{"id":259225,"date":"2023-05-26T17:27:06","date_gmt":"2023-05-26T15:27:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=259225"},"modified":"2023-05-26T17:27:09","modified_gmt":"2023-05-26T15:27:09","slug":"koonins-sociology-of-climatology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=259225","title":{"rendered":"Koonin\u2019s Sociology of Climatology"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Friends of Science Calgary<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contributed by William Walter Kay BA JD<\/em> \u00a9 2023<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although focussed on hard science, Koonin\u2019s Unsettled broaches Sociology of Climatology in Chapter 10 (WHO BROKE \u201cTHE SCIENCE\u201d AND WHY); commencing:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCan it really be that a multiplicity of stakeholders in climate matters \u2013 scientists, scientific institutions, activists and NGOs, the media, politicians \u2013 are all contributing to misinformation in the service of persuasion?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Koonin answers \u201cyes,<\/em>\u201d suggesting the culprit is: \u201cnot some secret cabal, but rather a self-reinforcing alignment of perspectives and
interests.<\/em>\u201d He then walks us through his \u201cmultiplicity of stakeholders<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Climate apocalypticism attracts politicians wishing to keep the public terrified and clamouring for safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The media disseminates climate horror because \u201cnews is a business<\/em>\u201d and \u201cif it bleeds it leads<\/em>.\u201d As newsrooms shrink overworked journalists, sans science degrees, cannot properly research climate stories:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2026the general lack of knowledge of what the science actually says, the drama of extreme weather events and their heart-rending impact on people, and pressures within the industry all work against balanced coverage in the popular media.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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Governments, businesses and NGOs have \u201cmessages<\/em>\u201d that employees must deliver to stay employed or to attain promotions, tenure etc:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2026more than a few climate contrarians have suffered public opprobrium and diminished career prospects for publicizing data that doesn\u2019t support the \u201cbroken climate\u201d meme.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NGOs like 350.org, Union of Concerned Scientist, and Natural Resources Defence Council solicit donations with scary distortions of climate science. (This is off. Climate NGOs draw funds from Big Green philanthropies, vested corporate interests, and captured government agencies. Climateworks<\/a> and Energy Foundation<\/a> boast annual receipts, respectively, of $425 ml and $230 ml. Neither solicit from the public.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Koonin: \u201cindividuals and organizations in the scientific community are demonstrably misrepresenting the science.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scientific institutions: \u201cseem more concerned with making the science fit the narrative than ensuring the narrative fits the science.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regarding climate:
\u201c\u2026institutions that prepare the official assessment reports have a communication problem, often summarizing or describing the data in ways that are actively misleading.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scientists hype research, fudge uncertainty, and covet publicity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The public believes whatever science authorities say, and presumes journalists know what they\u2019re talking about. Authorities oblige the public\u2019s abhorrence of gray areas by keeping them wholly in the dark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As evidenced above, Koonin references mostly generic social phenomena. Financial pressure, groupthink and hype underly all discourse, not merely climate science. Koonin doesn\u2019t adequately distinguish climate from other overegged topics, nor explain why climate is even on the agenda. Aware of this defect, he offers glimpses into the unusual treatment given Climatology; particularly the fear-borne ignorance exhibited by scientists whenever the topic arises. Climatology generates: \u201can eyes-shut-fingers-in-the-ears position I\u2019ve never heard in any other scientific discussion.<\/em>\u201d And: \u201cotherwise rigorous and analytical scientists abandon their critical faculties when discussing climate\u2026<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Koonin rebukes the National Academies of Science for publishing reviews of climate assessments so lacking in objectivity as to betray an intent to manipulate. A 2019 joint climate statement, freighted with misinformation, signed by each NAS academy president, bewildered Koonin:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m quite sure that this personal statement of the presidents in a news release was not reviewed by the usual Academies procedures; if it had been, its deficiencies would have been corrected.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Climatology also receives unique treatment from politicos and journos. Politicians must pitch renewable energy as the only way to solve an urgent crisis; because the Energy Transition won\u2019t sell if framed as one option for solving some distant problem. Politicians won\u2019t discuss climate science uncertainties, nor admit the true cost of the Energy Transition. Thus, when crafting climate messaging:
