Self-Involved NASA Climate Scientist Complains about “Climate Grief”
Personally, I am grieving over the state of science in the world today, which led to the publication of Dr. Kimberly Miner’s histrionic editorial in “Nature.”
I would like to introduce you to Dr. Kimberley R. Miner, a Climate Scientist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, California, and a Climate Change Institute Research Assistant Professor. She is also a Fellow at the Center for Climate and Security in DC and Co-chair of the NASA Interagency Forum on Climate Change Risks, Impacts, and Adaptation.
Given those credentials, you might expect an editorial she prepared for a leading science publication would be a sober, serious analysis of the data related to the Earth’s atmosphere, oceanic currents, or geologic history.
You would be wrong. In Nature, Miner wrote a histrionic, emotion-laden diatribe about “climate grief.” In the piece, she essentially admitted her colleagues were suffering “severe, emergent health challenges.”
I also started talking frankly to my colleagues about the emotional turmoil that is often sparked by working as a climate scientist today, and many others had similar stories.
I am in my mid-thirties, working at NASA as a scientist, and I already have five scientist friends with severe, emergent health challenges. They are all affected by overwork, exhaustion and extreme stress. The only other thing they all have in common is that they study climate change.
She tries to evoke sympathy with her opening, in which she cries after a group meeting.
Last September, before the rains came, my field team learnt that it was probably too late for half the blue oaks affected by California’s drought in the region in which we were working. Because of years of ongoing drought, many of the trees would not recover from the long-term water loss and would die. The next morning, I sat outside our science team meeting and cried.
That response should be embarrassing. California has had droughts that lasted over 200 years… none of which can be connected to human activity or prevented with human intervention.
It gets worse. Miner is bringing this type of fear-based climate analysis to our children. In this video, she responds to a question from a child by explaining the Black Death “virus” is going to escape from the permafrost because of global warming.
(Note: The Black Death is caused by a bacterium – Yersinia pestis. The disease, which did strike Medieval Europe hard, is curable with antibiotics. If this is the quality of Miner’s “science,” I shudder to think of her contribution to any aspect of policy-making at the national and international levels).
In her fear-laden screed, Miner passes off misinformation as accepted “fact.”
… Whether in the shape of increased glacier flow rates, rainstorms that become atmospheric rivers, or abrupt permafrost thawing that disrupts sections of highway, these unforeseen risks are emerging increasingly. Scientists with decades of experience in one field location might find themselves confronted with a new atmospheric or hydrologic circulation pattern, an unseasonal storm or freeze, or literally shaky ground. Although we have a responsibility to track how certain sites are changing in a climate that’s getting hotter and more extreme, that can put scientists at considerable risk.
There are fewer tropical cyclones:
But fewer hurricanes… https://t.co/AtsV9KsH5r
— Dr. Matthew M. Wielicki (@MatthewWielicki) August 18, 2023
There are fewer tornadoes and hurricanes. And if the planet is truly warming, there are benefits, too:
Rapidly impacting our planet? You mean like fewer hurricanes, fewer tornadoes & record high crop yields? PS: Cold kills far more than heat. When you say "invest" you mean rising our taxes which will not change the weather. Sure…be good stewards of the planet. Mitigation is key. pic.twitter.com/UDNYqLqCcf
— Kevin Williams (@wxbywilliams) June 5, 2023
There are actually glaciers that are growing.
NASA notes that Greenland's glaciers are increasing. Fancy that. The earth changes (as it did in the Little Ice Age that started in the 1400s).https://t.co/KFT7ycIBBT
— Maret Jaks – FREE RANGE THINKER 🇨🇦🇪🇪🇨🇦 (@MaretJaks) August 19, 2023
The cherry on top of this sundae of insanity: A former leader in the Canadian Green Party, Andrew Weaver, is pleading with climate scientists to tone down the alarmist rhetoric.
“A large cohort of the climate science community, in an attempt to deal with their own climate grief, has heightened rather than alleviated climate anxiety in civil society.”
Weaver accuses his colleagues — leastways some of them — of the counter-productive sin of fear-mongering.
“It has long been known that fear-based messaging does not work in terms of motivating personal climate action.
“In fact, many simply disassociate themselves from the issue. Others, of course, take the fear to heart and it feeds their underlying climate anxiety.”
Miner says she is suffering from “climate grief.” Personally, I am grieving over the state of science in the world today.
