Seed has just put online my piece from the last issue--a profile of NASA's James Hansen. A lot has been said about Hansen in the past--he is inarguably our best known climate scientist--so I leave it to you to figure out whether I've actually said anything new. Here's a hint, though: I think I have.
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The new December/January issue of Seed is now out [it has been out for weeks now, where have you been? - ed] and I wanted to draw attention to a piece that I have in there. The article isn't online and so can't be linked yet, but it's a profile of NASA's James Hansen, who I had the pleasure of…
Via RealClimate, James Hansen refutes the Investor's Business Daily's claim that he endorsed global cooling in 1971:
Mr. McCaslin reported that Rasool and Hansen were colleagues at NASA
and "Mr. Rasool came to his chilling conclusions by resorting in
part to a new computer program developed by Mr.…
Well, folks, Andy Revkin has done it again. Previously I have written about how Revkin has basically broken every major story about abuses of climate science, and climate scientists, by the Bush administration. And I must say, it's quite a litany of abuses. That's why I'm glad that so many bloggers…
My quick summary reaction to Bill Broad's provocative NY Times article surveying a few scientists and social scientists' opinions on Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth:
1) Just like in politics generally, science-related blogs can strongly shape the news agenda and framing of an issue, and Broad's…
The recent "teach-in" regarding Climate Change and the Build Environment was quite effective. It combined Dr. Hansen's analysis of the scale of the treat from global warming with Ed Mazria's (AIA) prescription to Resuscitate a Dying World.
It seems that the attention of the media continues to focus on the transportation sector that contributes 27% of our energy use while basically ignoring the building sector that accounts for 48% (40% from building operations, 8% from the embedded energy cost of the building itself. - data from teaching which is archived at the link above).
And yes, Dr. Hansen's profile seems to turn up everywhere including in Grist's front page story today, Let's Call the Coal Think Off.
Excellent piece, Chris
I think you did a great job of letting people what compels James Hansen to do and say what he does.
"Hansen believes, as did Albert Einstein, that speaking out politically at key moments is part of a scientist's responsibility. He also rejects the idea that scientists should pose as completely objective fact machines that refrain from offering opinions that aren't purely scientific in nature (even about subjects that they know better anyone else). What's refreshing is that he makes no apologies for that"
Like Einstein (and Carl Sagan) Hansen uses his scientific credibility and renown as a springboard for his informed opinions on issues about which he cares deeply. I agree that there's nothing wrong with that. Some may believe otherwise, but in my impression, such belief is often motivated by more than a little jealousy.
It's interesting how much Hansen has in common with Sagan beyond just the level of public respect and renown.
Both started out their careers studying the runaway greenhouse effect on Venus. Both also share similar beliefs about the responsibility of scientists to educate the public and finally, both have been willing to stand up and be counted when it would have been much easier to do their science in peace.
I really wish I could write as well as you do, Chris. Great article.