I waffle on this because attempting to have a real (and ultimately constructive) discussion with these people typically ends in frustration. I forgot where I read it ... on some other blog somewhere ... but the attribute that best describes these people is arrogant ignorance. The important part is the adjective ... obviously there is nothing wrong with being ignorant (i.e., a lack of knowledge/awareness about a subject).

It seems to me that this condition inevitably leads to a discussion/debate that solves little to nothing thus rendering the entire exercise futile. On the other hand ... if we, science bloggers and blogging scientists, don't call the cranks out on their nonsense, who will?

The rise of the internet and ability to self-publish widely has certainly led to an increased number of shouting cranks. That's fine ... the advantages of a networked global population still vastly outweigh the negatives.

Which brings me to my question. Since blogs have provided pseudo-/anti-science cranks a "platform" should we also use blogs to battle them? Real science is conducted within the realm of peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences -- thankfully the cranks have little opportunity to spout their malarkey in that venue (unless they create their own "journal"). Since we (scientists) can publish and participate in science elsewhere, does a blog become an appropriate medium to battle cranks?

I still struggle with this issue ... I'd be interested to hear thoughts from you.

Finally - and what prompted me to write this post - a superb example of effective crank-battling is this post by Suvrat on the geoscience blog Reporting on a Revolution. He very nicely chronicles his ongoing interaction with someone claiming they can predict earthquakes with astrology. Good stuff.

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The New York Times produced a great graphic showing the changes that the Chandeleur barrier islands, which are just northeast of the Mississippi Delta, have undergone in the last 150 years. As you can tell, they are shrinking quite rapidly.

Click on the image above to see a bigger version and then go to the original New York Times article to learn more.

Barrier islands are dynamic depositional features that are constantly being constructed, molded, sculpted, and eroded over time scales that certainly matter to humans (decades to centuries). The combination of diminished sediment delivery from the river combined with subsidence and rising sea levels make these transient features vulnerable to storms.

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UPDATE (10/9/2008): Geology.com has a nice summary of storm surge damage on the Gulf Coast from hurricane Ike.

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An statement excepting Yahoo Account-AP has more or less quotes ex Kurt Opsahl, a rest paranymph at EFF, and Gabby Askin, a hike forbidden fruit graduate at Rutgers.

An statement excepting Yahoo Account-AP has more or less quotes ex Kurt Opsahl, a rest paranymph at EFF, and Gabby Askin, a hike forbidden fruit graduate at Rutgers.

An statement excepting Yahoo Account-AP has more or less quotes ex Kurt Opsahl, a rest paranymph at EFF, and Gabby Askin, a hike forbidden fruit graduate at Rutgers.

An statement excepting Yahoo Account-AP has more or less quotes ex Kurt Opsahl, a rest paranymph at EFF, and Gabby Askin, a hike forbidden fruit graduate at Rutgers.

An statement excepting Yahoo Account-AP has more or less quotes ex Kurt Opsahl, a rest paranymph at EFF, and Gabby Askin, a hike forbidden fruit graduate at Rutgers.

An statement excepting Yahoo Account-AP has more or less quotes ex Kurt Opsahl, a rest paranymph at EFF, and Gabby Askin, a hike forbidden fruit graduate at Rutgers.

An statement excepting Yahoo Account-AP has more or less quotes ex Kurt Opsahl, a rest paranymph at EFF, and Gabby Askin, a hike forbidden fruit graduate at Rutgers.

An statement excepting Yahoo Account-AP has more or less quotes ex Kurt Opsahl, a rest paranymph at EFF, and Gabby Askin, a hike forbidden fruit graduate at Rutgers.

An statement excepting Yahoo Account-AP has more or less quotes ex Kurt Opsahl, a rest paranymph at EFF, and Gabby Askin, a hike forbidden fruit graduate at Rutgers.

An statement excepting Yahoo Account-AP has more or less quotes ex Kurt Opsahl, a rest paranymph at EFF, and Gabby Askin, a hike forbidden fruit graduate at Rutgers.

