Your TalkClimateChange.com - reader feedback required

  • Posted by Mark
  • February 2, 2008

This is me, busily working away on TalkClimateChange on a Saturday morning.

at home with TalkClimateChange

But today I’m more interested in finding out about you. I know that there are several hundred of you each day and that you hit this blog several thousand times a week - thanks for that! But who are you really?

I know a few of you reasonably well by now, either through your comments or through some of the email exchanges we’ve had, but most of you are a complete mystery to me.

As the TalkClimateChange blog has now been going for a few months, and you have been listening to (or rather reading) my various thoughts, opinions and ideas I’m interested to know a little more about who I am talking to, what you think and what you would like in future.

Particularly, I’m curious to know who you are, where you come from and what you do? What you like to read about and what you don’t like to read about here on TCC? How much do you generally agree with and how much do you disagree with? Where do you read TTC? At home, at work? What else do you like to read on the net? Do you have any questions you would specifically like me to answer?

I’d like to know all this, partly because I am just curious, but also so that I can continue to write what people want to read - even if you don’t actually like what I say.

So please drop me a line, either as a comment below, or by email. Otherwise, I’m happy to let you suffer my writings in silence..

Thanks,

Mark.

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February 2nd, 2008
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Reader Comments

Comment Number:
1
Written by:
Phil
Posted on:
February 2, 2008 at 2:39 pm

I’m from England and have been a regluar of Talkclimatechange since last year, although I don’t comment on the forum so much any more. I mostly enjoy the reasonable and sensible view that’s taken, and it’s good to read about moderate and sensible environmentalism, as well as some restrained anti-environmentalism.

Keep it up!

Comment Number:
2
Written by:
ClimateHeretic
Posted on:
February 2, 2008 at 6:41 pm

I am a Canadian. Male. Upper middle class. Currently on an extended leave of absence from work to pursue a personal project.

I became interested in the AGW issue in 2001 after a heated debate regarding the issue with a co-worker when the “scientists say that..” argument was tossed out and I wanted to know exactly what they did say, or did not say as the case may be.

At that time I had no clue regarding the UN, IPCC, climate science in general. I had a passing textbook reference to the AGE and an accounting and short term investment (read day-trading) understanding of national and global economics.

I spent the last 7 years educating myself in world politics, global economics, energy infrastructure and technology, psychology, climate science, equation based modelling, steller science, space weather, geology, paleoclimatology and BS detection.

I am a self-employed computer consultant and have been for the past 18 years in both the US and Canada. I have worked with many industries from natural resources to death care (read Funeral Industry and Cremations). I have a high degree of real experience in business operations, methodology and management as my work usually has me taking a temporary executive position with client firms.

I have travelled extensively in the last 5 years, visiting many countries as part of my life enrichment plan.

As evidenced here and in my own blogs and site I tend to have an opinion on just about everything. I also actively defend these opinions. I also can be very sarcastic.

I am politically active and have been putting pressure on regional and federal governments to stop thinking like knee-jerk environmentalists and look at the issue of AGW and GCC objectively and do not act for the sake of acting. I realize that political will is building so I just want to do a little mitigation of my own.

I also like to think I had a hand in the recent removal of Visa requirements for several new EU countries through constant pressure on our government to live up to it’s promises, though the EU “warning” probably had a much more significant impact.

I am seperated from my wife, who lives in California.

I resemble an older version of Mark, oddly enough.

This somehow came out like a CV or a job interview… strange.

Comment Number:
3
Written by:
Bart Kozek
Posted on:
February 2, 2008 at 10:57 pm

I’m Bart and I’m from the Greens 2004 - The Green Party in Poland. It’s probably not a surprise that I read talkclimatechange because I want to be up-to-date with the issue of climate change.

This site is very inspiring, although I may not agree with everything that’s posted here - but please keep up the good work!

Comment Number:
4
Written by:
DFM
Posted on:
February 3, 2008 at 2:13 pm

I’m Dave, from Western New York and have been visiting this site for about 5 months now. I’m a self employed computer consultant and have been interested in Climate Change since the 70’s, when it was the coming ice age.

At one time I was a heavy proponent of environmentalism and really believe a lot of good work was done. But I also believe a lot of bad was done also through knee-jerk reactions, dumb polititians, and fundamentalists.

My biggest gripe is the media reporting and/or non-reporting of these issues. They seem to do nothing more than report press releases and forgot how to investigate. I don’t know how many times I’ve read an article by the AP or Reauters and tried to read the actual paper, only to find out it hasn’t been published nor even passed peer review yet. And yet it gets reported as fact! Drives me nuts.

Comment Number:
5
Written by:
Kiashu
Posted on:
February 4, 2008 at 3:13 am

I think my blog pretty much sums me up.

You should continue writing as you do, since it’s not a job, you have to do it as you like otherwise you’ll eventually give it up.

It’s not really a matter of agreeing or disagreeing with what you say - you leave the comments open, so you’re inviting discussion. A blog with open comments is a long-running discussion with many people in it. A conversation isn’t a debate, nor is it preaching to the choir, it’s to see what the other person thinks, to learn from one another.

Of course there’ll always be a minority you can learn nothing from because they’re cocksmocks, but that’s just part of being on the internet. But 99% of the people you talk to will have something to teach you (the 1% are just very loud).

I agree with DFM about the state of the media. To my mind, this is one of the advantages of the internet - it’s like having a library catalogue with text summaries as you have a conversation. Whenever I read something new to me, whether it seems right or wrong to me, I can go look it up. That may not give us a final answer, but it’ll at least advance the conversation.

Comment Number:
6
Written by:
Roger Jardine Thomas
Posted on:
February 4, 2008 at 11:26 am

Director of Celtic Lion Ltd and loves this planet.

Comment Number:
7
Written by:
MPS
Posted on:
February 13, 2008 at 5:23 am

I’m Matt from Central Wisconsin, USA.

As most of you all ready know, I am a firm believer that climate change is real, but that it is a result of natural processes and not humans.

From time to time I write pieces for this blog as well as my own blog. I’m not really that good of a writer, but I get a fair amount of hits on my site.

I am also a very active member of the forum. I love debating the issue using actual science instead of just the usual rhetoric.

I have a degree in Audio Engineering. I’ve taken several courses through the local college on a variety of differnt topics including Earth Science, Chemistry, Information Technologies, Phychology, Business Administration and History. I have no degrees from any of those subjects just several college credits.

I work for an electrical supply house, we sell wire, swithes, outlets, etc., as my full time job. In my spare time I run a little online music store.

I have a beautiful wife that I knew in high school and then met up with again several years later on an interternet chat forum. We’ve been married going on 8 years.

I have 3 boys ages 11 yrs (from a previous relationship), 4 yrs and 6 mo. that I love spending time with and would do anything for.

As far as reading materials, I enjoy reading history books and of course scientific studies.

TV shows that I watch on a regular basis include Law & Order (all 3 of them), Cities of the Underworld (on the History Channel), Ghost Hunters, Quiz shows (Are you Smarter then a 5th Grader, Cash Cab, etc), American Idol, and anything that discusses ancient civilizations.

That’s pretty much my life in a nutshell. Pretty boring, huh?