Watts Up With That
Encyclopedia
Watts Up With That? is a popular science
blog
, created in 2006 by California meteorologist Anthony Watts, that reports on anthropogenic
global warming
-related issues from a skeptical
standpoint. The tagline
of the blog is "News and commentary on puzzling things in life, nature, science, weather, climate change, technology, and recent news". The blog features a regular list of contributors, including Indur Goklany
, and guest authors, such as Judith Curry
and Christopher Monckton
.
What's Up With That? often features content related to Watts's climate and temperature data projects, including his Surface Stations temperature data research project, his urban heat island
transect project, and his Stevenson screen
paint experiment.
In November 2009, the blog was one of the first websites to publish emails and documents from the Climatic Research Unit controversy
. Because of its high traffic numbers, the blog played a key role in the resulting controversy.
The site receives more than two million visits per month and has been described as perhaps the "world's most viewed climate website." Observers and critics have noted the blog's influence and role in the debate over global warming science on the Internet.
WUWT won the Bloggies in 2011 for best science blog and was recognized by The Times
as one of the top 30 science blogs of 2009. It was voted the "Best Science Blog" in the 2008 Weblog Awards
.
transect project, which is dedicated to measuring the actual urban heat island effect in major cities as well as his Stevenson screen
paint experiment, which is testing whether a little noted changeover from whitewash to latex paints could have caused a heretofore unrecognized warming bias during the 20th century as whitewashed screens were replaced with latex painted ones.
, in 2007 WUWT readers, along with Stephen McIntyre
, found that selected temperature records published by the Goddard Institute for Space Studies
(GISS) based on data from United States Historical Climate Network were in error, causing GISS to mistakenly label 1998 as the hottest year on record for the United States. In August 2007, McIntyre alerted GISS to the problematic numbers, which GISS acknowledged and corrected. As a result, the hottest year on record for the United States was changed to 1934, rather than the 1998 it had been earlier. In response, GISS stated that the temperature differences were slight and of little significance globally as the United States represents only a small fraction of the Earth's surface.
from the Climate Research Unit of the University of East Anglia
was leaked to the public. The Guardian
reported that WUWT was one of three blogs "sent links to the cache of CRU leaked material, via anonymous servers, on the same day, Tuesday 17 November". On the morning of 17 November 2009 (California
time), a link was posted anonymously on WUWT to a Russian server containing the CRU emails and documents. Charles Rotter, a moderator for WUWT, noticed the link and notified Watts. Rotter made a CD copy of the files which he gave to Steve Mosher to analyze. Mosher called some of the individuals named in the emails and confirmed that the emails were genuine. Mosher began posting the contents of the emails on other blogs, including Climate Audit
. Shortly thereafter, still on 17 November, Watts gave Rotter permission to post the emails and files on WUWT. Because of WUWT's high traffic count, according to Fred Pearce
of the Guardian
, this was the catalyst which broke the story to the media.
In an interview with the Financial Times
, Watts reported that his blog had become "busier than ever" after the incident and that traffic to the site had tripled. According to the same article, the total number of hits
on the site since its launch had topped 37 million. In his blog for the Daily Telegraph, James Delingpole
wrote that "Climategate", a term often used in the popular press to describe the controversy, was originally coined by a commenter in a post on WUWT.
statistical analysis, What's Up With That? is ranked #6,494 in the U.S. and #16,848 world-wide. The blog is also popular in New Zealand, where it is ranked #1,048. WUWT receives more two million visits per month. Fred Pearce, environmental writer and author, described WUWT as the "world's most viewed climate website" in his 2010 publication of The Climate Files: The Battle for the Truth about Global Warming. Matt Ridley
of The Spectator
described WUWT as having "metamorphosed from a gathering place for lonely nutters to a three-million-hits-per-month online newspaper on climate full of fascinating articles by physicists, geologists, economists and statisticians".
Patrick J. Michaels, climatologist and contributor to the IPCC First Assessment Report
, described WUWT as part of a new "parallel universe" of emerging online publications, manned by serious scientists critical of world governments approach to climate change: "A parallel universe is assembling itself parallel to the IPCC. This universe has become very technical – very proficient at taking apart the U.N.'s findings."
Watts's blog has frequently been criticized for inaccuracy. Environmental activist George Monbiot
, in his blog at The Guardian, described WUWT as "highly partisan and untrustworthy". Leo Hickman
, at The Guardians Environment Blog, also criticized Watts's blog, stating that Watts "risks polluting his legitimate scepticism about the scientific processes and methodologies underpinning climate science with his accompanying politicised commentary."
The Times
named Watts Up With That? as one of the 30 best science blogs and described it as: "One of the more entertainingly sceptic blogs, written by a former TV weatherman. The ecofriendly blogger offers commentary on science, nature, climate change and technology, as well as 'puzzling things in life.'" WUWT won the "Best Science Blog" award in the 2008 Weblog Awards, an internet organization that tallied 933,022 votes in 48 different categories for the 2008 awards.
