by "Nick Has an Exocet" (nickallain)
Published 04/21/2017 at 22:33
by "Nick Has an Exocet" (nickallain)
Published 04/21/2017 at 22:33
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STARS: 6
We all love our cars, but we also love having food, water, and shelter. Which is why I think we can agree that human’s ruining the world with pollution is bad. However, Bill Nye, is more part of the problem than he is the solution. (Warning: that’s the end of the automotive tie-in.)
Like most people in my age bracket, I grew up with Bill Nye The Science Guy in my classrooms. It was great. The science was fun and sometimes ridiculous. When I saw that he had launched a new show on Netflix, I jumped straight into the first episode. This first episode is called “The Earth Is a Hot Mess”. It’s entirely focused on climate change.
At least, it would be if he hadn’t turned into a raging “science as religion” crackpot with a god complex. I happen to work in the world of science and consider myself fairly well educated on the topic. There are a lot of great anecdotes and studies that you can point to if you want to talk about climate change. Bill, doesn’t take that journey with us. Instead, he goes to boogeyman-town and tries to built narrative that climate change is some kind of monster that’s already killing Venice and will come after you next.
The key here is Venice . Venice has suffered from flooding over and over in recent years. Good climate scientists however, don’t invoke Venice. Why not Venice? Because Venice isn’t isn’t being swallowed by rising seas so much as it is rapidly sinking into a watery grave.
Bill spend about 5 good minutes with a report on Venice. Look at all the poor books being kept in bathtubs so they don’t get swallowed by climate change! See all this damage from the water! It’s climate change!
Except it’s not. Venice is losing up to nearly a half inch per year because of silt compression and the pumping of groundwater which causes compressing and weakening of ground soil (which also happens in cities like San Francisco where the Millenium tower has been sinking an inch per year). Both in Venice and SF, sinking was verified by the Sentinal SAR satellites.
Not once does Bill Nye use the word sink. That would ruin the illusion which fits so nicely into his story about about climate change. Bill Nye can keep his canned laughter, bad flat jokes, and humorless sketches. By using false reporting in an attempt to reinforce a scientific topic, he ruins the credibility of science globally.
"500 Days of Kittens" (500daysofkittens)
04/21/2017 at 22:38, STARS: 4
Nooooo not Bill! I don’t know what to feel anymore.
"AestheticsInMotion" (aestheticsinmotion)
04/21/2017 at 22:46, STARS: 6
I’ll still take Bill over climate deniers any day of the week. I haven’t seen his Netflix show, but isn’t his audience generally school age children? It’s pretty common for grade school science programs and video series to gloss over very important details, or even straight up lie for simplicities sake. It’s not ideal... But a helluva lot better than creationism. Most people still think there are only three states of matter for this very reason.
Alternatively, maybe he’s doing some shady work with Venice to get global warming funding...
"ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)" (adabofoppo)
04/21/2017 at 22:50, STARS: 2
Why not both? Venice can’t be threatened by rising sea levels and also sinking into the sea because they thought it be awesome to build a city on sand?
"bubblestheturtle" (bubblestheturtle)
04/21/2017 at 23:02, STARS: 3
They can’t denounce Bill, they are too busy denouncing the people that think the globe is flat, or square, or whatever. Science is really busy right now.
"DipodomysDeserti" (dipodomysdeserti)
04/21/2017 at 23:06, STARS: 2
Venice hasn’t pumped ground water in over forty years. Yes, it is still sinking, but the flooding is also a result sea level rise. Venice has started sinking much more slowly since they stopped pumping groundwater in the seventies. In the 20th century Venice sunk about 120mm and the sea level rose 110mm. So the flooding is a result of sea level rise just as much as sinking.
http://www.livescience.com/19195-venice-sinking-slowly.html
Bill Nye is a entertainer. No one who is actually serious about scientific research would use him as a source of information. He got a masters innchemistry like thirty years ago and hosted a TV show.
"gmporschenut also a fan of hondas" (gmporschenut)
04/21/2017 at 23:14, STARS: 3
I have yet to see the show.
counterpoint. I have two co-workers who are absurdly vocal anti-vaxers. “It has to be all natural, organic ingredients. raw milk is the only safe thing. Pasteurizing kills all the good” meanwhile these two take a handful of supplements and shit they buy off of ebay. “well the only way to get this is to have it shipped from germany, as the stupid FDA has banned it”
me: “um you do realize that all natural is just marketing bullshit?!”
We can’t loose Bill as bubbles said, there is too much stupid shit out there.
"Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo" (thetomselleck)
04/22/2017 at 00:57, STARS: 2
“science as religion”
Nothing wrong with worshipping facts.
"Nick Has an Exocet" (nickallain)
04/22/2017 at 01:51, STARS: 1
"Tristan" (casselts)
04/22/2017 at 02:01, STARS: 0
He has an honorary science degree, an honorary teaching degree, and an actual real degree in mechanical engineering.
"Tristan" (casselts)
04/22/2017 at 02:12, STARS: 1
Finally someone agrees... Climate change is real- so why do we choose to place a has-been comedian host of a children’s TV show with absolutely no true scientific background at the head of the climate change table? He isn’t a scientist, he just played one on tv.
"DipodomysDeserti" (dipodomysdeserti)
04/22/2017 at 02:21, STARS: 1
There ya go. A mechanical engineer isn’t the last person you want to learn earth sciences from. They’re the ones who got us into this mess.
"Flyboy is FAA certified insane" (flyboy396)
04/22/2017 at 12:25, STARS: 1
I was extremely excited for this show, as a man of science as well and growing up with Bill Nye I thought it was going to be a refreshing change to my entertainment viewing.
Boy was I wrong. Nothing is real and everything I loved is a lie. Time to go watch myth busters reruns.
"LongbowMkII" (longbowmkii)
04/23/2017 at 16:47, STARS: 0
Venice is such a poor example when there are so many other areas being threatened even as we speak. The again they generally happen to be rural, poor or non-white people (or all three!) so fudge ‘em.
"MM54" (mm54mk2)
04/23/2017 at 19:44, STARS: 0
A few years ago when I was in college he came to do a speech/presentation in the way people do at colleges. The first third, maybe half of it was interesting since it was about his background and the TV show and general engineering/science stuff. The second part was what you’re describing above (having sat through the lecture, I have a good idea what you mean about the boogie-man approach though I’ve not, and don’t plan on, watching the new show) and overall left the whole thing to be quite a disappointment.