"Poor, Edmund W" <Edmund.W.Poor(a)abc.com> writes:
Gareth,
Please do not call me dishonest. At worst, I might be mistaken.
In this case, I believe it is you who are mistaken.
There were several questions on the survey.
You are presenting one question, then giving the score for the answer to
another question. Assuming good faith, you are simply making an honest
error.
I shall quote the page you gave
the mean of the entire sample of 4.6 for the ability to make reasonable
predictions of *inter-annual variability* tends to indicate that scientists
feel that reasonable prediction is not yet a possibility... mean of 4.8 for
reasonable predictions of 10 years ...mean of 5.2 for periods of 100 years...
You said:
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The survey shows an even split among scientists
on whether the GW theory is true.
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The numbers you cited (mean 4.8) were *specifically* about the accuracy of
*model predictions* on annual and inter-annual variability.
Got that? Model predictions and inter-annual variability.
You represented as a statistic about "Is global warming true"
Thats totally dishonest.
When asked whether they believed in GW / GWH they said:
the mean response for the entire sample was 3.3 indicating a slight
tendency towards the position that global warming has indeed been
detected and is underway.... Regarding global warming as being a possible
future event, there is a higher expression of confidence as indicated by the
mean of 2.6.
You said :
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The survey shows an even split among scientists on whether the GW theory
is true. This is far from the "consensus" that some GW theory proponents
claim exists. The fact that a survey contradicts the political views of the
Clinton administration and of the UN climate panel, should be in the
Wikipedia.
...unless, of course, someone genuinely feels that a mean score of 4.8
on a scale from 1 (agree) and 7 (disagree) represents a "consensus" of
agreement!
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I don't care that you find it unpalatable.
Your representation of those figures is flagrantly dishonest.
--
Gareth Owen
"Wikipedia does rock. By the count on the "brilliant prose" page, there
are 14 not-bad articles so far" -- Larry Sanger (12 Jan 2001)