{"id":187198,"date":"2022-02-12T20:22:31","date_gmt":"2022-02-12T19:22:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=187198"},"modified":"2022-02-12T20:22:33","modified_gmt":"2022-02-12T19:22:33","slug":"the-trouble-with-climate-science","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=187198","title":{"rendered":"The Trouble with Climate Science?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"187200\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?attachment_id=187200\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/0honeydew.jpg?fit=460%2C276&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"460,276\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"0honeydew\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/0honeydew.jpg?fit=460%2C276&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/0honeydew.jpg?resize=723%2C433&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-187200\" width=\"723\" height=\"433\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/0honeydew.jpg?w=460&amp;ssl=1 460w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/0honeydew.jpg?resize=300%2C180&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/0honeydew.jpg?resize=133%2C80&amp;ssl=1 133w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 723px) 100vw, 723px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Climate change scepticism is often said to be driven by a strong anti-science sentiment, usually accompanied by a failure to understand how science works in practice. Specifically, the anti-science sentiment is said to be directed towards a community of climate scientists promoting the idea that the scientific evidence is already strong enough to justify an urgent, if not to say desperate, transition to a Net Zero society. The scepticism questions the confidence of such scientists and suggests that it is misplaced. But is it really plausible that a whole community of scientists could be guilty of acting in a dysfunctional manner? Surely that accusation would be tantamount to a conspiracy theory. For example, could one reasonably accuse such climate scientists of any of the following vices:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Tremendous self-confidence, leading to a sense of entitlement and of belonging to an elite community of experts<\/li><li>Being an unusually monolithic community, with a strong sense of consensus, whether driven by evidence or not, and an unusual uniformity of views on open questions<\/li><li>In some cases, a sense of identification with the group, akin to identification with a religious faith or political platform<\/li><li>A strong sense of the boundary between the group and other experts<\/li><li>A disregard for and disinterest in the ideas, opinions, and work of experts who are not part of the group, and a preference for talking only with other members of the community<\/li><li>A tendency to interpret evidence optimistically, to believe exaggerated or incorrect statements of results, and to disregard the possibility that their theory might be wrong. This is coupled with a tendency to believe results are true because they are \u201cwidely believed\u201d<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">None of the above seem particularly true to the spirit of the scientific method, and so it would be easy to dismiss such accusations as being the cynical speculations of a scientifically illiterate outgroup. Could anybody who carries the correct and appropriate respect for any scientific community possibly recognise the above description? So surely this is just the sort of scurrilous and unfounded nonsense that one should expect from a climate change denier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Except that it isn\u2019t. What it is, in fact, is a direct quote taken from Professor Lee Smolin\u2019s book,&nbsp;<em>The Trouble With Physics<\/em>. It isn\u2019t actually a description of the group of climate scientists who are declaring a climate change emergency. It is, instead, a description of the community of string theorists that currently dominates the forefront of theoretical physics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Smolin isn\u2019t an ignorant anti-scientist. He is a researcher into quantum gravity who has made his own notable contributions to string theory. &nbsp;And so my question is this: If it is possible, outside of climate science, for a whole branch of science to behave in a dysfunctional manner that undermines its own enterprise, then why would it be so far-fetched to believe that the same may be possible of climate science? Furthermore, if it is possible for a prominent member of a group outside of climate science to engage in such candid criticism of his colleagues, why does it remain so implausible that anyone could speak with equal candour from within climate science?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u2019ll leave these questions as an exercise for the student.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">via <strong><em><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color\">Climate Scepticism<\/mark><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">February 12, 2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cliscep.com\/2022\/02\/12\/the-trouble-with-climate-science\/\">The Trouble With Climate Science? \u2013 Climate Scepticism (cliscep.com)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Climate change scepticism is often said to be driven by a strong anti-science sentiment, usually accompanied by a failure to understand how science works in practice. Specifically, the anti-science sentiment is said to be directed towards a community of climate scientists promoting the idea that the scientific evidence is already strong enough to justify an [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":187200,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-187198","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","9":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/0honeydew.jpg?fit=460%2C276&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-MHk","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":174762,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=174762","url_meta":{"origin":187198,"position":0},"title":"Fred