In February 2010, climatologist Judith Curry
, as a guest contributor, published an open letter on WUWT and other climate-related blogs, "On the Credibility of Climate Change, Towards Rebuilding Trust," in which Curry commented on the benefits of blog-led debate and called for greater transparency in scientists' work. Also in 2010, Christopher Monckton
published on WUWT his account of his "influence on Lady Thatcher's views about climate change during the 1980s". Monckton, a skeptic towards the theory of anthropogenic global warming, also published a detailed rebuttal on WUWT in response to criticism directed at him by John Abraham, associate professor of mechanical engineering at University of St. Thomas
.
Fox News
has attributed to WUWT exclusive photographs used in FoxNews's coverage of the Deepwater Horizon
oil rig disaster
.
Popular science
Popular science, sometimes called literature of science, is interpretation of science intended for a general audience. While science journalism focuses on recent scientific developments, popular science is broad-ranging, often written by scientists as well as journalists, and is presented in many...
blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
, created in 2006 by California meteorologist Anthony Watts, that reports on anthropogenic
Anthropogenic
Human impact on the environment or anthropogenic impact on the environment includes impacts on biophysical environments, biodiversity and other resources. The term anthropogenic designates an effect or object resulting from human activity. The term was first used in the technical sense by Russian...
global warming
Global warming
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
-related issues from a skeptical
Environmental skepticism
Environmental skepticism is an umbrella term that describes those that argue that particular claims put forward by environmentalists and environmental scientists who support the first are false or exaggerated, along with those who are critical of environmentalism in general...
standpoint. The tagline
Tagline
A tagline is a variant of a branding slogan typically used in marketing materials and advertising. The idea behind the concept is to create a memorable phrase that will sum up the tone and premise of a brand or product , or to reinforce the audience's memory of a product...
of the blog is "News and commentary on puzzling things in life, nature, science, weather, climate change, technology, and recent news". The blog features a regular list of contributors, including Indur Goklany
Indur M. Goklany
Indur M. Goklany is a science and technology policy analyst for the United States Department of the Interior, where he holds the position of Assistant Director of Programs, Science and Technology Policy....
, and guest authors, such as Judith Curry
Judith Curry
Judith A. Curry is an American climatologist and chair of the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Her research interests include hurricanes, remote sensing, atmospheric modeling, polar climates, air-sea interactions, and the use of unmanned aerial...
and Christopher Monckton
Christopher Monckton, 3rd Viscount Monckton of Brenchley
Christopher Walter Monckton, 3rd Viscount Monckton of Brenchley is a British politician, public speaker, former newspaper editor and hereditary peer. Formerly a member of the Conservative Party, Monckton has been the Head of the Policy Unit for the UK Independence Party since November 2010. He was...
.
What's Up With That? often features content related to Watts's climate and temperature data projects, including his Surface Stations temperature data research project, his urban heat island
Urban heat island
An urban heat island is a metropolitan area which is significantly warmer than its surrounding rural areas. The phenomenon was first investigated and described by Luke Howard in the 1810s, although he was not the one to name the phenomenon. The temperature difference usually is larger at night...
transect project, and his Stevenson screen
Stevenson screen
A Stevenson screen or instrument shelter is an enclosure to shield meteorological instruments against precipitation and direct heat radiation from outside sources, while still allowing air to circulate freely around them. It forms part of a standard weather station...
paint experiment.
In November 2009, the blog was one of the first websites to publish emails and documents from the Climatic Research Unit controversy
Climatic Research Unit email controversy
The Climatic Research Unit email controversy began in November 2009 with the hacking of a server at the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia...
. Because of its high traffic numbers, the blog played a key role in the resulting controversy.
The site receives more than two million visits per month and has been described as perhaps the "world's most viewed climate website." Observers and critics have noted the blog's influence and role in the debate over global warming science on the Internet.
WUWT won the Bloggies in 2011 for best science blog and was recognized by The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
as one of the top 30 science blogs of 2009. It was voted the "Best Science Blog" in the 2008 Weblog Awards
The Weblog Awards (Wizbang)
The Weblog Awards, presented by Kevin Aylward's Wizbang LLC, were an annual blog award that have been presented since 2003. They were one of the largest blog awards, with winners determined through internet voting by the public. The Weblog Awards are covered by many major news organizations...
.
