Climate Science and the Phlogiston Theory

2007 ◽  
Vol 18 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 441-448
Author(s):  
Arthur Rorsch
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
History Of Science ◽  
Climate Changes ◽  
Fossil Fuel ◽  
Climate Science ◽  
Natural Variability ◽  
Phlogiston Theory ◽  
History Of ◽  
Level Of Knowledge

On 2 February 2007 the Intergovernmental Governmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) released a “Summary for Policymakers” which is a precis – written by its representatives, not all of whom were scientists – of its longer report, due for release in May. Drafts of the as-yet unpublished main report have been widely circulated and prompted much comment but views which differ from that of the IPCC and the main authors have been largely neglected. In response to the SPM ten scientists presented an alternative report based on the IPCC's draft document and this Independent Summary for Policymakers (ISPM) was released in London on February 5. The ISPM notes the limited level of knowledge of climate sciences and comments on hypotheses neglected by the IPCC SPM, and not surprisingly its conclusions contradict those of the IPCC. The rather alarmist IPCC SPM claims that it is between 90% and 95% probable that the observed climate change since 1950 has mainly been caused by mankind and in particular by the emission of CO2 produced by the burning of fossil fuel. In contrast the ISPM states that the extent to which humans are contributing to climate change is uncertain and will remain uncertain for some time. The ISPM also points out that that the observed climate changes are still within the limits of natural variability and can be explained by natural events, and suggests that some warming might be beneficial. This paper considers this controversy from the perspective of the history of science and shows precendents for questioning science orthodoxy.

scholarly journals Computer-assisted detection and classification of misinformation about climate change

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Travis Coan ◽  
Constantine Boussalis ◽  
John Cook ◽  
Mirjam Nanko
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Science ◽  
Computer Assisted ◽  
Think Tank ◽  
Detailed History ◽  
The Past ◽  
Computer Assisted Detection ◽  
History Of

A growing body of scholarship investigates the role of misinformation in shaping the debate on climate change. Our research builds on and extends this literature by 1) developing and validating a comprehensive taxonomy of climate misinformation, 2) conducting the largest content analysis to date on contrarian claims, 3) developing a computational model to accurately detect specific claims, and 4) drawing on an extensive corpus from conservative think-tank (CTTs) websites and contrarian blogs to construct a detailed history of misinformation over the past 20 years. Our study finds that climate misinformation produced by CTTs and contrarian blogs has focused on attacking the integrity of climate science and scientists and, increasingly, has challenged climate policy and renewable energy. We further demonstrate the utility of our approach by exploring the influence of corporate and foundation funding on the production and dissemination of specific contrarian claims.

The Two Degrees Celsius Limit

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Shaw
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approach ◽  
Climate Science ◽  
Acceptable Level ◽  
Intergovernmental Panel ◽  
Definitive Answer ◽  
A Value ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of

International climate negotiations seek to limit warming to an average of two degrees Celsius (2°C). This objective is justified by the claim that scientists have identified two degrees of warming as the point at which climate change becomes dangerous. Climate scientists themselves maintain that while science can provide projections of possible impacts at different levels of warming, determining what constitutes an acceptable level of risk is not a matter to be decided by science alone, but is a value choice to be deliberated upon by societies as a whole. Hence, while climate science can inform debates about how much warming is too much, it cannot provide a definitive answer to that question. In order to fully understand how climate change came to be defined as a phenomenon with a single global dangerous limit of 2°C, it is necessary to incorporate insights from the social sciences. Political economy, culture, economics, sociology, geography, and social psychology have all played a role in defining what constitutes an acceptable level of climate risk. These perspectives can be applied through the framework of institutional analysis to examine reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and other international organizations. This interdisciplinary approach offers the potential to provide a comprehensive history of how climate science has been interpreted in policy making. An interdisciplinary analysis is also essential in order to move beyond historical description to provide a narrative of considerable explanatory power. Such insights offer a valuable framework for considering current debates about whether or not it will be possible to limit warming to 2°C.

