Let’s face facts: web polls, with close to zero controls over voting/such and no scientific sampling, are pretty close to meaningless. Even so … a web poll result on CNN or in the traditional media carries “weight” with the casual reader (which is most, right). And, there is the “best of …” status that we’ll hear about for years.
In a few hours, voting ends on the “best” of the blogosphere. When it comes to the “science” blogs, all I’ve got to say: You’ve got to be kidding me! Top of the pile, at the moment, is the “ASS”-promoting global-warming denying Watt’s Up With That. For better (and sometimes worse), the global warming denier community is heavily active on the web and has been out in force voting. We have a chance to change this equation. While not perfect (but definitely worth the read), “the controversial crusader against Intelligent Design”, PZ Myers: Pharyngula, is a close second and you can cast your vote to have a the “best science blog” go to someone who actually understands the meaning of “scientific Theory”.
Now, there are a huge number of real science web sites that merit serious attention and our time. One of them, on my blog roll, is actually an option for voting for “best science blog”: Real Climate. Sadly, it is unlikely that anyone could mobilize enough votes by 5 pm, EST, today, 13 January to put Real Climate on the top of the pile.
As of now, with 33,410 votes, global-warming denier “Watt’s Up With That” has 12,322 votes. Pharyngula has 10,393. Real Climate is in fifth place with 1,254 …
ACTION: Take a moment to cast your vote for PZ Myers: Pharyngula for “best science blog”.
Let us be clear, the “Best Science Blog” has a very shady history with a bad past record. In 2007, for example, Discover magazine’s Bad Astromy Blog winning in the last hours, to only have the clock reset to announce an artificial tie with a site that suffers from a bad case of ASS (anti-science syndrome). This year, two of the ten sites nominated are prominent ASS sufferers, seeking to inflict it on others. Thus, a question for us all: should an ASS promoting site be awarded “best of the science blogosphere”?
TAKE ACTION NOW or risk having a year of citation of global warming deniers representing “the best of science on the web”. Take a moment to cast your vote for PZ Myers: Pharyngula for “best science blog”.
Climate Change Sources
Perhaps it is worthwhile to take a moment to lay out some reasonable sources for actual knowledge when it comes to Global Warming science and discussion. Here are some thoughts about places to go for Global Warming / Climate Change information and discussion:
Real Climate: A source to studied and footnoted discussions of significant climate issues, with substantive examination (and, most frequently, substantive rebuttal) of “denier” and “skeptic” work. Heavily scientific but accessible to a broader audience.
Climate.ORG provides a very useful set of annotated links to top soruces on key aspects of climate science.
Grist: How to talk to a Skeptic: This useful compendium provides facts and responses to many “standard” global warming skeptic truthiness statements. These have many links to the science reporting and data that demonstrate the ‘truthiness’ behind the skeptics’ statements. (See Climate Denial for discussions of “the psychology of climate change denial” And, DeSmogBlog, which could be “de place for Global Warming De-nial de-construction and de-molition”. And, here is a pdf version of the UK Royal Society’s “A guide to facts and fictions about climate change”.)
Good ‘learn more’ sites include:
- Guardian: Climate Change Q&A: What is climate change and why should we be concerned about it?
- New Scientist: Climate change: a guide for the perplexed
- National Climate Data Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: Global Warming: Frequently Asked Questions
- Union of Concerned Scientists: Global Warming
- NRDC: Global Warming 101
- US House of Representatives Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming
Please feel free to make suggestions in the comments and worthwhile sites for knowledge (and not deception) about global warming and climate change science and discussion will be added to this list.
PS: If you want a “watt” blog site that is worth the read, please head on over to Watthead.