Tag Archives: integrity

New study that claims it can directly link GHG emissions to polar bear cub survival is poppycock

A global warming miracle has happened. While no scientist worldwide has ever drawn a straight line between greenhouse gas emissions and population declines in a species considered at risk due to climate change, a new paper just published in Science Magazine claims to have performed this unlikely feat for polar bears. It’s called “Unlock the Endangered Species Act to address GHG emissions.”

Note this analysis has not been peer reviewed: as a “Policy Forum” contribution, it’s considered by the journal to be a public interest commentary, not a research paper.

One might be forgiven for asking whether this work represents solid, reproducible science or simply well-timed, sciency-looking rhetoric ready-made for the litigious Center for Biological Diversity to pressure the US government to increase protections for polar bears before the 2024 US election. It is surely no coincidence that this paper made its appearance near the seasonal low for Arctic sea ice as well as during the 15-year anniversary of the ESA listing of polar bears as ‘threatened’ and the 50th anniversary of the ESA itself.

Moreover, knowing this paper was in the pipeline might explain why the 2022 government report on the most recent Western Hudson Bay polar bear decline, which I discussed yesterday, has been kept secret for so long: the results of that report are cited in this new Science paper as supporting evidence that sea ice declines are responsible for recent population declines, which Reuters said in December was clearly not the case for the period 2017-2021.

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Fact checkers defend activist scientists because they agree with them not because they are right

The so-called fact-checkers are out again trying to insist one side of a scientific debate is wrong and another is right because they happen to agree with one side. That’s advocacy, not science.

Here are some facts (check the links provided for additional references):

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Help fight against JCU attack on scientific enquiry and advancement of knowledge

Great Barrier Reef scientist Peter Ridd is heading back to court. Astoundingly, John Cook University (JCU) has appealed the verdict ruled against them in court last month for firing Ridd and which awarded him $1.2 million in damages, in part for JCU’s appallingly behaviour. Peter is asking for additional funds to mount a defense to take this fight to the highest court in Australia. I have made my donation and on his behalf, I ask readers to support this important issue if they are able.

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This sort of attack on professional scholars who legitimately challenge the work of their colleagues – just because the questions pertain to the topic of human-caused climate change – must stop. Such stifling of academic freedom by universities goes against the very essence of scientific inquiry and advancement of knowledge. I’ve had my share of it and it stinks.

Please help if you can: https://www.gofundme.com/f/peter-ridd-legal-action-fund

From Peter Ridd this morning on his academic freedom/free speech lawsuit against with his former employer, John Cook University: Continue reading