An statement excepting Yahoo Account-AP has more or less quotes ex Kurt Opsahl, a rest paranymph at EFF, and Gabby Askin, a hike forbidden fruit graduate at Rutgers.

An statement excepting Yahoo Account-AP has more or less quotes ex Kurt Opsahl, a rest paranymph at EFF, and Gabby Askin, a hike forbidden fruit graduate at Rutgers.

An statement excepting Yahoo Account-AP has more or less quotes ex Kurt Opsahl, a rest paranymph at EFF, and Gabby Askin, a hike forbidden fruit graduate at Rutgers.

An statement excepting Yahoo Account-AP has more or less quotes ex Kurt Opsahl, a rest paranymph at EFF, and Gabby Askin, a hike forbidden fruit graduate at Rutgers.

An statement excepting Yahoo Account-AP has more or less quotes ex Kurt Opsahl, a rest paranymph at EFF, and Gabby Askin, a hike forbidden fruit graduate at Rutgers.

An statement excepting Yahoo Account-AP has more or less quotes ex Kurt Opsahl, a rest paranymph at EFF, and Gabby Askin, a hike forbidden fruit graduate at Rutgers.

An statement excepting Yahoo Account-AP has more or less quotes ex Kurt Opsahl, a rest paranymph at EFF, and Gabby Askin, a hike forbidden fruit graduate at Rutgers.

An statement excepting Yahoo Account-AP has more or less quotes ex Kurt Opsahl, a rest paranymph at EFF, and Gabby Askin, a hike forbidden fruit graduate at Rutgers.

An statement excepting Yahoo Account-AP has more or less quotes ex Kurt Opsahl, a rest paranymph at EFF, and Gabby Askin, a hike forbidden fruit graduate at Rutgers.

An statement excepting Yahoo Account-AP has more or less quotes ex Kurt Opsahl, a rest paranymph at EFF, and Gabby Askin, a hike forbidden fruit graduate at Rutgers.

Following on the heels of my previous post in which I attempted to put up arguments in favor of human induced global warming, a stark and scary reminder of what I am up against. A couple of example of climate change illiteracy I picked up from the blogosphere.

This one is from Climate Progress and an interview with Barb Davis White a republican who is running for the 5Th Congressional District in Minnesota.

WHITE: My name is Barb Davis White and I’m running for the 5Th Congressional District against Keith Ellison for the United States House of Representatives, which is called Congress.

ROMM: Where are you on global warming?

WHITE: Well, global warming really has not been proven. There are 30,000 scientists, including Al Gore’s professor, from Princeton, who says that we are now in a cooling stage. And ev-every — also every other climate that has been warmed had better grapes.

ROMM: So you don’t believe in global warming and you don’t think that people caused it.

WHITE: No, I think global warming is a scam. I think it’s a scam to put taxes — more taxes on us, and it’s called carbon taxes. Our environment has never been so clean, and if we want to push global warming, let’s push it on China, where the smog is so thick that you almost need a helmet to breathe. Let’s push it on Africa and see how they adapt to it, because they’re not going to.

And from Pharyngula who got it from Diatomaceous Earth. A letter sent to the local paper in Fargo, North Dakota. Is Fargo really this eerie?!!

When God sent the rain on this Earth for 40 days and nights, all this water had to go someplace so the Earth would be dry again.

Remember, God is the Creator and controls the universe.

God tilted the Earth from its original position and caused all the excess water to rush to the poles, and there he instantly froze the water into the ice formations that exist today. Time is ticking down on God's time clock.

With all the nuclear bombs that are made and stored for the fast-emerging last battle, this Earth would burn up when these nuclear bombs are set off.

We are not creating global warming - God is tipping the Earth back to its original position on its axis and thus getting all this ice to get ready to move and extinguish the nuclear destructive fires man will create.

Is this being taught in church or at home.? Where do people learn this? Unbelievable! I have come across the first type of illiteracy i.e. the Barb Davis White type in India, but so far not the second. We can find humor in this but it is a rather depressing example of how a religious fundamentalist education can warp your world view. Have you experienced such extreme views in India?