Global climate changes during the most recent two millennia

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah S. Eggleston ◽  
Oliver Bothe ◽  
Nerilie Abram ◽  
Bronwen Konecky ◽  
Hans Linderholm ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Changes ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Climate Science ◽  
High Temporal Resolution ◽  
Past Climate ◽  
Global Climate Changes ◽  
The Past ◽  
Earth’S Climate

<p>The past two thousand years is a key interval for climate science because this period encompasses both the era of human-induced global warming and a much longer interval when changes in Earth's climate were governed principally by natural drivers. This earlier 'pre-industrial' period is particularly important for two reasons. Firstly, we now have a growing number of well-dated, climate sensitive proxy data with high temporal resolution that spans the full period. Secondly, the pre-industrial climate provides context for present-day climate change, sets real-world targets against which to evaluate the performance of climate models, and allows us to address other questions of Earth sciences that cannot be answered using only a century and a half of observational data. </p><p>Here, we first provide several perspectives on the concept of a 'pre-industrial climate'. Then, we highlight the activities of the PAGES 2k Network, an international collaborative effort focused on global climate change during the past two thousand years. We highlight those aspects of pre-industrial conditions (including both past climate changes and past climate drivers) that are not yet well constrained, and suggest potential areas for research during this period that would be relevant to the evolution of Earth's future climate.</p>

scholarly journals Computer-assisted classification of contrarian claims about climate change

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Travis G. Coan ◽  
Constantine Boussalis ◽  
John Cook ◽  
Mirjam O. Nanko
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Science ◽  
Computer Assisted ◽  
Think Tank ◽  
Detailed History ◽  
The Past ◽  
Growing Body ◽  
History Of

AbstractA growing body of scholarship investigates the role of misinformation in shaping the debate on climate change. Our research builds on and extends this literature by (1) developing and validating a comprehensive taxonomy of climate contrarianism, (2) conducting the largest content analysis to date on contrarian claims, (3) developing a computational model to accurately classify specific claims, and (4) drawing on an extensive corpus from conservative think-tank (CTTs) websites and contrarian blogs to construct a detailed history of claims over the past 20 years. Our study finds that the claims utilized by CTTs and contrarian blogs have focused on attacking the integrity of climate science and scientists and, increasingly, has challenged climate policy and renewable energy. We further demonstrate the utility of our approach by exploring the influence of corporate and foundation funding on the production and dissemination of specific contrarian claims.

A Question of Utter Importance: The Early History of Climate Change and Energy Policy in Sweden, 1974–1983

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristoffer Ekberg ◽  
Martin Hultman
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Climate Science ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Early Years ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Political Sphere ◽  
History Of ◽  
Scientific Results

This paper studies early arguments in Sweden for combating climate change. We show how scientific results in relation to climate change entered the political sphere as part of the debate on energy in the 1970s, a process we propose to name energysation. We argue that the use of climate science by pro-nuclear political actors served as a way of maintaining a course set by a high-energy society while simultaneously trying to outmanoeuvre the growing environmental anti-nuclear and low-energy movement. When the pro-nuclear power side met with resistance, this led to a displacement of climate change knowledge away from the realm of the national political sphere and specific energy forms, a process we conceptualise as de-energysation. By highlighting conflicts and the political framings of climate change in the early years 1974–1983, we suggest that the history of these frames influences current delay in climate change mitigation and limits the range of actions and ways of addressing the ongoing climate emergency.

scholarly journals O episódio histórico das teorias do flogisto e calórico: criando interfaces entre a História e Filosofia da Ciência e o Ensino de Química na busca pela humanização do trabalho científico.c

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
pp. 153-180
Author(s):  
Letícia Do Prado ◽  
Marcelo Carbone Carneiro
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
History Of Science ◽  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
Phlogiston Theory ◽  
Chemistry Teaching ◽  
The Real ◽  
Historical Episode ◽  
History Of ◽  
Caloric Theory