\u201c\u2026the science is jettisoned in favour of The Science, and \u201csimplified\u201d for use in the political arena, which allows the required actions to be portrayed as simple as well \u2013 just eliminate fossil fuels to save the planet.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alarmist media articles aren\u2019t just the result of overloaded, undereducated journos. A legion of \u201cClimate Reporters<\/em>\u201d zealously monger doom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Koonin understands that the Energy Transition is the dog wagging the Climate Change tail:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cScience should not be partisan, but climate science\u2019s intersection with energy policy all but guaranteed that it would become so.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2026as alternative energy grows, there is financial incentive for politicians to hype climate catastrophe.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unsettled<\/strong> is a na\u00eff\u2019s confession. In 2004 Koonin thought Catastrophic Anthropogenic Global Warming was a legit hypotheses sincerely held by honest scientists. Few climate contrarians, under 50, can say the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Koonin\u2019s main claim is that the actual scientific literature doesn\u2019t jibe with what alarmists call The Science. His testimony resonates because he\u2019s a top-tier scientist who\u2019s actually read the national and international climate assessments. The thought-fields Koonin wonders onto, however, are Climate Change Communication and Sociology of Scientific Knowledge. These too are sciences, complete with literary canons to which Unsettled\u2019s<\/strong> 200+ footnotes make nary a reference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Koonin apologises for, and defends, the science establishment. He fears a corrupted Climatology undermines public confidence in the entire scientific project. He prefers \u201cmisinformation<\/em>\u201d but describes \u201cdisinformation<\/em>.\u201d Connecting his own dots, its obvious key US government agencies, and leading US scientific institutions, are instruments of hostile forces. This, added to the Energy Transition\u2019s hobbling of the American economy, warrants designating climate alarmism as treason. Koonin ain\u2019t there yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Koonin, Stephen E. Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What it Doesn\u2019t, And Why It Matters<\/em>; BenBella Books, Dallas, TX, 2021; Chapter 10 \u201cWHO BROKE \u2018THE SCIENCE\u2019 AND WHY\u201d pages 185-96.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cCan it really be that a multiplicity of stakeholders in climate matters \u2013 scientists, scientific institutions, activists and NGOs, the media, politicians \u2013 are all contributing to misinformation in the service of persuasion?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":259231,"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_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},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691819756,691818056,691818090,691818618,691819755],"class_list":{"0":"post-259225","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-climate-apocalypticism","9":"tag-climate-change","10":"tag-climate-warning","11":"tag-energy-transition","12":"tag-koonin","14":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/0rwm_climate_koonin.png?fit=1620%2C600&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-15r3","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":253405,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=253405","url_meta":{"origin":259225,"position":0},"title":"Review Of Koonin\u2019s \u201cUnsettled\u201d\u2026Government, Scientific Institutions As \u201cInstruments Of Hostile Forces\u201d","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"04\/17\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Climate apocalypticism attracts politicians wishing to keep the public terrified and clamoring for safety.","rel":"","context":"In \"Climate change\"","block_context":{"text":"Climate change","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-change"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0koonin-again.jpg?fit=1200%2C542&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0koonin-again.jpg?fit=1200%2C542&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0koonin-again.jpg?fit=1200%2C542&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0koonin-again.jpg?fit=1200%2C542&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0koonin-again.jpg?fit=1200%2C542&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":213323,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=213323","url_meta":{"origin":259225,"position":1},"title":"Dessler to Debate \u2018Climate Flat Earther\u2019 Koonin: Why?","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"08\/13\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Andrew Dessler, a climatologist at Texas A&M University, will have nothing to do with any critic of climate alarm.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-450.png?fit=996%2C498&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-450.png?fit=996%2C498&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-450.png?fit=996%2C498&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-450.png?fit=996%2C498&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":425289,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=425289","url_meta":{"origin":259225,"position":2},"title":"This Book by a Dissenting Climate Scientist is the Perfect Red Pill for the Curious","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"02\/09\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"The world is trapped in a digital Matrix, not unlike the one depicted in the iconic 1999 film (The Matrix) where Morpheus offers Neo a choice: take the blue pill and remain in a comforting illusion or the red pill and confront the unsettling truth. 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