It seems fitting that I should have at least one post looking at the Man who’s pseudo-science blog this one parodies.
According to a question asked in one of his own postings Mr Goddard says;
So academically he is about as qualified as myself and about as qualified as my cat to post his own analysis’s climate change. Also from various comments and posts it seems that he likes soccer and follows the English Premiership and enjoys cycling.“I have a Bachelor of Science in Geology and a Masters In Electrical Engineering”
If you do a search for "Steven Goddard" on Google, it doesn't really show up much and this man seems very elusive, almost invisible. There are no photographs and no biography to the point that ‘Steven Goddard’ may even be a pseudonym. The cynic in me might suggest the name picked as a method of generating search hits on “Goddard” + “climate”.
He has had some articles published in The Register a British technology news and opinion website. Searching his name at The Reg gives links to just 5 opinion pieces all from about four years ago.
One of his pieces posted on Friday 15th August 2008 called ‘ “Arctic ice refuses to melt as ordered: There’s something rotten north of Denmark” he attacked the National Snow and Ice Data Center.
But after being contacted by Dr. Walt Meier at NSIDC he was forced to issue a retraction;
Steven Goddard writes: “Dr. Walt Meier at NSIDC has convinced me this week that their ice extent numbers are solid…. It is clear that the NSIDC graph is correct, and that 2008 Arctic ice is barely 10% above last year – just as NSIDC had stated.”
Unfortunately, this original error raced around the world on the the blogosphere and in many cases remains uncorrected. More information on this retraction can be found here.
Mr Goddard has previously popped up with numerous and inventive “sea ice updates” at Anthony Watts’ WTFUWT blog. This should be a clear warning to any WATTS followers as to the awful standard permissible for posting there, and some embarrassing back tracking has also happened as this post shows; “Arctic Ice Graphing LessonIncreasing Bt 50,000 km2 per year”.
Mr Goddard has also contributed to to the Science and Public Policy Institute‘s never-ending stream of climate denier propaganda joining the ranks of the truly potty with Viscount Christopher Monckton of Brenchley now as a peer. A good over view of his standard of scientific rigour at SPPI can be found at sciblogs;
UPDATE: I don't know how I missed it but it looks recent - Mr Goddard has an 'About Me' on his site confirming his engineering qualifications, that his name is in deed a nom de plume and claims to be an environmentalist.
Lazarus: The idea that one needs credentials to tell the truth or understand what's going on is just silly. The presumption is that climatologists all agree and cannot be wrong because they are, climatologists. This is what politicians do when they cannot convince people to see their way. They attempt to disqualify. I am not a climatologist, but I can tell you with near certainty that the sun will show itself tomorrow, maybe behind some clouds, maybe not. Are you telling me that I am not qualified to have this knowledge?
ReplyDeleteStraw man argument. No one has said you need credentials to understand what's going on. But if what you claim is going on isn't what most people with credentials are saying then in all likelihood you have no idea what is going on.
DeletePossibly so, and don't take me for a denier/skeptic, etc. In general I acknowledge the likelihood that those who've devoted their careers to the study of climate are likely correct. My own blog so indicates. And it's certainly the case that Goddard (or whatever his name is) has had to retract some statements he's made at WUWT, etc. But he's quite a machine at gathering statistics that make statements by some in the climate science community look foolish, that is, unless he's literally falsified the data he presents. And since it comes from publicly available sources, I doubt that he has done that.
ReplyDeleteHis current favorite topics are the statements about the "record high temperature records" claims that I've seen, as well as the record high vs. record low ratio and the alteration of historical temperature data.
Next, calling Mario's comment a straw man argument may be technically accurate but it's quite disingenuous. You do not specifically state but clearly imply that his academic credentials make him unqualified to opine on climate. This is quite clear when you say "So academically he is about as qualified as myself and about as qualified as my cat to post his own analysis’s climate change."
Delving further into your blog, perhaps there's significant evidence that Goddard does, in fact, literally falsify the data he presents. However, I'm going to, based on his reaction to your calling him out on his map, assume that the numbers he culls are factually accurate until shown otherwise.
DeletePs: Yes, I know that one shouldn't reply to oneself. But I can't edit my comment (using proper blog etiquette to show the update and the original, of course) so this is the best I can do.
Don't worry about replying to yourself - i do it, usually to correct stupid mistakes.
DeleteGoddard's data sets are correct- no doubt. I have spent time reconstructing some of his own graphs as I did here;
http://reallysciency.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/sea-level-has-been-declining-for.html
But his analysis are almost always flawed. He is often very selective in what he uses, using the data most biased to support his belief, or alters it to get the result he wants, often by coloring. He also has the habit of adding 'trend lines' drawn on rather than actually calculated.
I would be interested, since you seem genuine, in any Goddard post where you think he has made the 'climate science community look foolish' in a credible way.
As a biomedical scientist who believes in accurate and truthful scientific reporting, I thank you for what you do!
ReplyDeleteBecause of the demands of my own job and the fact that I'm not in the field of climate science I don't have the time to track down these denialists and expose their lies and deceits, but i'm eternally grateful that some people out there do!
Keep fighting the good fight!