Guest essay by Gary Pearse (elevated from a comment)

This is part of the long whimper. Climategate in 2009 and the “ridiculously resilient” Pause were pretty much the straws that cracked the climate’s back. The timing of both marked the beginning of the pandemic of chronic clinical depression that struck an unknown number of prominent climate scientists more than halfway through their careers that we don’t hear of anymore.

Many were Ozzies- for some odd reason more than half the climate industry is Australian -(CSIRO canned…wait for it…350 of them – more than three worlds’ worth for a science with one linear equation and a one chemical element to deal with). And they have an evermore increasingly ridiculous Climate Science Centre of Excellence that sticks out like the statue of Saddam’s thumb that you will recall got pushed over ignominiously.The commodore of the Ship of Fools who got stuck in the ice and pummeled by blizzards while studying the disastrous effects of global warming on Antarctica and had to be rescued by a Chinese helicopter (you can’t make this stuff up) got an award from the Centre of Excellence for this debacle. He ventured back into the limelight to do an encore without risking making a voyage, of course, to report the sad news of a large flock of Adelie Penguins having died leaving their sad remains all over the ice – these turned out to be the remains of birds mummified decades ago. A knowledgeable commentator advised us that it is normal to find dead chicks broken eggs and the mummified remains because there are no clean-up predators in Antarctica and they are quick frozen. McIntyre, who is a one man climate science paper killer will need help to finish off the job of cleaning out the thousands of worthless climate papers in the literature.

Joe Romm – gone. Real Climate hanging on like a foundering ship, Bill McKibben- gone in tears, Al Gore – sold his TV station to oil sheiks and makes only half-hearted appearances with his tattered “reality elixir show” on life support like the end days of Buffalo Bill. New York times shuts down its embarrassing global warming section and several other dying newspapers have done the same. James Lovelock, inventor of Gaia gracefully recanted his position, saying it was a way too overblown.

And those remaining? These are the ones with the most skin in the game and also those captive to their governments urging them on in this dead issue. They also have psychological issues I’m sure, evidenced by the reckless, ‘sauve qui peut’ (save what you can is a losing sides last order in a war) behavior of simply trashing the pause. They are giving their bosses their all and will be taking a comfortable retirement before Trump is inaugurated although their legacy won’t be something to dwell on.