From the Wired Science blog, a group of climate scientists recently challenged their competition to a bet. On Realclimate.org, a group of 6 global warming believers offered 2500 Euros to the authors of a recent Nature paper if, by 2010, their global cooling hypothesis pans out. There was some serious smack talking in the offer:
That this cooling would just be a temporary blip and would change nothing about global warming goes without saying and has been amply discussed elsewhere (e.g. here). But another question has been rarely discussed: will this forecast turn out to be correct? We think not – and we are prepared to bet serious money on this. We have double-checked with the authors: they say they really mean this as a serious forecast, not just as a methodological experiment. If the authors of the paper really believe that their forecast has a greater than 50% chance of being correct, then they should accept our offer of a bet; it should be easy money for them. If they do not accept our bet, then we must question how much faith they really have in their own forecast.
I hope they take ‘em up on it. If the future of the Earth isn’t enough to keep your interest, maybe a large-sum professional wager can do it.
It is sad to me that a wager was made about our future climate. It may be somewhat in jest, but it now gives fuel to those who believe climate change (Global Warming has become a vilified word) is not real or just a money making scheme. I find that this could damage trying to get the message to ordinary citizens as it seems many on this planet are lemmings following the tune of the news media outlets and their agendas.
I am not a scientist nor am I anyone of great interest in the world but I actually do my own homework on this subject and find Climate change is real. Please Please retract this bet before it causes more damage to a science that becomes more politicized each day. The future of this planet should be more important than any ego here or of any scientist for or against this subject. Please think before you act in the future!
Sean Dorcy
Comment by Sean Dorcy — May 8, 2008 @ 11:20 pm
[...] An Inordinate Fondness for Beetles wrote an interesting post today on Global Warming SmackdownHere’s a quick excerptThat this cooling would just be a temporary blip and would change nothing about global warming goes without saying and has been amply discussed elsewhere (e. g. here)…. … org, a group of 6 global warming believers offered 2500 Euros to the authors of a recent Nature paper if, by 2010, their global cooling hypothesis pans out…. [...]
Pingback by Global Warming » Global Warming Smackdown — May 9, 2008 @ 3:32 am