Apr 15, 2024 05:29 PM
(This post was last modified: Apr 15, 2024 11:26 PM by C C.)
https://rogerpielkejr.substack.com/p/climate-cooking
INTRO: My paper, Scientific Integrity and U.S. “Billion Dollar Disasters” has passed peer-review and will soon be published in the new Nature journal npj Natural Hazards. You can read the as-accepted-draft of the paper at OSF, which I have just posted.
[...] Below, I have updated a piece that I first published at Forbes in January 2020. It tells an very important part of the story of how the most extreme emissions scenario — RCP8.5 — came to dominate climate research, assessment, and policy. It is quite an amazing tale.
This is a story of American democracy. In one sense, it’s a noble story. People with shared values came together to petition the government and the public on their political aims, just as envisioned by James Madison in Federalist 10.
In another sense it’s a story of privilege and conceit – the privilege in American democracy that accompanies being mindbogglingly wealthy and the conceit that climate politics could be best pursued by corrupting the scientific literature on climate change.
Before proceeding, let’s make a few things absolutely clear. There is no doubt that climate change is real, and is significantly influenced by our activities, particularly through the emissions of carbon dioxide. I have long advocated for aggressive mitigation action and adaptation to climate variability and change. At the same time, I have also long argued that upholding scientific integrity should go hand-in-hand with effective climate action.
At the center of the corruption of climate science discussed here sits a highly technical scenario of the future called Representation Concentration Pathway 8.5 or RCP8.5. Longtime readers of THB will no doubt be familiar with RCP8.5 and its consequences, but for anyone needing a quick primer, have a look at our short paper in Issues in Science and Technology.
Today, I add further details to this incredible story by explaining the important role in promoting RCP8.5 played by billionaires Tom Steyer and Michael Bloomberg... (MORE - details)
INTRO: My paper, Scientific Integrity and U.S. “Billion Dollar Disasters” has passed peer-review and will soon be published in the new Nature journal npj Natural Hazards. You can read the as-accepted-draft of the paper at OSF, which I have just posted.
[...] Below, I have updated a piece that I first published at Forbes in January 2020. It tells an very important part of the story of how the most extreme emissions scenario — RCP8.5 — came to dominate climate research, assessment, and policy. It is quite an amazing tale.
This is a story of American democracy. In one sense, it’s a noble story. People with shared values came together to petition the government and the public on their political aims, just as envisioned by James Madison in Federalist 10.
In another sense it’s a story of privilege and conceit – the privilege in American democracy that accompanies being mindbogglingly wealthy and the conceit that climate politics could be best pursued by corrupting the scientific literature on climate change.
Before proceeding, let’s make a few things absolutely clear. There is no doubt that climate change is real, and is significantly influenced by our activities, particularly through the emissions of carbon dioxide. I have long advocated for aggressive mitigation action and adaptation to climate variability and change. At the same time, I have also long argued that upholding scientific integrity should go hand-in-hand with effective climate action.
At the center of the corruption of climate science discussed here sits a highly technical scenario of the future called Representation Concentration Pathway 8.5 or RCP8.5. Longtime readers of THB will no doubt be familiar with RCP8.5 and its consequences, but for anyone needing a quick primer, have a look at our short paper in Issues in Science and Technology.
Today, I add further details to this incredible story by explaining the important role in promoting RCP8.5 played by billionaires Tom Steyer and Michael Bloomberg... (MORE - details)