Projects
Watts's Surface Stations project (at www.surfacetations.org), an analysis of terrestrial US weather stations is often discussed on WUWT. Occasional mention is made of Watts's urban heat islandUrban heat island
An urban heat island is a metropolitan area which is significantly warmer than its surrounding rural areas. The phenomenon was first investigated and described by Luke Howard in the 1810s, although he was not the one to name the phenomenon. The temperature difference usually is larger at night...
transect project, which is dedicated to measuring the actual urban heat island effect in major cities as well as his Stevenson screen
Stevenson screen
A Stevenson screen or instrument shelter is an enclosure to shield meteorological instruments against precipitation and direct heat radiation from outside sources, while still allowing air to circulate freely around them. It forms part of a standard weather station...
paint experiment, which is testing whether a little noted changeover from whitewash to latex paints could have caused a heretofore unrecognized warming bias during the 20th century as whitewashed screens were replaced with latex painted ones.
Temperature records
According to journalist Christopher BookerChristopher Booker
Christopher John Penrice Booker is an English journalist and author. In 1961, he was one of the founders of the magazine Private Eye, and has contributed to it for over four decades. He has been a columnist for the Sunday Telegraph since 1990...
, in 2007 WUWT readers, along with Stephen McIntyre
Stephen McIntyre
Stephen McIntyre is a Canadian mathematician, former minerals prospector, and semi-retired mining consultant who is best known as the founder and editor of Climate Audit, a blog devoted to the analysis and discussion of climate data...
, found that selected temperature records published by the Goddard Institute for Space Studies
Goddard Institute for Space Studies
The NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies , at Columbia University in New York City, is a component laboratory of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Earth-Sun Exploration Division and a unit of The Earth Institute at Columbia University...
(GISS) based on data from United States Historical Climate Network were in error, causing GISS to mistakenly label 1998 as the hottest year on record for the United States. In August 2007, McIntyre alerted GISS to the problematic numbers, which GISS acknowledged and corrected. As a result, the hottest year on record for the United States was changed to 1934, rather than the 1998 it had been earlier. In response, GISS stated that the temperature differences were slight and of little significance globally as the United States represents only a small fraction of the Earth's surface.
Involvement in the Climatic Research Unit email controversy
In late 2009, an archive containing emails and other documentsClimatic Research Unit documents
Climatic Research Unit documents including thousands of e-mails and other documents were stolen from a server at the Climatic Research Unit of the University of East Anglia in a hacking incident in November 2009. The documents were redistributed first through the climate skeptic blogosphere, and...
from the Climate Research Unit of the University of East Anglia
University of East Anglia
The University of East Anglia is a public research university based in Norwich, United Kingdom. It was established in 1963, and is a founder-member of the 1994 Group of research-intensive universities.-History:...
was leaked to the public. The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
reported that WUWT was one of three blogs "sent links to the cache of CRU leaked material, via anonymous servers, on the same day, Tuesday 17 November". On the morning of 17 November 2009 (California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
time), a link was posted anonymously on WUWT to a Russian server containing the CRU emails and documents. Charles Rotter, a moderator for WUWT, noticed the link and notified Watts. Rotter made a CD copy of the files which he gave to Steve Mosher to analyze. Mosher called some of the individuals named in the emails and confirmed that the emails were genuine. Mosher began posting the contents of the emails on other blogs, including Climate Audit
Climate Audit
Climate Audit is a blog which was founded on 31 January 2005 by Steve Mcintyre.The New York Times has called it "a popular skeptics’ blog".The website has won the 2007 Best Science Blog award and was a runner up in the same category in 2008.-Founding:...
. Shortly thereafter, still on 17 November, Watts gave Rotter permission to post the emails and files on WUWT. Because of WUWT's high traffic count, according to Fred Pearce
Fred Pearce
Fred Pearce is an English author and journalist based in London. He has been described as one of Britain's finest science writers and has reported on environment, popular science and development issues from 64 countries over the past 20 years. He specializes in global environmental issues,...
of the Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, this was the catalyst which broke the story to the media.
In an interview with the Financial Times
Financial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
, Watts reported that his blog had become "busier than ever" after the incident and that traffic to the site had tripled. According to the same article, the total number of hits
Hit (internet)
A hit is a request to a web server for a file . When a web page is uploaded from a server the number of "hits" or "page hits" is equal to the number of files requested. Therefore, one page load does not always equal one hit because often pages are made up of other images and other files which stack...
on the site since its launch had topped 37 million. In his blog for the Daily Telegraph, James Delingpole
James Delingpole
James Delingpole is an English columnist and novelist. A self-described libertarian conservative, he writes for The Times, The Daily Telegraph, and The Spectator. He has published several novels and four political books, most recently Watermelons: The Green Movement's True Colors [2011]...
wrote that "Climategate", a term often used in the popular press to describe the controversy, was originally coined by a commenter in a post on WUWT.
