Friday, October 08, 2010

Junk science indeed - GMU investigating climate hockey stick critic Edward Wegman - plagiarism

Oct 13 correction&update in italics.
George Mason University is investigating leading climate changehockey stick "skeptic" Edward Wegman, whose Wegman Report was embraced by climate science doubters and was recently cited by Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli in his efforts to go after "hockey stick" climate researcher Michael Mann.

USA Today - University investigating prominent climate science critic
" 250-page report on the Deep Climate website (pdf) written by computer scientist John Mashey of Portola Valley, Calif....Mashey says his analysis shows that 35 of the 91 pages in the 2006 Wegman report are plagiarized...and contain erroneous citations of data, as well."
And it's not just plagiarism.

Michael Mann has a Washington Post op-ed today, Get the anti-science bent out of politics:
"...they want to continue a 20-year assault on climate research, questioning basic science and promoting doubt where there is none.
...
We have lived through the pseudo-science that questioned the link between smoking cigarettes and lung cancer, and the false claims questioning the science of acid rain and the hole in the ozone layer. The same dynamics and many of the same players are still hard at work, questioning the reality of climate change.
...
the attacks against the science must stop. They are not good-faith questioning of scientific research. They are anti-science.

How can I assure young researchers in climate science that if they make a breakthrough in our understanding about how human activity is altering our climate that they, too, will not be dragged through a show trial at a congressional hearing?

America has led the world in science for decades. It has benefited our culture, our economy and our understanding of the world.

My fellow scientists and I must be ready to stand up to blatant abuse from politicians who seek to mislead and distract the public. They are hurting American science. And their failure to accept the reality of climate change will hurt our children and grandchildren, too. "

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