Stumble it!Breaking Heartland’s Heart
posted in Global Warming, Politics by themaiden |The Heartland Institute is a not uncommon source for climate ’skepticism’, which term, by the way, I put is scare quotes as climate ’skepticism’ makes a mockery of skepticism and I find that offensive. Climate ’skepticism’ is an insult to skeptics everywhere. You see, the skeptic questions, the climate ’skeptic’ fabricates and misrepresents in an effort to mislead for the purpose of upholding preconceived notions– or maybe just for cash. Let me restart.
The Heartland Institute is a not uncommon source for climate ’skepticism’, and what a source it is. Let’s take a look.
Long ago I took a ‘climate change’ test sponsored by the Heartland Institute. I believe that test was this one, but its been a long time. I can’t be sure. At any rate, the test was a mess of misinformation. I’ve been meaning to hash through that test, pointing out its errors, but I’ve never gotten around to it. I see that there is also a new test up. Maybe I’ll take on both at once.
A post at DeSmogBlog brought the Heartland Institute back onto my radar. The institute has published a rather infamous report–”500 Scientists Whose Research Contradicts Man-Made Global Warming Scares“. Wow! Five hundred, huh?
Unfortunately…
DeSmogBlog manager Kevin Grandia emailed 122 of the scientists yesterday afternoon, calling their attention to the list. So far - in less than 24 hours - three dozen of those scientists had responded in outrage, denying that their research supports Avery’s conclusions and demanding that their names be removed.
500 Scientists with Documented Doubts - about the Heartland Institute? | DeSmogBlog
Oh dear… that doesn’t bode well for Heartland does it?
DeSmogBlog has posted a few of these responses.
Please remove my name. What you have done is totally unethical!!”
Dr. Svante Bjorck, Geo Biosphere Science Centre, Lund University
500 Scientists with Documented Doubts - about the Heartland Institute? | DeSmogBlog
And…
Why can’t people spend their time trying to identify and evaluate the facts concerning climate change rather than trying to obscure them?”
Dr. James P. Berry, Senior Scientist, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
They have taken our ice core research in Wyoming and twisted it to meet their own agenda. This is not science.”Dr. Paul F. Schuster, Hydrologist, US Geological Survey
Outrage in the Climate Science Community Continues Over the “500 Scientist” List
Follow those hyperlinks for many more heartfelt reactions to the Heartland Institute.
Now, you may ask, “Kevin Grandia’s email blast only prompted 45 responses (thus far), so doesn’t that mean that there are 455 scientists who doubt the veracity of man made climate change?” Actually, Grandia only emailed 122 people on that list and of those 122 got 45 responses. That is 36.8 percent ‘I’m really annoyed by this’ rate. If you were to extrapolate from those numbers to all 500 names on the list you should expect about 184 negative responses, but that is rough. Don’t take it too seriously. There are a lot of factors that should be included in the calculation but aren’t as I don’t have access to the relevant information. So lets move from math to a more conceptual realm.
The Heartland Institute misrepresented at least 45 out of 500 scientists– about 9%– or 36.8% of the 122 queried. Either way, why trust the organization at all? World famous scientists fudge the numbers on one study, get caught, and their careers are over. Why trust an organization willing to bastardize itself by misrepresenting the views of honest scientists?
On the subject of ‘why trust Heartland’, Heartland’s SourceWatch entry makes an interesting read.
Popularity: 1%
