Arctic Ice, Maurice Newman and the arrogant dismissal of science by too many Australian elites

If any of you get the time, go to Charctic and enter the data year by year (starting with 1979) .. the trend with time is utterly convincing. Some sceptics will say - yes, but sea ice in Antarctica is increasing (even though land ice is falling) - hence climate change is wrong .. that's a bit like saying if someone's pulse is more than 100 their heart is doing ok .. (i.e. a doctor looks at the whole patient) overall, looking at the signs and symptoms of the Earth eco-social "patient" it is clear the patient is ill .. though not yet in intensive care .. if it gets to that stage then we and the next generations have had it .. after several decades of blindness to these issues the World Bank, IMF, the Vatican, the UN, and some governments are showing signs of awakening .. and new technology too .. so it's important to not lose hope - this year - the Paris meeting is very important. But as for mainstream media, even the ABC Science show, is, I'm afraid, contaminated - eg Robin Williams gave a very soft interview to Bjorn Lomborg not long ago, despite a good story about a book called the Lomborg Deception from 2010.


Maurice Newman and David Murray are prominent climate sceptics in Australia, with great influence. (Newman finally lost influence after Malcolm Turnbull's ascendancy in September 2015.) Despite their zero science background they are used to interpreting figures .. I wonder what they would make of these Arctic data? Unfortunately (back to the ABC) I have seen them hopelessly overwhelm interviewers (eg Emma Alberici) who lack the knowledge to really challenge them .. Q & A would be be vastly improved, perhaps, if they let Will Steffen (here's a link to great lecture by Will in memory of the late Michael Raupach) debate Newman and Murray - though, even there, the illiteracy of so many in the audience would be a problem .. but it would be better than having someone like Emma or Tony Jones question them.

PS the Antarctic sea ice is thought to be growing due to changed ocean circulation patterns - not any cooling in the Southern Ocean.

PPS Maurice Newman was sacked in one of the first decisions of Malcolm Turnbull's new administration.