Watts Up With Global Warming And Atomic Bombs

sks-widgetAnyone familiar with Watts Up With That will have noticed that anything published on it that mentions Skeptical Science often displays a rather obvious dislike for Skeptical Science. Both for the Skeptical Science website and the people who are involved with it.

It shows with the language used and all the attacks on the materials created or used by Skeptical Science. Often it doesn’t really matter if it’s valid criticism as long as it in some way critiques or undermines what was released. Especially when it’s something that is easy to understand and helps with communicating the science behind global warming. Which showed with the attacks towards the Cook et al. paper that measured the scientific consensus on global warming in the scientific literature.

This time Watts isn’t happy because of a widget Skeptical Science released that puts into context how much heat our planet is absorbing:

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The Not So Bad Department of Transportation Rules

Lee Doren actually gave a hat tip to me in the video “Bad Department of Transportation Rule With Good Intentions” for a link he included in the description. Although not really a meaningful reference or link to me, but still nice.

Now you might be wondering why I sent Lee a link, well technically I didn’t. I used the link in an exchange we had where I disagreed with his argument and conclusions. So I’m actually one of the critics he mentioned in the video. But lets start from the beginning.

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Consumer Protection Is Apparently A Bad Idea

The U.S. Department of Transportation put into effect new rules that makes flying more convenient and hassle-free for air travelers in the U.S. The new rules include requirements that airlines refund baggage fees if bags are lost, increase compensation provided to passengers bumped from oversold flights, and provide passengers greater protections from lengthy tarmac delays.

Rules like these have been in effect for years in Europe and has made flying a lot more enjoyable for everyone. And has giving consumers the tools that they can ensure that they get what they paid for, without being left at the mercy of an airliner on an airport far from home.

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Global Warming And The Earthquake In Japan

Yes, some people actually said that the earthquake in Japan is, or could be, linked to Global Warming. Which is obviously incorrect if you’ve been following the scientific literature.

But Lee doren (HowTheWorldWorks) did stumble on a grain of truth when he dealt with the subject in his video:

And I don’t want to hear any Rube Goldberg talking points on, well you see we give off carbon, and then it melts the big ice sheets up on the north pole, and those weights are pushing down on the plates, and therefore the release of the weights then leads to earthquakes. I’m sorry folks that’s not how earth quakes take place. That’s not how plate tectonics take place. I don’t want to hear any nonsense.

Now this wasn’t one of the most clear explanations, but what you can understand from this is that Lee Doren holds the opinion that the earthquake has nothing to do with global warming. And cannot be linked to any melting ice sheets and subsequent sea level rise. And he’s correct with that.

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HowTheWorldWorks – Epic Green Fail – a rebuttal

An interaction between me and Lee caused him to block me when I was criticising statements he made.

The 10:10 campaign video is a PR nightmare if I ever saw one. This commercial is actually from the organisation 10:10 to promote their goal of voluntarily reducing 10% of your CO2 emissions each year.

The script for this commercial was written by Richard Curtis (writer of for example Blackadder, Four Weddings and Notting Hill). A very well known comedic writer. So the idea behind this commercial was trying to make a funny video about what they are trying to achieve.

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Income inequality and human rights

Lee Doren’s comments (HowTheWorldWorks) about economic inequality not being a real human rights issue and that the United States is nothing like oppressive regimes warranted a response:

Here’s how the report is basically written. It states some sort of law that the United States passed like the American Disabilities Act, or other types of laws, that prevent “economic inequality” in the United States. They talk about title nine. And then it states that we still have steps in the United States to take to make human rights no longer a problem. Those are not human rights violations, OK.

Yes those are human rights violation, and I’ll explain why.

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A fake bomb? Not really.

Lee made the extraordinary claim that a green energy company had sent a fake bomb to a professor who is critical on the industry. When I followed up on the mentioned source it turned out the situation wasn’t as clear cut as he represented it in his video. Watch this video on YouTube And this isn’t exactly the first time…

Dutch Tourism Industry

Lee Doren who runs the YouTube channel HowTheWorldWorks said in his video “The Nashville Flood Happened” that passing a law that prevents foreign tourist buying soft drugs would destroy the Dutch tourist industry. Now as someone who lives in The Netherlands and enjoys taking vacations in his own country I knew this was nonsense. So with some digging on the…