subject his views to the rigorous peer review process.

Last month, Science & Technology Australia, an organisation that represents nearly 70,000 scientists across the country, launched a campaign called Respect the Science.
~ ~ ~

A few years ago I caught Monckton in a big fat about Greenland myself.

{#9} SPPI & Monckton’s claim regarding Greenland's Cryosphere being OK - examined
~ ~ ~ 

For a while I did some intense studying of this political performer - I will admit he's amazing as a speaker and performance liar.  

But, the thing is, we the people need to hear an honest appraisal, by people who at least do their best to follow to strict standards, even if they sometimes fall short.

Viscount Lord Monckton update
~ ~ ~
Has Monckton finally arrived at his Waterloo?
~ ~ ~ 
AN UNAUTHORIZED SORTING OF LORD CHRIS MONCKTON’S (9/14/2009) POWER POINT PRESENTATION
This is a first step to a larger project exploring Lord Monckton's presentation to the Minnesota Free Market Institute, given September 14, 2009. The PowerPoint is available here
This is intended as a guide for viewing along with Lord Monckton's illuminating PowerPoint slides.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 
Since Al Gore hasn't published any peer-reviewed papers, either, it would be interesting to know whether Foley has similarly declared his credibility to be nil during his speaking tours. Having evidently missed the editor of The Lancet's remarks about how peer review fails to detect research misconduct, she ended her piece by urging Australians to "respect the peer-reviewed science."
~ ~ ~ 
Oh boy, just for good measure we're going to get in some Gore bashing.  

Gore was a politician who tried to explain the science to the people, he could have done a better job.  But Gore was never "the science" something contrarians seem to find difficult to grasp.

Donna your need to constantly smear people is indicative of the hollowness of your arguments.

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