Any research asserting they suffer from “climate grief” should be nowhere near any research institute where serious science is conducted.
Another example of ecologists not understanding the dynamics of climate variability and change.https://t.co/UUmf8bsHuQ
— Judith Curry (@curryja) August 22, 2023
The “Nature” article summed up in a meme:
climate grief barbie pic.twitter.com/lKaIPEaK7n
— Sunrise Movement 🌅 (@sunrisemvmt) July 25, 2023
DONATE
Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.
Comments
A reminder that a climate scientist degree is mostly a public policy degree, with freshman physics, chemistry, and calculus added. From UCLA- The basic math and science requirements expected of all science majors, including calculus, introductory physics, and introductory chemistry, in addition to one course each in statistics and computer programming.
Six core courses teaching the fundamentals of climate science, including the phenomenology of the climate system, energy flows within the climate system, the dynamics and thermodynamics of the atmosphere and ocean, biogeochemistry, and the state of knowledge of climate change.
Two upper division climate science courses on more specialized topics, allowing you to tailor learning outcomes to your own interests and begin the process of planning your career.
Two upper division courses outside the AOS department. This is because climate science is relevant for public policymaking, and because changes in the physical climate system are profoundly influenced by human choices. We’ll encourage you to engage in coursework on relevant policy issues.
When PhDs are found in cereal boxes,
— “Kimberley is a Black belt, certified Wilderness Firefighter and First Responder, and has an awesome rescue dog named Darby”
https://umaine.edu/earthclimate/people/kimberley-miner-climate-scientist/
She and “Doctor” Jill have so much in common.
Yes and no. There are climate science/enivronmental science degrees that SHOULD hold weight. Then, there are climate studies/environmental studies degrees that are total bunk.
But yes it is getting a little tougher at times to differentiate the two and they are blending for the worse not better.
The intersection of engineering and climate science is highly problematic.
In the ’60s, MIT built their new Earth Sciences department the first “skyscraper” on campus — the Green Building. There was no ground floor, just an open area bounded by four huge corner pillars and two elevator entrances.
The confluence of this architecture and that of the surrounding buildings created a huge natural wind tunnel, causing gale-force winds to roar regularly through the courtyard. Students were blown across the pavement on their faces, a painful, ugly consequence. Gaia was clearly highly displeased.
To correct the problem, MIT turned to… art. They commissioned a giant metal sculpture — The Great Sail — from mobile-mensch Alexander Calder, and placed it carefully in the middle of the airflow. Success!
(Here’s a more recent photo of both the Green Building and the Great Sail, in which the formerly-open “wind tunnel” entrance between other buildings behind Green has since been closed in by new construction.)
One would have to be an incredible person to be at or near the top of their field while in their 30s. Well, in a meritocracy.
I only know one person who went on to work at NASA and he was (is?) a total moron.
A government “job” is a government “job”.
Trust no one in government and government research institutions whose income and existence is predicated on predetermined outcomes as a result of poor science conclusions.
Without a “climate crisis” Miner wouldn’t have a job.
Furthermore, an emotionally driven woman (if we are permitted to refer to her as a woman) makes it hard to accept anything she states.
Exactly. Just like the ‘war on poverty’ has been twisted by ideological bureaucrats to a never ending cycle. These bureaucrats and the ‘nonprofit’ orgs who receive tens of $ billions from the Fed taxpayers along with the grifter class to include the lefty politicians have no incentive to win this ‘war on poverty’. Their salary, career, position and prestige is predicated upon continuing the cycle of poverty.
This phony climate hysteria really confuses me. Despite the abundance of evidence that catastrophic anthropogenic climate change is a manufactured crisis with little true basis in science, so many scientists flock to it for their dramatically improved chances for receiving funding and a job. Don’t they realize that eventually the truth of this scam will come out as it always does? How can they remain blind to all the apocalyptic predictions that have been made and not one ever came to fruition? Worst of all is their holier than though attitude when discussing their lies. What’s really sad is that this is just the tip of the iceberg. Over the years I have watched mediocre scientists sell their souls and lie about science in hopes of becoming famous, receiving funding, or gaining that coveted university position. This is why I left science30 years ago. I simply could no longer tolerate the politics and dishonesty.
Narcissism.
Has anybody else noticed that climate scientists are all about me?
