''RealClimate'' is a commentary site (
blog
A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...
) on
climatology
Climatology (from Ancient Greek, Greek , ''klima'', "place, zone"; and , ''wiktionary:-logia, -logia'') or climate science is the scientific study of Earth's climate, typically defined as weather conditions averaged over a period of at least 30 ...
. The site's contributors include climate scientists whose goal is to provide a response to developing stories and a context they feel is sometimes missing in mainstream commentary on climate science and
climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...
. The forum is moderated, and is restricted to
scientific
Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.
Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence ...
topics to avoid discussion of
political
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studi ...
or
economic
An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with t ...
implications of the science.
''RealClimate'' was launched on 10 December 2004 by nine climate scientists.
Recognition
The creation of ''RealClimate'' was the subject of an editorial in the
scientific journal
In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication intended to further the progress of science, usually by reporting new research.
Content
Articles in scientific journals are mostly written by active scientists such ...
''
Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans ar ...
'',
and was reported in the "NetWatch" news feature of the journal ''
Science
Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe.
Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...
''.
In 2005, the editors of ''
Scientific American
''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many famous scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it. In print since 1845, it i ...
'' recognized ''RealClimate'' with a Science and Technology Web Award.
In 2006, ''Nature'' compiled a list of the 50 most popular blogs written by scientists, as measured by
Technorati. ''RealClimate'' was number 3 on that list.
According to ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...
'', ''RealClimate'' is "in line with the Web's original purpose: scientific communication" with a "straightforward presentation of the physical evidence for global warming".
Notable contributors
notable contributors to ''RealClimate'' included:
*
David Archer
*
Rasmus Emil Benestad
*
Raymond S. Bradley
*
Michael E. Mann
Michael Evan Mann (born 1965) is an American climatologist and geophysicist. He is the director of the Center for Science, Sustainability & the Media at the University of Pennsylvania. Mann has contributed to the scientific understanding of his ...
*
Raymond Pierrehumbert
*
Stefan Rahmstorf
*
Gavin Schmidt
*
Eric Steig
Past contributors include:
*
William Connolley
See also
*
Global warming
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in a broader sense also includes ...
*
Skeptical Science
*
CarbonBrief
References
External links
*
{{global warming
Climate change blogs
American environmental websites
Internet properties established in 2004
American science websites