tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5732948857185901546.post517035906373580668..comments2022-11-09T17:35:44.299+01:00Comments on The BACC Blog: BACC II results presented and discussed in TallinnMarcus Reckermannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08181350378437156846noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5732948857185901546.post-44805931690267261402012-09-14T18:41:57.820+02:002012-09-14T18:41:57.820+02:00The comment above was mailed from and not planned ...The comment above was mailed from and not planned to be anonymous<br /><br />Best regards<br /><br />Anders OmstedtAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03688167693454008878noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5732948857185901546.post-30677849877395110852012-09-14T07:46:31.458+02:002012-09-14T07:46:31.458+02:00The meeting was very stimulating.
Of major concern...The meeting was very stimulating.<br />Of major concern for the Baltic Sea marine system is the salinity and thus the water balance. It seems as most scenarios indicate a wetter north but a dryer south. Maybe we can state that this is a robust finding? It will have large impacts on the biogeochemistry of the Baltic Sea as the drainage basin in north and south are very different. The question if the net precipitation and river runoff to the Baltic Sea will increase or decrease is much more unclear. Historical evidence illustrates that a warmer climate is a dryer climate and a colder climate is a wetter climate in the region. Added to this aspect is that the climate models have large bias in the water balance components and they poorly model for example tree dynamics with regard to water uptake etc. I think we should not state that the Baltic Sea will be fresher or saltier but instead state that Baltic Sea may become fresher or saltier depending on the net inflow of freshwater to the Baltic Sea and more work is needed in salinity and water balance studies<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5732948857185901546.post-32986257706273188882012-09-13T12:53:12.679+02:002012-09-13T12:53:12.679+02:00Dear Mikko Alestalo,
let me first comment on the ...Dear Mikko Alestalo,<br /><br />let me first comment on the issue of "public role of the scientists, it is of utmost importance that they take part in the communication of scientific results to the public". I would fully agree. <br /><br />They take part in informing the policymaking process, including the public debate, about the available knowledge, the uncertainty (part of the contemporary knowledge), but not in an attempt to push for a specific policy. Broadening the range of options to allow the democratic process to run its course, and not - as we often see - limiting the range to one preferred option). However, we see these attempts quite often, which means to use the "authority of science" for personal, value-driven agendas. This is a not a sustainable approach - many forget that the quality "sustainable" applies for all social activities, including science.<br /><br />More on the other issues later.<br /><br />HansHans von Storchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08778028673130006646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5732948857185901546.post-51699741530410705752012-09-12T10:34:27.777+02:002012-09-12T10:34:27.777+02:00I have now added a comprehensive summary by Anders...I have now added a comprehensive summary by Anders. Marcus Reckermannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08181350378437156846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5732948857185901546.post-21172411412974833652012-09-12T09:52:34.082+02:002012-09-12T09:52:34.082+02:00Some comments about the summary from BACC II confe...Some comments about the summary from BACC II conference by Hans von Storch (as requested):<br /><br />Overall Summary<br />The sentence "...remains questionable if it is a dominant issue" is more like an opinion. What the other issues might be, noting that this is an assessment of climate change. Is there a scientific comparison of the various issues?<br /><br />The summary rather highlights the problems. Some new scientific achievements of substance- which three are plenty - would be good to show as well.<br /><br />In "Past climate variability", section 2.3:<br />It would be advantageous to show the various forcings in same units, e.g. in W/m2 for proper comparison. Aerosol forcing is not shown.<br /><br />In Ch 4, "Impacts"<br />Instead of saying "very few evidence for impacts of CC as such!", one could say that due to the non-linearity of interacting processes the impact of CC is hard to isolate as such.<br /><br />In "Detection and atribution" the last sentence in bold "The finding that present..." requires further consideration. There should be no uncertainty of the claim at the global level. The varying regional characteristics may be true, e.g. for aerosol forcing in Europe. Whether "serious limitation in knowledge" is true remains yet open.Mikko Alestalonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5732948857185901546.post-50107158795531148792012-09-12T08:57:35.350+02:002012-09-12T08:57:35.350+02:00Thank you very much for the great effort to everyb...Thank you very much for the great effort to everybody concerned.<br /><br />Some comments of mine to "BACC II results presented and discussed in Tallinn":<br /><br />Regarding the public role of the scientists, it is of utmost importance that they take part in the communication of scientific results to the public. It is their responsibility to open the scientific results, together with the obvious risks involved to the mankind, in plain language. This cannot be left to non-specialists only. The minimum level of participation required is observed when obvious disinformation about the science is being distributed in the media, either by the good ones or the bad ones. The decision making will be left to the responsible politicians, but based on scientifically correct facts made understandable.Mikko Alestalonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5732948857185901546.post-1825116211320733472012-09-11T23:38:46.823+02:002012-09-11T23:38:46.823+02:00Even if "scientific truth" is a difficul...Even if "scientific truth" is a difficult concept. ...<br />I enjoyed the meeting quite a bit; the BACC community, i.e., WE, have have matured in our debate and effort of determining consensus, also if that means consensus on disensus.<br />Hans von Storchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08778028673130006646noreply@blogger.com