Buy

Books
Click images for more details

Twitter
Support

 

Recent comments
Recent posts
Currently discussing
Links

A few sites I've stumbled across recently....

Powered by Squarespace
« Shale gas getting cheaper | Main | More retwardian discourse »
Tuesday
Sep092014

Diary dates, Hardaker edition

The Institute of Physics' London Branch is to have a lecture from the Institute's new head, Professor Paul Hardaker.

Challenges in Predicting the Weather and Climate Wednesday, 19 November 2014, 18:00 – 20:00

Meteorology is still a relatively young science with lots of interesting challenges remaining for physicists in improving predictions of our weather and climate. The talk will outline the some of these science challenges, including the contributions made from developments in modelling and observations and how we handle uncertainty in predictions. The talk will also touch on the challenges of communicating the science to the public and policymakers.

Details here.

PrintView Printer Friendly Version

Reader Comments (16)

'The talk will also touch on the challenges of communicating the science to the public and policymakers.'


Well so far it has been dealt with by denying there was any was any uncertainty and stating , in public, that the models had no problems and should be used to make policy .

Amazing how much a ‘settled science’ requires so much on-going review, it just a shame it never gets around to doing this honestly .

Sep 9, 2014 at 10:50 AM | Unregistered Commenterknr

Paul Hardaker helped to shield John Cook from scrutiny.

Sep 9, 2014 at 11:09 AM | Unregistered CommenterRichard Tol

...holds visiting professorships at both the University of Salford and the University of Reading.

So Professor Hardaker does not actually hold a professorial chair.

For a visiting prof to use the title in the world at large, rather than just on his occasional afternoon at the university involved, always struck me to be similar to the recipient of an honorary doctorate subsequently styling themself "Dr. xxx".

...He then became Programme Director for the Met Office's Development Programmes and latterly the Met Office’s Chief Advisor to Government, providing support to the Government in areas such as climate change policy and the civil contingency programme.

bafuncs.org/Biography%20-%20Paul%20Hardaker.doc


So he's partly responsible for the Climate Change Act?

Sep 9, 2014 at 11:10 AM | Registered CommenterMartin A

Interestingly, the linked page about the talk refers to him as "Dr". He has always been Prof when I've seen him referred to in the past, and I addressed correspondence to him as Prof too.

Sep 9, 2014 at 11:24 AM | Registered CommenterBishop Hill

See here for details of his 2013 John Lewis lecture (AGW covered at the end):

http://geordiescience.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/john-lewis-lecture-professor-paul.html

Apparently water vapour feedback is the killer (but only if the sea surface temperatures increase, which they have not done for decades, except in a few insignificant for evaporation Northern areas).

Sep 9, 2014 at 11:49 AM | Unregistered CommenterMikky

The talk will also touch on the challenges of communicating the science to the public and policymakers

Be honest and don't let yourself be fooled. Seems to work in other walks of life.

Sep 9, 2014 at 12:11 PM | Unregistered CommenterH2O: the miracle molecule

+1 H2O (if that's not too much positive feedback)

Sep 9, 2014 at 12:29 PM | Registered CommenterRichard Drake

I think I'm getting a touch of the vapours

Sep 9, 2014 at 1:08 PM | Unregistered CommenterH2O: the miracle molecule

Will someone please write the paper - 'On Non-computable Numbers, with an Application to the Climate Problem'.

Sep 9, 2014 at 11:42 PM | Unregistered CommenterBilly Liar
Sep 10, 2014 at 8:55 AM | Registered CommenterMartin A

Martin A

thanks for the link. I am a great fan of RGB. I don't always see his posts at WUWT as I find the posts and comments there hard work. And this is a post that I had missed and is well worth a read.

Sep 10, 2014 at 9:32 AM | Unregistered CommenterH2O: the miracle molecule

Thanks H2O.

Is there any molecule (in liquid or solid form) that has a higher dielectric constant than yours?

Sep 10, 2014 at 9:42 AM | Registered CommenterMartin A

Martin A

I honestly do not know. I am not as self-aware as I should be. But if you will indulge me I remember a science lesson from school many years ago. I remember writing in my exercise book the heading 'The anomalous expansion of water'. It was the first time I had met the word 'anomalous'. But I had no idea at the time just what a big deal it was.

Science is too precious to be the playground of activists.

Sep 10, 2014 at 1:26 PM | Unregistered CommenterH2O: the miracle molecule

Yeah, or we'd all be sleeping with the fishes.

Sep 10, 2014 at 4:47 PM | Registered CommenterRichard Drake

No, sorry H₂O, your dielectric constant may be high but it does not seem to hold the record.

Google came up with...


In I960, Mandel and Decroly reported the dissociation
constant of acetic acid in formamide (29)
This solvent has a dielectric constant of 109.5 at 25°C, which is considerably
higher than that of water, the highest dielectric constant
solvent for which acid dissociation data had been available
up to that time.

Sep 11, 2014 at 8:18 PM | Registered CommenterMartin A

I am experiencing anomalous deflation.

Hope your mum is keeping well.

Haha

Sep 12, 2014 at 9:46 AM | Unregistered CommenterH2O: the miracle molecule

PostPost a New Comment

Enter your information below to add a new comment.

My response is on my own website »
Author Email (optional):
Author URL (optional):
Post:
 
Some HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>