Internet Power Shift - Global Warming
I mentioned the other day that the internet has shifted power to individuals because it has allowed them to form large communities of like minded people (over a distance).

Today, Climate Audit, run by Steve McIntyre has shown a second reason that the internet has shifted power to individuals.

Climate Audit has been pushing NASA and head climate scientist Hansen to release the source code used in determining the extent of global warming. Note that this release should have been done with the initial papers in 1999, as the scientific method requires disclosure of method so that findings can be replicated AND peer reviewed correctly (Note: lets just say that I doubt that many statisticians ever get to peer review scientific papers, even though statistics are vital to a lot of science).

Climate Audit brings the great news that NASA has released the source code (albeit, most of it seems to have been edited quite recently, ...the changes will probably never be verified, but I reckon it is probably just adding comments or removing comments that could be seen to be damaging to Hansen's objectivity).

This success shows that the internet allows people to publish and discuss issues at a very low cost of production, where as previously, only larger and better funded bodies could do so.
- posted by Alan Grey @ Sunday, September 09, 2007