Death threats fail to shake climate scientists

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Actually, it looks like the threats are continuing since the "climate-gate" incident in 2009. You need to BACK UP YOUR CLAIMS that the scientists themselves are using the death threats for publicity. Otherwise I will accuse YOU and your ilk of making dishonest ad-hom smears against scientists.

Climate change scientists threats reheated

June 09, 2011

CLAIMS prominent climate change scientists had recently received death threats have been revealed as an opportunistic ploy, with the Australian National University admitting that they occurred up to five years ago.

Only two of ANU's climate change scientists allegedly received death threats, the first in a letter posted in 2006-2007 and the other an offhand remark made in person 12 months ago.

Neither was officially reported to ACT Police or Australian Federal Police, despite such crimes carrying a 10-year prison sentence.

The outdated threats raised question marks over the timing of their release to the public, with claims they were aired last week to draw sympathy to scientists and their climate change cause.

The university denied it was creating a ruse, maintaining the initial report, in the Fairfax-owned Canberra Times last week, failed to indicate when the threats were made.

Reports also suggested the threats had forced the ANU to lock away its climate change scientists and policy advisers in a high-security complex. The Daily Telegraph has discovered the nine scientists and staff in question were merely given keyless swipe cards - routine security measures taken last year.

ANU climate institute director Professor Will Steffen, a key adviser to the Howard and Gillard governments, is believed to have received the threatening letter.

The other threat was made to a scientist at a university function last year by a person not known to university staff.

ANU communications director Catriona Jackson would not reveal the exact wording of the threats, but added: "Abusive emails are par for the course for most climate change scientists."

Scientist and renowned climate change sceptic Jo Nova said the revelation of the death threats was merely a welcome diversion for climate change believers.

"It's a great way to win sympathy. Not that I'm suggesting these scientists are feigning it themselves, but that there are billions of dollars on the table, not to mention a cult-like devotion to the meme," Ms Nova said.

"It's in quite a few people's interests to help those scientists win the sympathy of the crowd, and to distract the crowd with something non-scientific."

Giving how crazy climate deniers are this not suprising.

These are scientists, not politicians, you turd. Scientists do not normally recieve death threats. How about next time your life is threatened by some imbecile I berate you for "trying to appeal for sympathy"? Also, it's not like conservatives like yourself and your pal Inuyasha don't have the most delusional persecution complexes possible. People living in glass houses don't throw stones.

Oh wow, 'Climatology Martyrdom', the Climatologists are willing to be hypothetically sacrificing their lives in order to "save the planet."

These are scientists, not politicians, you turd. Scientists do not normally recieve death threats. How about next time your life is threatened by some imbecile I berate you for "trying to appeal for sympathy"? Also, it's not like conservatives like yourself and your pal Inuyasha don't have the most delusional persecution complexes possible. People living in glass houses don't throw stones.

Good point. Anyone making a death threat is almost certainly insane, regardless of whom they're threatening (and, btw, that includes Palin's threats in the other direction).

I would be very careful about dishing out insults like that - to these people, they may have very rational and well-thought-out plans for doing so. And that's how they would look to most other people too. There's a difference between 'insanity' as a general exasperative insult and clinical insanity.

Actually, scientists carrying out research involving animals receive them fairly regularly, not to mention actual assaults and harassment.

I don't see how that is relevant. My problem is with "skeptics" who attack the messenger (by attacking their motives, accusing them of conspiracy, etc... rather than providing scientific counter-evidence) because they do not like environmental policy that politicians write. People like iamnotaparakeet do not seem to understand that scientists do not write the environmental policy or that Al Gore and other environmental activists are NOT climate scientists. At least in the animal research case those scientists can be said to be causing direct harm to the animals they experiment on (in the eyes of some animal rights activists). Climate scientists are doing no such direct harm to anyone. They are merely spreading a message that certain people don't like and find threatening.

These are scientists, not politicians, you turd. Scientists do not normally recieve death threats. How about next time your life is threatened by some imbecile I berate you for "trying to appeal for sympathy"? Also, it's not like conservatives like yourself and your pal Inuyasha don't have the most delusional persecution complexes possible. People living in glass houses don't throw stones.

Oh, I don't understand the difference between a scientist and an activist do I?

These are scientists, not politicians, you turd. Scientists do not normally recieve death threats. How about next time your life is threatened by some imbecile I berate you for "trying to appeal for sympathy"? Also, it's not like conservatives like yourself and your pal Inuyasha don't have the most delusional persecution complexes possible. People living in glass houses don't throw stones.

Your question in your other thread made the pressumption that environmentalists are actual scientists.