Pearce on Climategate Revisited","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"25\/11\/2021","format":false,"excerpt":"From\u00a0MasterResource By Robert Bradley Jr. Politicized ends-justify-the-means \u201cscience\u201d includes cutting corners, hiding data, spicing-and-dicing\u2013and cancelling those with different theories and findings. All came to light in the Climategate saga. Yesterday\u2019s post examined the fire behind the smoke that many had noticed for years. Today\u2019s post resurrects Fred Pearce\u2019s \u201c\u2018Climategate\u2019 was\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/063825878_m-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/063825878_m-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/063825878_m-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/063825878_m-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":362000,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=362000","url_meta":{"origin":187198,"position":1},"title":"Paper Showing Earth\u2019s Atmosphere Has Become \u2018Saturated\u2019 With Carbon Dioxide and More Carbon Emissions Won\u2019t Make Any Difference Is Retracted Following Positive Coverage in the Daily Sceptic","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"14\/01\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Another important paper taking issue with the \u2018settled\u2019 climate narrative\u00a0has been cancelled\u00a0following a report in the\u00a0Daily Sceptic\u00a0and subsequent reposts that went viral across social media. The paper discussed the atmospheric \u2018saturation\u2019 of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and argued that higher levels will not cause temperatures to rise. The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"carbon dioxide (CO\u2082)\"","block_context":{"text":"carbon dioxide (CO\u2082)","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=carbon-dioxide-co%e2%82%82"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0greennewdeal.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0greennewdeal.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0greennewdeal.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0greennewdeal.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0greennewdeal.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":340705,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=340705","url_meta":{"origin":187198,"position":2},"title":"What Lies Beneath","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"26\/08\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"A common accusation levelled at so-called climate change \u2018deniers\u2019 is that their position is profoundly anti-science. It is therefore more than germane to point out that an anti-science sentiment lies behind the belief that climate change poses an existential risk to mankind.","rel":"","context":"In \"climate activists\"","block_context":{"text":"climate activists","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-activists"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/0p-1-90414932-extinction-rebellion-symbol.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/0p-1-90414932-extinction-rebellion-symbol.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/0p-1-90414932-extinction-rebellion-symbol.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/0p-1-90414932-extinction-rebellion-symbol.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/0p-1-90414932-extinction-rebellion-symbol.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":329682,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=329682","url_meta":{"origin":187198,"position":3},"title":"Cambridge Professor Right to Slam Climate \u2018Scientists\u2019 Peddling Catastrophism","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"22\/05\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The world of climate science is in a terrible state. Riven with political activists claiming to be scientists, funded by green billionaires and state actors interested only in the Net Zero agenda, reported by blockhead mainstream journalists who believe science can be \u2018settled\u2019 \u2013 and increasingly being questioned by bored\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Cambridge Professor Ulf Buntgen\"","block_context":{"text":"Cambridge Professor Ulf Buntgen","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=cambridge-professor-ulf-buntgen"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/0methode_times_prod_web_bin_a17486a3-b915-4a61-a876-c3200ab58a2f-1.jpg?fit=1118%2C629&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/0methode_times_prod_web_bin_a17486a3-b915-4a61-a876-c3200ab58a2f-1.jpg?fit=1118%2C629&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/0methode_times_prod_web_bin_a17486a3-b915-4a61-a876-c3200ab58a2f-1.jpg?fit=1118%2C629&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/0methode_times_prod_web_bin_a17486a3-b915-4a61-a876-c3200ab58a2f-1.jpg?fit=1118%2C629&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/0methode_times_prod_web_bin_a17486a3-b915-4a61-a876-c3200ab58a2f-1.jpg?fit=1118%2C629&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":332791,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=332791","url_meta":{"origin":187198,"position":4},"title":"BBC Hails Green Election Letter From \u201c408 Climate Scientists\u201d Signed by Psychologists, Accountants and Landscape Designers","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"14\/06\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"An open letter to all political leaders currently fighting a General Election in the U.K. calling for an \u201cambitious\u201d programme of green policies has been signed by 408 climate activists. 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