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The Post-Normal Times
“All that was ‘normal’ has now evaporated.” It is now official that we have entered Post-Normal Times. Ziauddin Sardar has published another Welcome to postnormal Times [pdf] in the journal Futures – a good article – but don’t forget you heard it here first , in the very first post on this blog. Although it never made it to the top of the priority list, I always thought it would be a good idea to provide the concept with more scholarly treatment. On the other hand, the main idea behind the blog was to get such ideas out from behind the paywall ($41.95 for this article if you don’t have access to a good library) (now available here) and see if it might be possible to better illustrate science and policy conundrums from a post-normal science perspective, in more practical terms, in the context of commentary on day to day events which science illuminates, or to which it is applied.
In the talk I gave this week at the workshop on the CMIP5 experiments , I argued that we should do a better job of explaining how climate science works, especially the day-to-day business of working with models and data. I think we have a widespread problem that people outside of climate science have the wrong mental models about what a climate scientist does. As with any science, the day-to-day work might appear to be chaotic, with scientists dealing with the daily frustrations of working with large, messy datasets, having instruments and models not work the way they’re supposed to, and of course, the occasional mistake that you only discover after months of work.
Serendipity: What has software engineering got to do with climate change?
On the role of software engineering in the study of climate change. by Jul 26
Rabett Run
Ethon, who has been on sabbatical, came by the other day. The big bird was feeling dirty again, having returned too soon to the Pielkesphere where he caught a full load of Roger the Unhappy. Why is Roger unhappy Eli asked? There was a pause for pate and scotch and a bird bath. Talking about an old source of much good liver gone to irrelevance is hard.
I had a dream when I was 10 years old and was thrilled when Alan Shepard, in the first manned Mercury Mission, orbited the earth. Okay, we were a bit behind the Soviets, but, still we had done it, and very soon, I knew we would eclipse them. And we did. On that day, I decided I wanted to be an astronaut, too.
Scholars and Rogues
In Kramm & Dlugi On Illuminating the Confusion of the Unclear I pointed out that the authors of Scrutinizing the atmospheric greenhouse effect and its climatic impact are in agreement with climate science on the subject of “back radiation” from the atmosphere contributing to the surface temperature. No surprise to people familiar with the basics of radiative heat transfer . However, Kramm & Dlugi are apparently “in support of” Gerlich & Tscheuschner, who famously proposed that radiation from the atmosphere affecting the temperature of the ground was a violation of the second law of thermodynamics. A perpetual motion machine or something. (Or they were having a big laugh). For more on the exciting adventures of Gerlich & Tscheuschner, read On the Miseducation of the Uninformed..
The Science of Doom
Stoat
Strange - you might think - but not so bizarre that some people don't think it. Here is the quote William, given the article's clearly supposedly-sceptical viewpoint, I did not expect my edit to survive but, 8 minutes! Wow, you are red hot! I note your track record of getting into trouble with Moderators over edit-warring issues, so will not be so foolish as to do the same with you myself. However, is there anything you would care to say in your defence that will prevent me from writing you off as a climate change denier?