NCAR's atmospheric research program: Objectivity lacking?

On visiting the National Weather Service's forecast page, I noticed the following message at the top of the page:

The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) will be conducting a survey in Fall 2010 to ask people's opinions about this web page. This survey is not being conducted by the National Weather Service (NWS) or any other government entity. If you are willing to be contacted by email to participate in this web-based survey, please click here (you will be redirected to an NCAR web page).

Atmospheric research is good, I thought, but what is the nature of NCAR's program and is it worth participating? To find out, I went to NCAR's Web page where I found a link to their strategic plan.

The following excerpt was taken from the executive summary of NCAR's plans. Note the highlighted section:

In preparing [the strategic plan update], NCAR staff and community members reviewed current trends in our science and in national and international affairs. Simple extrapolation demonstrates how important atmospheric and Earth system science are to our common future. Human activities are causing large-scale changes in the Earth system—such as alterations in atmospheric chemistry, ozone depletion, and climate change—and population growth during the next century will make the effects of humans on the environment, and vice versa, far more pervasive, complex, and substantial.

As everyone knows, the scientific method involves defining a hypothesis, testing that hypothesis against empirical data, then either accepting or rejecting the hypothesis. The key to the method is for the researchers to maintain objectivity and not be committed to certain outcomes.

That being said, NCAR's characterization of the problem—stated as a fact rather than as a hypothesis—signals a lack of objectivity in NCAR's approach to their research, i.e., NCAR's basic premise is anthropogenic global warming is true and all that remains to be done is to discover what to do about it.

So, unless the researchers are allowed to reject NCAR's basic premise, I doubt NCAR's research will be an improvement over the now discredited IPCC Fourth Assessment Report.

More AGW hokum

This time the bogus report comes from NOAA.

WASHINGTON – Scientists from around the world are providing even more evidence of global warming, one day after President Barack Obama renewed his call for climate legislation.

The timing of the release from NOAA is obviously the result of a political calculation rather than dispassionate science.

Rising over decades are average air temperature, the ratio of water vapor to air, ocean heat content, sea surface temperature, sea level, air temperature over the ocean and air temperature over land.

It is well-known that water vapor is the major greenhouse gas.

"What this data is doing is, it is screaming that the world is warming," Thorne [of the Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites] concluded.

Well, okay. But that doesn't speak to the reasons for the warming. Nor, does it speak to the fact that we are currently in the waning phase of the 200-year solar irradiance cycle meaning the globe will soon be cooling. Nor, given that atmospheric water vapor is increased, does it explain why H wants to cut CO2 emissions.

But, never mind all that. Just in case you happen to be dull enough to not be alarmed by the science, they threw in this tidbit:

And a study by Princeton University researchers released Monday suggested that continued warming could cause as many as 6.7 million more Mexicans to move to the United States because of drought affecting crops in their country.

Alarmed now, you racist dullard?

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Obama addresses his base

H addresses the Netroots Nation convention. Netroots—the term is intended to evoke a grassroots image—is a network of liberal/progressive partisan activists.

After an opening greeting, the video cuts away to a Rachel Maddow clip reciting the list of legislation passed that we all know about. The video concludes with H taking—as is his habit—a poke at the previous administration and exhorts his Netroots base to "keep up the fight" and to "keep holding [him] accountable."

That last bit seems to be an invitation to Netroots to create such a ruckus over some issue that he, the president, will be forced to take some action that would not otherwise be politically feasible.