ResumoA análise de episódios da história da ciência pode ser usada como uma estratégia didática que promove a superação de visões descontextualizadas da ciência. Permitindo que os alunos vivenciem a construção do conhecimento científico e percebam que eles não são feitos a partir de lampejos de genialidade ou de maneira isolada. Tornando-se impossível elencar apenas um indivíduo para representar a formulação de uma lei ou teoria. Neste trabalho nosso objetivo é apresentar a contribuição de Lavoisier no episódio histórico sobre o abandono da teoria do flogisto e ascensão da teoria do calórico, salientando a importância dada a experimentação no século XVII e XVIII e buscando com isto nos livrar de narrativas anedóticas, descontextualizadas e elitistas ainda presentes no Ensino de Química que colocam este personagem como pai da química moderna.Palavras-chave: História e Filosofia da Ciência; Ensino de Química; Lavoisier.AbstractThe analysis of episodes of the history of science can be used as a didactic strategy that promotes the overcoming of decontextualized visions of science. This makes the students experience the construction of scientific knowledge and realize that they are not made from glimpses of genius or in an isolated way, being impossible to list only an individual to represent the formulation of a law or theory. In this work, our objective is to present the real contribution of Lavoisier in the historical episode about the phlogiston theory abandonment and the rise of the caloric theory. From this, it is possible to stress the importance given to experimentation during the 17th and 18th century, seeking to get rid of anecdotal, decontextualized and elitist narratives that are still present in the Teaching of Chemistry that put this personage like father of the modern chemistry.Keywords: History and Philosophy of Science; Chemistry teaching; Lavoisier.

A Short History of Climate Adaptation Law in Australia

Climate Law ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 150-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan McDonald
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Land Use Planning ◽  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
Climate Science ◽  
Regulatory Domains ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
History Of ◽  
Adaptation Law ◽  
Building Standards

This article reviews Australia’s experience with adaptation law. While climate change is likely to implicate a number of regulatory domains, most adaptation reform has been in the field of spatial and land use planning. These reforms have been influenced by the institutional, political and fiscal context for spatial planning. Traditional planning tools such as zoning, set-backs, and building standards have been modified to address the exacerbating effects of climate change. A preference for market-based autonomous adaptation has seen increased interest in information instruments and limited experimentation with conditional approvals. Three themes characterise Australia’s brief history of adaptation and are likely to affect its development: the need for trade-offs between competing interests; the relationship between law-making and climate science; and the complexity and fragmentation of roles and responsibilities for adaptation. These challenges have pervaded environmental law for decades. The adaptation imperative is an important opportunity to rethink and reframe their resolution.

scholarly journals A hundred years of Milutin Milankovic's climate change theory-geological implications

2020 ◽  
Vol 81 (2) ◽  
pp. 87-98
Author(s):  
Dejan Radivojevic
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Time Scale ◽  
Climate Changes ◽  
Great Influence ◽  
Continental Drift ◽  
Climate Science ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Climate Conditions ◽  
Greenhouse Gasses ◽  
Fruitful Cooperation

Milankovic?s cycles theory published hundred years ago is the most important theory in climate science and had great influence on Earth disciplines. Nevertheless, his work waited for more than fifty years for confirmation. It could be said that Milankovic?s work had most influence in creation of Astronomic Time Scale, supporting of continental drift hypothesis and palaeoclimatology implications. Positive results of the implementation of the astronomic time scale to the Neogene stratigraphy initiated the application of this method within the Mesozoic, and lately also to the Paleozoic sediments. Milankovic?s manuscript of astronomical forcing of climate changes led to fruitful cooperation with Alfred Wegener who was searching for additional arguments to validate his continental drift hypothesis. The factors that cause climate changes enable insight to the geological past, but also the possibility to model the climate conditions which await us in the future. Climate change prediction allowed people, as only being aware of its influence, to act preventively and take all measurements needed to reduce greenhouse gasses emission.

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