Narcissism accounts for 98% of all problems
I left because I had better things to do with my time than work on another boner pill.
“How can they remain blind to all the apocalyptic predictions that have been made and not one ever came to fruition?”
Because the American people never notice. They remain blind to it, too. What’s the problem?
“Don’t they realize that eventually the truth of this scam will come out as it always does?”
But there is NEVER any accountability.
Dr. Kimberly Miner is most certainly a glaring example of the sorry state of science.
I certainly don’t have a degree in Climate Science. I have read about the story of the earth. You know all those different eras with different species and climates. Those are all hard scientific facts. Hot humid earth, cold dry earth. Single continent earth. Crustal plates breaking apart the continent and resulting in our current state. Super volcanoes changing the weather for years. Little things like they find oil in the arctic areas because they were once temperate. Glaciers a mile high descending from Canada and covering a large portion of the US. Oh yeah, they created the Great Lakes. On and on the science is settled about our climatic history. No one, I repeat NO ONE can predict the future with any certainty.
Simply look at the shift in climate which have affected the Great Lakes over the last 10,000 years and it becomes impossible to believe anything other than mandkind (and their emissions) having dick-all effect on the planet. If one goes down several hundred feet into Lake Huron, they will discover trails which range across a mid-lake ridge with signs of human settlements. Now THAT is a drought!
https://www.natgeotv.com/za/shows/natgeo/drain-the-great-lakes
The science community has been captured by the government.
Even the most modest physics laboratory costs millions of dollars, and where does that money come from? The government.
The government is the scientist’s client. The scientists will serve their clients. Otherwise, they will have no funding, no career, no retirement.
Galileo be damned, the scientists will produce papers that serve their client’s demands, whether those papers are scientifically accurate or not.
Erronius
Geebus, lady – get a grip!
(Not meaning you, Leslie.😉)
Perhaps she could “earn” a supplemental funding grant as a week-long guest on The View. (Don’t believe Oprah is on the TV anymore.)
Holy cow! We don’t need anymore crying, screaming harridans on the View. We need less.
Women actually watch this show, and believe the nonsense.
Unfortunately, Jerry Springer has passed.
Once you start watchin’, there’s just no stoppin’
Your brain shuts down, then your IQ’s droppin’
Jerry’s the king of confrontation
He’s a sensation
He puts the “sin” in “syndication”
Climate scientists can take some comfort in the fact that climate science has no adult peer review, so is likely to be random garbage.
Apparently they’re all in on the joke.
All the steps the earth has taken to stop man-made climate change are the equivalent of a flea biting a hippo on the butt. Just one volcano erupting wipes out years of catalytic converters and windmills.
She should take her Feelz to Beijing. They’re doing the most emitting, and I’m sure they’ll listen attentively to her “climate grief”.
Self-Involved NASA Climate Scientist Trun “Drama Queen” To Complain about “Climate Grief”
Y’all should check out “Glaciers, Gender, and Science: A Feminist Glaciology Framework for Global Environmental Change Research”.
Science in the US and Europe is doomed. China don’t know. India, well there are plenty of good Indian scientists,,, ( best lecture on special relativity on YT is by one), but the bad ones are almost as bad as American ones, Russia is a bit of a hope.
Russia is becoming the USSR again
Not with a 15% income tax and a currency backed by gold they ain’t. Sounds a lot closer to Galt’s Gulch than Marxist/Leninist.
The USA is becoming the Soviet Union…. at least a Leftist Imperial State.
I wonder if it is possible for a person experiencing “climate grief” to assess what the data really says?
Really, I don’t wonder. I don’t believe that a crazy person with a major anxiety disorder can correctly assess much of anything.
Sean Connery would know how to knock her brain box back in tune. When they are just too bloody-minded or hysterical, adjustment is needed.
Maybe she should move to Canada. I hear they have a final cure there.
I heard that it is still possible to “Drink Canada Dry”
Not anymore. You’re limited to two beers a week now.
Canada Dry Ginger Ale?
She definitely qualifies as a future CNN contributor.
If she hasn’t mentioned the Milankovitch cycle she’s selling you a bill of goods.
“Scientist” 🤣🤣🤣
I strongly suspect that most “scientists” could not explain The Scientific Method accurately if their life depended on it. This book by a friend of mine does. “In Brief” means a full semester course. Not ease reading, but essential for anyone claiming to be a scientist.
