Climategate

I have stayed away from this topic as of late. Not for any particularly good reason. It just makes me unreasonably angry.

Basically for those that are unaware, the CRU research group had e-mails hacked and published.
These e-mails as Brad Plumer details showed a variety of things.

The final straw from me was Sarah Palin getting Op-ed space to burnish her Luddite credentials. That was just a bit too much for this old horse to take. Luckily I did not have to blow a casket and break 8 keyboards, Marc Ambinder over at the Atlantic did an impressive job of fisking Mrs. Palin's drivel. In particular this bit was the most resonating:

Now -- the scientists may be guilty of misconduct for manipulating the UK's freedom of information act procedures. There is no excuse for that; that is not how normal science works. Let's assume, for the moment, that their actions do cast doubt on their data, because, perhaps, their motivations are suspect. The global warming consensus minus the East Anglia contributions is still a strong consensus, one that has been regularly, repeatedly and independently verified.

There is just a lot to unpack on this subject, from the "missing" data to just the lack of understanding of basic scientific procedures denialist exhibit.

Again, in a follow up piece Brad Plumer continues to put this kerfuffle in proper context. Also in case it is not clear enough. Climate Change studies and analysis are cross discipline. If there is a grand conspiracy out there explain these guys.

Until AGW (anthropogenic global warming) deniers produce some dis-positive analysis. They should be shunned.

-Cheers