{"id":294341,"date":"2024-01-09T12:27:35","date_gmt":"2024-01-09T11:27:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=294341"},"modified":"2024-01-09T12:27:37","modified_gmt":"2024-01-09T11:27:37","slug":"in-praise-of-willis-eschenbach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=294341","title":{"rendered":"In Praise of Willis\u00a0Eschenbach"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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From Climate Scepticism<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

BY\u00a0GEOFF CHAMBERS<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You all know Willis Eschenbach from his hundreds of excellent articles at WattsUpWithThat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a catalogue up to 2021 at a link that begins with https:\/\/ and ends with wattsupwiththat.com\/2021\/02\/04\/a-2021-index-to-williss-posts\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(I try too provide links, but WordPress just leaves empty spaces where I leave an URL. I have no idea how this article will appear. It\u2019ll probably look like shit, but that\u2019s WordPress for you.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A 2021 Index to Willis\u2019s Posts<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/wattsupwiththat.com\/2021\/02\/04\/a-2021-index-to-williss-posts\/embed\/#?secret=pAKkTuJT8Z#?secret=uVtCDn60Wa<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A 2021 Index to Willis\u2019s Posts<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/wattsupwiththat.com\/2021\/02\/04\/a-2021-index-to-williss-posts\/embed\/#?secret=pAKkTuJT8Z#?secret=uVtCDn60Wa<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A 2021 Index to Willis\u2019s Posts<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/wattsupwiththat.com\/2021\/02\/04\/a-2021-index-to-williss-posts\/embed\/#?secret=pAKkTuJT8Z#?secret=uVtCDn60Wa<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

All his articles end with the warning: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs is my custom, I politely ask that when you comment, you quote the exact words that you are referring to, so we can all be totally clear about both what and who you are discussing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve always admired his articles, and enjoyed the glimpses they afford of their author, who seems to me to this British ex-prat to be the archetypal American \u2013 a fearless, footloose, high-IQ adventurer ready to question everything. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

[It\u2019s a sign of how low the USA has fallen that almost all of the Americans famous outside the United States nowadays are entertainers \u2013 millionaire narcissists who\u2019ve never questioned anything other than their bank balance, or risked anything worse than falling audiences or record sales, or failing foreign contributions to their charity foundations.] <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three of the great works of American literature \u2013 Moby Dick<\/strong>, Walden<\/strong>, and Leaves of Grass<\/strong> \u2013 start off in exactly the same way: A part-time supply teacher, bored with routine, decides to up sticks and do something different. Willis is in that tradition. His articles are a breath of Whitmanesque fresh air for Climate Sceptics; a Cabin in the Woods to shelter from the madness of the science; a battle with the Great White Wally of Climate Doom.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I owe a debt to Willis. Eleven years ago, I wrote an article at WattsUpWithThat <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Thirteen Worst Graphs in the World<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/wattsupwiththat.com\/2013\/07\/07\/the-thirteen-worst-graphs-in-the-world\/embed\/#?secret=7OEjdSeDLa#?secret=qHtiB9wXrk<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

demolishing a crazed loon called Rowland Emett<\/s> Stephen Emmott who had won fame as a climate catastrophist on the basis of headlines reading: \u201cCambridge Professor says: \u2018We\u2019re F*cked.’\u201d*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*[He wasn\u2019t a Cambridge Professor, but a nerd working for IBM based in Cambridge, and a \u201cvisiting professor\u201d \u2013 i.e. someone who was invited to give a talk \u2013 at the University of Oxford. He wrote a programme predicting the future of Life, the Universe and Everything, which repeatedly crashed, enabling Emmett to gain instant fame with his naughty catchphrase, thanks to fellow doomers in the press & at Penguin Books (science section) as well as at such prestigious organisations as the BBC, the Science Museum, and the Royal Court Theatre.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My article, as usual, was heavy on spleen but short on references. Willis kindly supplied me with all the data it lacked in a follow-up article<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Alexander the Great Explains The Drop In Extinctions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/wattsupwiththat.com\/2013\/07\/07\/alexander-the-great-explains-the-drop-in-extinctions\/embed\/#?secret=Tql715jmIf#?secret=E8J0xx0X75<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u2013 a heap of fascinating information on vertebrate species loss in the past 5 centuries from impeccable sources. Spot on and a welcome and unexpected gift. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had no contact with Willis until last year, when I started leaving approving, and, I hope, entertaining comments at his Twitter posts. (Willis, like many well-known climate sceptics, gets surprisingly little traffic. Shame on you all.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, on December 7th last year, I commented at a tweet of his on Israel, disagreeing strongly. This conversation has continued regularly ever since. If you\u2019re interested, the first thread starts here<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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You're trying to say "Some dickhead with a flag stands with the people of Palestine".

Unlike him, the rest of us don't approve of executions, torture, beheadings, desecration of corpses, rape, necrophilia, incinerating people alive, dismemberment, and hostage-taking.

w. https:\/\/t.co\/BKZZn38ltv<\/a><\/p>— Willis Eschenbach (@WEschenbach) December 6, 2023<\/a><\/blockquote>