“Scientific Method in Brief” by Hugh G. Gauch Jr
https://www.amazon.com/Scientific-Method-Brief-Hugh-Gauch-ebook/dp/B00B4V6AH6/
Many of our “scientists” are activists, not scientists.
Was there an advanced course in grieving? Was one of her professors named “Chicken Little”? She exemplifies the point that someone can be “smart” but totally dumb at the same time. On top of that… emotional stability is needed…. in her case…. desperately needed.
Isn’t “denial” one of the recognized stages of grief?
No wonder climate scientists go mad.
“Smart, but not wise” is a common human characteristic.
We are talking about a fraction of a degree over centuries and human contribution to that is so small it cannot be measured.
Yes…. but Mr. Sun and the Volcano Kids have more to say about this than humans. Also the wobbly Earth has a say.
The takeaway here is that Nature published an article from a climate scientist with the focus being on mental health and the health challenges of others.
And yet we are lectured about staying in our lane when “The Experts” or “The Fact Checkers” speak.
Theologians call prophesies that fail to come true “self-disconfirming.” The fact this term is so fitting for the many failed predictions of climate alarmists over the decades helps demonstrate that “climate change” is a religion, because even failed prophecies fail to shake the faith of the true believers. Real scientists would look at these failures, and determine from them that there’s something wrong with their theories.
“Religion is about faith, science is about doubt.”
Biggs2021 (at the Barnes Brief 12/17/22)
“I already have five scientist friends with severe, emergent health challenges. They are all affected by overwork, exhaustion and extreme stress. The only other thing they all have in common is that they study climate change.”
My diagnosis is cognitive dissonance neurosis.
Also known as overly credentialed, woke, white woman syndrome; aka Karen. It’s tough out here in the dating marketplace due to the sheer number of these women, some of whom claim to be conservative. It’s particularly ironic when the divorced women tell you all about their conservative beliefs on a first date then move on into an exposition about why they can’t seem to find a committed relationship after age 35 or so.. They don’t usually react well when told they had one but chose to abandon it.
I suppose her statement is even stupider than that. Of course it is highly likely they study climate change, being scientist friends of a woman who studies climate change. Any “scientist” who doesn’t immediately recognize the Pauline Kael effect should be defrocked.
Dr. Miner appears to need a “safe space”. How about one on that expanding Greenland glacier?
Better than on the glacier: Drop her on of the sites that was a successful farm 1,000 years ago, with all the tools and seeds for subsistence farming and just enough food to last until harvest. After all, she claims the climate is warmer now than it was then and rapidly getting even warmer, the tools should be better than what a Norse farmer made for himself from bog iron, and the seeds have undergone a thousand more years of selective breeding. There should be no need at all to rescue her when the food she brought with her runs out.
I don’t know why, but these so called climate experts remind me of the chimp scientists in Planet of the Apes.
This woman has proof that even a retard can earn degree in “science”
“Fool” is a more precise (and worse) description.
what an embararrassment she is to authentic scientists in general and to those at nasa / in the space program as well
she needs to grow-up or get out
“climate grief ? “–“stress ? “–“severe, emergent health challenges ? ”
lord…..
“Personally, I am grieving over [the] state of science in the world today…”
Hard to disagree, as scientists now feel they’re on a planet-saving mission as High Priests of Gaia. No facts allowed to get in the way.
Woke Kills
I don’t know if anyone’s noticed, but the NASA talking heads are now all women – NONE of whom built anything that they’re ‘reporting’ on.
Now we’ve got loudmouth second-teir do-dos like this character who’s suddenly an expert on everything.
Elections – stolen or not – have dire consequences.
She could relieve the burden by doing a late term abortion on herself. Nevah haff to worree about climate bullschiff again kimmee.
Climate change, like systemic racism and gender is one of the three elements of American Marxism
Has the USA ever had drought/heat that would compare to the 1930s? Also people are also always remarking – “this is the worst I have ever seen in my life!” I am very elderly and I have no memory of the 1930s. And you only read about Oklahoma- but it stretched through the middle of the US clear north. Now there is a drought in an area that hadn’t suffered such in one’s own lifetime. One thing going on in California is they have too many people for the amount of potable water they have available. Walter Williams (God Bless him) wrote about this many years ago. One’s own lifetime is the blink of the eye in the history of the world.
Excellent article Leslie! Thank you!