Finding the true value of US climate science

[Dead_Parrot]

National science efforts are rarely short of ambition and grandiose promises. Focusing on energy, health, global warming or whatever, they all argue that their research will make the world a better place.

Take the US$3-billion Human Genome Project and the breathless promises of cures and treatments that it would bring. In fact, the benefits have been modest because solving societal problems is a lot more complicated and difficult than generating new knowledge.

Is there an alternative? Is it possible to be realistic and nuanced about the limited role that science often has, but still to offer a compelling case for public support? The US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) will shortly release a strategic plan that does just that.

Over the past two decades, the USGCRP, which coordinates 13 federal agencies and departments, has spent more than $30 billion on climate-change research. In doing so, it has improved our understanding of climate systems. But, as the National Research Council pointed out in 2009, when it comes to fulfilling its legal mandate of supporting decision makers with useful information, the USGCRP has been a disappointment.

More: http://www.nature.com/news/finding-the-true-value-of-us-climate-science-1.9993

Cliffs Notes version: Climate scientists have just realised that politicians are morons.