Climatologist Judith Curry leaves academia over field's politicization
judithcurry.com
judithcurry.com
We can be certain the climate is not getting warmer.
The climate might or might not be getting warmer.
The climate is getting warmer, but it definitely has some other cause than human action.
The climate is getting warmer, and it might or might not be due to human actions.
The climate is getting warmer, and it is due at least to a considerable extent to human actions, but this will be on the whole good for the human race.
The climate is getting warmer, but it will have no overall impact on human well-being.
The climate is getting warmer, and it will be harmful, but it ought to be dealt with by free enterprise with little or no government action.
Or several other positions I have not mentioned.
Also, what does she think of those who hold one of the positions above that she does not hold--does she think they are irrational and ill-informed?
The climate is probably getting warmer, and humans probably are a significant part of that, but the uncertainty is enormous. The proposed climate change solutions are probably almost completely ineffective. The political tribalism of orthodox climate science is really harmful; it is important to make all data public and important to engage with people who have non-orthodox opinions. Credibility has been destroyed by the tribalism and by brushing aside the enormous uncertainty.
More:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judith_Curry
http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/27/a-climate-scien...
The climate is probably getting warmer, and humans probably are causing this. This will help some people while hurting others, and we are more fond of the people who might benefit from warming. (compare Canada with Saudi Arabia, or Alaska with Hawaii) We can't do anything to prevent climate change without devastating our economy; the climate change is probably less harmful, at least to us. Whatever we do to reduce fossil fuel usage will reduce the global price of fossil fuel, thus encouraging fossil fuel use in other countries that would like an economic advantage over us. Other countries will cheat on any agreements we make. If the climate situation becomes really bad, the best-prepared countries will be the ones with the strongest economies. In conclusion, we won't do a damn thing.
That sure doesn't play well in a sound bite, does it? OK, plan B is to deny the issue.
It doesn't even have to be intentional. When people find potential conclusions unacceptable, they seek alternate facts until an acceptable conclusion is reached. That's just how the human mind works.