Peter Ridd: Science and the Great Barrier Reef | Tom Nelson Pod #191

Peter Ridd is a geophysicist with over 100 publications and 35 years’ experience working on the Great Barrier Reef and developed a wide range of world-first optical and electronic instruments for measuring environmental conditions near corals and other ecosystems. He was head of Physics at James Cook University for over a decade before being fired, in 2018, for questioning the quality assurance systems used by reef science institutions. Some of the poor-quality work relates to the effect, or lack of effect, of climate change, and agriculture, on the reef. Ridd now works, unpaid, with agricultural organisations, and the Institute of Public Affairs to improve quality assurance systems of “science” used by Australian governments to make environmental laws and regulations.

00:00 Introduction
00:37 The Great Barrier Reef: A Brief Overview
01:44 The Resilience and Health of the Reef
02:25 The Impact of Climate Change and Pollution on the Reef
02:55 The Physical Structure and Location of the Reef
04:42 Coral Growth Rates and the Impact of Temperature
09:03 The Alleged Impact of Farming on the Reef
12:17 The Future of the Reef and the Role of Young People
16:22 The Firing from James Cook University and the Fight for Quality Science
20:16 The Replication Crisis in Science and the Importance of Reliable Research
21:39 The Replication Crisis in Science
22:23 The Problem with Peer Review
23:11 The Decline of Scientific Debate
24:32 The Role of Social Media in Science
26:19 The Duty of Older Scientists
27:32 Emotion vs Objectivity in Science
29:39 The Need for New Scientific Institutions
30:09 The Role of Politicians in Science
35:38 The Future of Climate Skepticism
37:42 The Impact of Climate Alarmism on Society

Slides for this podcast: https://tomn.substack.com/p/great-barrier-reef-information
About Peter Ridd: https://co2coalition.org/teammember/peter-ridd/
Plato GBR: https://platogbr.com/
Reef Rebels YouTube: https://realscience.org.au/reef-rebels/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@peterridd5844
Ridd’s 2020 book: “REEF HERESY? Science, Research and the Great Barrier Reef”: https://www.amazon.com/HERESY-Science-Research-Great-Barrier/dp/192244930X/
March 2023, Rasmussen: 60% of likely U.S. voters agree that climate change has become a religion: https://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/biden_administration/is_climate_change_a_false_religion
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