After a bit of “hiatus”, ClimateDialogue (CD) has re-opened again with a discussion on climate sensitivity. On one hand this site is unique in bringing together ‘mainstreamers’ and ‘contrarians’ (both in the organization and in the discussions), hopefully leading to both enhanced clarity on what the (dis)agreements are really about […]

“If we omit discussion of tail risk, are we really telling the whole truth?”  -Kerry Emanuel This post is motivated by Kerry Emanuel’s recent essay entitled Tail Risk vs. Alarmism. Excerpts: In assessing the event risk component of climate change, we have, I would argue, a strong professional obligation to estimate […]

The American Association for the Advancement of Science just published a statement on climate risk (link) on which I am a co-author. This statement has several aims, one of which is to highlight the importance of societal risk in the low-probability tail of the climate change probability distribution. I would […]

Whenever I am asked the question of how well we understand the atmosphere that is being changed by the addition of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, I often find it useful to look at the scientific history of two other recent atmospheric pollution challenges: acid rain and stratospheric ozone […]

The self proclaimed “Energy Capital of the World” hosted a climate change event last week.   On Tuesday February 11th, more than 300 students, faculty, industry leaders, and members of general public participated in a hosted climate change discussion at the University of Houston (UH).  The event was the third part […]

Who are the Flat Earthers? Before the advent of modern climatology, common wisdom had it that we tiny humans couldn’t possibly influence climate. Modern science shows we can. Yet John Christy and Richard McNider claim the exact opposite in a recent WSJ op-ed, in which they claim that their outdated […]