So Bill Nye goes on CNN to debate climate change...
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bigboss370
Member
PrivateWHudson
Member
Bill Nye: Look at Sandy flooding NY
Other guy: Well, there is some data to suggest hurricane intensity and frequency is uncertain.
Bill Nye: Hurricane-Shmerricane...
I think the starting comment from the lady was correct, science guys need to work on messaging.
Other guy: Well, there is some data to suggest hurricane intensity and frequency is uncertain.
Bill Nye: Hurricane-Shmerricane...
I think the starting comment from the lady was correct, science guys need to work on messaging.
hydragonwarrior
Member
It's the reality of debating anyone who's staunchly opposted to accepting climate change; expect it to be a debate of "whoever is louder wins" and no one will walk away wiser.
The only way to convince these people is until either they are no longer impacted by lobbyists or the climate change impacts them directly and the evidence that it is climate change is plainly visible to them and none of their old talking points can refute it.
The only way to convince these people is until either they are no longer impacted by lobbyists or the climate change impacts them directly and the evidence that it is climate change is plainly visible to them and none of their old talking points can refute it.
Do scientists always have such snazzy ties?
You can tell bill nye is not a liberal arts student. Am I right or am I right?
Mechanized
Member
There was a time CNN wanted to be an alternative to FOX News, but since their ratings started to drop they've been getting really shitty.
People still watch/read CNN? Half the stuff on there is inaccurate at best.
They posted an article about how China was about to overtake the US in economy size.
My brother posted a comment 100% disproving the accuracy of the article complete with reliable sources for all information (Foreign Affairs, etc). His data showed that the Chinese economy was only 47% the size of the US economy. His post was presented maturely and not in an inflamatory nature.
Without reason the post was deleted by CNN. He then mentioned the "47 percent" on CNN elsewhere and CNN edited out the "47". They knew his data was right but for some reason did NOT want people to know what the accurate information was. Why? I have no idea but they post a lot of one sided stories that don't cover the entire truth.
Suffice to say, I don't read their stuff anymore.
They posted an article about how China was about to overtake the US in economy size.
My brother posted a comment 100% disproving the accuracy of the article complete with reliable sources for all information (Foreign Affairs, etc). His data showed that the Chinese economy was only 47% the size of the US economy. His post was presented maturely and not in an inflamatory nature.
Without reason the post was deleted by CNN. He then mentioned the "47 percent" on CNN elsewhere and CNN edited out the "47". They knew his data was right but for some reason did NOT want people to know what the accurate information was. Why? I have no idea but they post a lot of one sided stories that don't cover the entire truth.
Suffice to say, I don't read their stuff anymore.
Can Crusher
Banned
The host is so dumb it boggles the mind.
dragonelite
Member
But the climate is always changing. Who knows when the next ice age is around the corner.
Sometimes they have snazzy vests.
Aztechnology
Member
It's pretty obvious when he says that he's trying to say "listen, hurricanes are just one small byproduct of a HUGE problem, so STOP downplaying it."
The downplaying portion, the ignorance will only hold for so long until it's too late. These people are so worried about money and saving face, that they don't care about the consequences. The ironic part is naysayers often say "god will sort it out", or "hey hopefully scientists will come up with a solution by then". The problem is my country has adopted a methodology of patching instead of preventative solutions, and to stay competitive in a global market other countries have followed our model. So we have to change it to show the viability.
Another problem is a small percentage of people are too worried about losing their money and power due to policy changes. Those people are the strongest backers of lobbying etc. The U.S in my humble opinion is an industrial oligarchy operating under the facade of a democracy. The masses do have the power to change things if united, Unfortunately, it won't happen due to increasing schism caused by polarization of parties over religion and money.
liquidspeed
Member
I have a degree in Mechanical Engineering and I have to say it has a lot of overlap with other scientific fields including some of the physics that govern climate change. Consider that I have taken courses in introductory and intermediate Heat Transfer ( including radiation heat transfer with atmospheric scattering, absorption, emission, solar radiation,etc) fluid dynamics, computational fluid dynamics, Mathematical modeling of dynamic systems ( via differential, partial differential, and integral differential equations)., control systems theory, chemistry,applied statistics,etc.
Part of earning this degree is also learning how to think like a scientist and how to learn in general.
All of those are relevant to the fields of climate and atmospheric science.
DoktorEvil
Banned
Didn't know these things. Interesting.
How recent is your degree in Engineering? His degree was from the 70s and he did say he had Carl Sagan as a professor.
liquidspeed
Member
I just graduated in December, but advanced mathematics, fluid dynamics, control systems, and heat transfer have long been staples of the mechanical engineering discipline.
Edit: yeah it's be awesome to have Sagan as a professor!
Edit 2: Since I have graduated I have taken an interest in climate science and I have watched dozens on PHD lectures on the subject via youtube. There is an enormous amount of complexity to the subject and an atmospheric or climate scientist is certainly much more qualified to comment on it than I am. I just wanted to point out that there are some topics in Mech E. that are relevant to the physics of climate science, and that Mech.E is a real science degree.
The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
Keep in mind also that especially with science and engineering your degree represents the first fractional part of your education. The very nature of the field makes it continually educational, and I'm sure he's learned a lot in the last 40 years
But yes, Mechanical Engineering especially isn't actually all that much about mechanisms or whatever, its aaaaaall about the manipulation and flow of matter and energy
liquidspeed
Member
definitely! btw Technomancer, don't you have a degree in mechanical or aerospace engineering?
The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
Yup, got my degree in mech e. I love all of the more technical thmodynamicmstuff theoretically, but I'm leveraging it into industrial and product design haha
liquidspeed
Member
Yeah there's a lot of that - Thermodynamics, Fluid dynamics, Control systems, Heat Transfer Mathematical Modeling of dynamics,etc but still the study of materials science, deformable bodies, failure theories, machine dynamics,etc is covered too.
The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
"Prominant people are good at everything" is, while not uniquely American by a long shot, something our culture of individualism and the superhero businessman has definitely excaberated. We have this weird problem with admitting that some specialized people know more than the rest of us no matter how famous they are
liquidspeed
Member
THIS! - this is how I am.. I love all the advanced mathematics ( heck I learned how to solve nonlinear partial differential equations in my intermediate heat transfer class), and the slightly more abstract fields like thermo, heat,controls,etc
Sure, they watch them as source of info, the rest of the world as entertainment.
DoktorEvil
Banned
Thank you for the information.
I understand now that Bill Nye is the person that can bridge the gap between the science and the communication.
Having a TV background also helps.
liquidspeed
Member
You are welcome! and yeah Bill Nye has long been one of my "heros". Its funny that I didn't know that he was a mechanical engineer until after I graduated.
He does a fantastic job of promoting general science education. Apparently he has a new show on the science channel too!
liquidspeed
Member
The thing is climate records go back 100's of thousands of years. Ice ages are caused by shifts in the Earth's orbit ( MIlankovitch cycles) and occur roughly every 100,000 years.
It is well understood that C02 from fossil fuels is the cause of the current heating. C02 concentrations have risen 43 percent since 1880 and chemical analysis shows that this new C02 is from the burning of these fuels. Satellites measure the energy imbalance in Earth and show that this imbalance is caused by radiation absorbed by C02.
Aztechnology
Member
I just watch Vice now. Good stuff.
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