Reception
According to Alexa internetAlexa Internet
Alexa Internet, Inc. is a California-based subsidiary company of Amazon.com that is known for its toolbar and Web site. Once installed, the toolbar collects data on browsing behavior which is transmitted to the Web site where it is stored and analyzed and is the basis for the company's Web traffic...
statistical analysis, What's Up With That? is ranked #6,494 in the U.S. and #16,848 world-wide. The blog is also popular in New Zealand, where it is ranked #1,048. WUWT receives more two million visits per month. Fred Pearce, environmental writer and author, described WUWT as the "world's most viewed climate website" in his 2010 publication of The Climate Files: The Battle for the Truth about Global Warming. Matt Ridley
Matt Ridley
Matthew White Ridley, FRSL, FMedSci is an English journalist, writer, biologist, and businessman.-Career:...
of The Spectator
The Spectator
The Spectator is a weekly British magazine first published on 6 July 1828. It is currently owned by David and Frederick Barclay, who also owns The Daily Telegraph. Its principal subject areas are politics and culture...
described WUWT as having "metamorphosed from a gathering place for lonely nutters to a three-million-hits-per-month online newspaper on climate full of fascinating articles by physicists, geologists, economists and statisticians".
Patrick J. Michaels, climatologist and contributor to the IPCC First Assessment Report
IPCC First Assessment Report
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change first assessment report was completed in 1990, and served as the basis of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ....
, described WUWT as part of a new "parallel universe" of emerging online publications, manned by serious scientists critical of world governments approach to climate change: "A parallel universe is assembling itself parallel to the IPCC. This universe has become very technical – very proficient at taking apart the U.N.'s findings."
Watts's blog has frequently been criticized for inaccuracy. Environmental activist George Monbiot
George Monbiot
George Joshua Richard Monbiot is an English writer, known for his environmental and political activism. He lives in Machynlleth, Wales, writes a weekly column for The Guardian, and is the author of a number of books, including Captive State: The Corporate Takeover of Britain and Bring on the...
, in his blog at The Guardian, described WUWT as "highly partisan and untrustworthy". Leo Hickman
Leo Hickman
Leo Hickman is a journalist with The Guardian. He regularly writes for the Ethical Living section of Guardian Unlimited offering advice on readers' ethical concerns. Hickman also wrote two books on the theme, Life Stripped Bare: My Year Trying To Live Ethically and A Good Life. In 2007, a third...
, at The Guardians Environment Blog, also criticized Watts's blog, stating that Watts "risks polluting his legitimate scepticism about the scientific processes and methodologies underpinning climate science with his accompanying politicised commentary."
The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
named Watts Up With That? as one of the 30 best science blogs and described it as: "One of the more entertainingly sceptic blogs, written by a former TV weatherman. The ecofriendly blogger offers commentary on science, nature, climate change and technology, as well as 'puzzling things in life.'" WUWT won the "Best Science Blog" award in the 2008 Weblog Awards, an internet organization that tallied 933,022 votes in 48 different categories for the 2008 awards.
In February 2010, climatologist Judith Curry
Judith Curry
Judith A. Curry is an American climatologist and chair of the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Her research interests include hurricanes, remote sensing, atmospheric modeling, polar climates, air-sea interactions, and the use of unmanned aerial...
, as a guest contributor, published an open letter on WUWT and other climate-related blogs, "On the Credibility of Climate Change, Towards Rebuilding Trust," in which Curry commented on the benefits of blog-led debate and called for greater transparency in scientists' work. Also in 2010, Christopher Monckton
Christopher Monckton, 3rd Viscount Monckton of Brenchley
Christopher Walter Monckton, 3rd Viscount Monckton of Brenchley is a British politician, public speaker, former newspaper editor and hereditary peer. Formerly a member of the Conservative Party, Monckton has been the Head of the Policy Unit for the UK Independence Party since November 2010. He was...
published on WUWT his account of his "influence on Lady Thatcher's views about climate change during the 1980s". Monckton, a skeptic towards the theory of anthropogenic global warming, also published a detailed rebuttal on WUWT in response to criticism directed at him by John Abraham, associate professor of mechanical engineering at University of St. Thomas
University of St. Thomas
University of St. Thomas can refer to:*University of St. Thomas *University of St. Thomas *University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines*Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas , Rome, Italy...
.
Fox News
Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...
has attributed to WUWT exclusive photographs used in FoxNews's coverage of the Deepwater Horizon
Deepwater Horizon
Deepwater Horizon was an ultra-deepwater, dynamically positioned, semi-submersible offshore oil drilling rig owned by Transocean. Built in 2001 in South Korea by Hyundai Heavy Industries, the rig was commissioned by R&B Falcon, which later became part of Transocean, registered in Majuro, Marshall...
oil rig disaster
Deepwater Horizon oil spill
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill is an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico which flowed unabated for three months in 2010, and continues to leak fresh oil. It is the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry...
.
External links
- surfacestations.org, an online database of photographs and evaluations of weather stations, founded in 2007 by Anthony Watts.