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[Tim Gard]

Do you notice that the tides seem lower or higher.

?

"Two of the longest continuous Australian tide gauge records are from Fremantle in Western Australia (92 years) and Fort Denison in New South Wales (83 years) indicate that the observed rate of sea-level rise relative to the land has been 1.38 mm/yr and 0.86 mm/yr respectively (see DPIWE 2004)."

Measuring sea-level rise at Port Arthur
Measured tide increase Port Arthur in Tasmania.

[Paul March]

Does the climate study continue to be within the scope of Niku VIII?

Yes.  We're not talking about it as much because that aspect of the trip did not generate any funding (apparently ocean science enthusiasts are as broke as we are) and the whole climate change thing seems to upset a lot of people.

From my perspective, Niku VIII provides an opportunity for climate study which does not have to be associated with the polarizing issue of "climate change". The fact is that climate exists and is an interesting study apart from any politics. Science is science whether archaeological or otherwise and is crucial to exploration, education and overall advancement. Why not combine efforts when appropriate? Take time to enjoy the grey areas in life! 

[Tim Mellon]

Fraud is very upsetting. It is usually related to some form of money grabbing.

So is paradigm shift.  It is usually related to some form of entrenched money grabbing that doesn't like the change.

Andrew

Andrew, there's really not much new about the globe warming: it has been the case for the last 20,000 years. Not really a paradigm shift.

What is new is the political hype, the disingenuous hockey stick by Michael Mann, and the bastardization of datasets to make political points. This is not science.

[Krystal McGinty-Carter]

When it takes until mid-August to get above 90 degrees in St. Louis, SOMETHING is amiss. Be it man made or otherwise.  Oh boy. Now Ive done it.  Pardon me. I have to go offer a sacrificial goldfish to the Weather Gods now.

[Steve Lee]

What is new is the political hype, the disingenuous hockey stick by Michael Mann, and the bastardization of datasets to make political points. This is not science.

The political hype is not so new in the world of science anymore.  Anyone interested in understanding it works should read Merchants of Doubt, by Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway.

[Matt Revington]

I don't think we should try to resolve the climate change debate in this forum, from what I seen in other forums the two very entrenched, antagonistic viewpoints quickly lead to lack of civility and  nothing gets resolved.  Civility, at least compared to most sites on the internet, is one of things I like about this forum.

[JNev]

Agree, eye on the ball here is best.  Not good to see 'the chase' mired in that debate, IMO.

There is actually some discussion under a different / more appropriate thread here, for those who must.  That said, overt political discussion is actually out of place on an educational tax-exempt, non-profit site like TIGHAR as I understand it.

Not that any mention of this particular topic doesn't now carry some degree of de facto political coloring, per se, in today's 'environment'... 

[Ric Gillespie]

There is actually some discussion under a different / more appropriate thread here, for those who must.  That said, overt political discussion is actually out of place on an educational tax-exempt, non-profit site like TIGHAR as I understand it.

As a 501 c3 nonprofit TIGHAR is prohibited from political activity - not that we have any desire anyway.  TIGHAR's position on climate change has nothing to do with politics and is based on direct observation of Nikumaroro over a period of 25 years.  There is absolutely no doubt that there has been more and increasing storm damage to the atoll in the past quarter century than in the preceding 174 years (since the first description of the island by the U.S. Exploring Expedition in 1840).

Not that any mention of this particular topic doesn't now carry some degree of de facto political coloring, per se, in today's 'environment'... 

Sad but true.

[Paul March]

Feel free to cast stones my way for posing the question... 
Moving right along on the topic of Niku VIII funding 

[Ric Gillespie]

I was wondering how you go about trying to gather corporate funding?  Do you activly persue a list of likely interested parties or is it a case of waiting for them?

If we had a list of interested corporations we'd pursue them.  It's easy too think of corporations who, in our opinion, SHOULD be interested but experienced has shown that cold-calling those companies is time-intensive and produces only polite rejection letters.   If you have an "in" with a major corporation (i.e. someone who has credibility with the company and will go to bat for you), it's a whole 'nuther story.  What has worked for us in the past is to make our need known as widely as possible and invite interested parties, corporate or otherwise, to get in touch.

Have you considered hiring a specialist in this area (if such a thing exisits) or is the cost prohibative.

There is no shortage of professional fund raisers who will promise the moon.  We dropped about $10,000 on one when we were trying to complete the Niku VII budget and got exactly zero return.

Not that you'd say but any larger offers on the table at the moment?

If there was an offer on the table I'd tell you.   I would not divulge names or details until the deal was done but you guys deserve to know if there is light at the end of the tunnel.

[Ric Gillespie]

with the crowd sourcing project how does it work if the total isn’t met?  Do the pledges revert back to the people or do TIGHAR benefit from it (and of course the pledges)?

Crowd sourcing programs differ.  With Kickstarter it's all or nothing.  If you don't meet your goal the pledges go unfulfilled.
With Indiegogo you get the money whether or not you reach your goal. That's perfect of us because our project is on-going whether or not we get enough funding to go this year.

Indiegogo also take a smaller cut for approved nonprofits like TIGHAR, but for nonprofits they only do credit card transactions.  No PayPal.  That's a down-side.  Making a PayPal donation is easier than dragging our your credit card, copying the numbers, etc. All the Indiegogo donations go through a third party that processes them and holds the funds until the campaign ends.  We get a check 15 days later.

[Kent Beuchert]

My advice to Ric would be that he avoid any claims about global warming, even
if he believes he somehow has evidence of same. Climate is a very broad subject
and has virtually no agreed-upon theories, despite John Cook's absurd claim that
97% of climatologists agree (on a vague "something") and a consensus exists.
Since warming ceased in 1999, we now have 33 published, various , mostly
contradictory explanations for what some have called a "pause" in global warming.
Some consensus.
Obviously, any events that have popped up in the past 16 years cannot have any
connection to global warming, since there has been none.
Nor have any of the many studies shown the slightest statistical correlation between
warming and extreme weather events, despite having more than a hundred years'
worth of weather record data  to analyze.  At this point only the most out-of-it,
extreme global warming alarmists claims any connection. The IPCC doesn't, nor does any
reputable scientific organization or periodical.

[Ric Gillespie]

My advice to Ric would be that he avoid any claims about global warming, even
if he believes he somehow has evidence of same.

My advice to Mr. Beuchert is to post his opinions about climate change to the Global Warming topic in Extraeneous Exchanges. Further postings on that subject in this thread will be removed.

[Ric Gillespie]

Did I read somewhere that the mini subs may not be available for 2015 as the funding for them has been pulled and the University are going to sell them?  Could be wrong.

If that were the case is there a plan B for 2015 in terms of finding similar submersibles.  I presume the funding raised for them will be ring fenced if 2014 doesn't go ahead.

Whether the subs will be available in 2015 is still very much up in the air.  The funding being raised is for the Niku VIII expedition and will be used to make that expedition happen.

[Brad Beeching]

Ric, If funding cannot be raised for this year, and these submersibles are no longer available, are there other simular submersibles capable of doing what you need them to do out there? And if so, how far in advance is required to try and book the vessels? I guess what I was thinking was this: If you can't pull the trigger on Niku VIII this year, would you be shooting for the 2015 season or due to booking schedules, be forced to go for the 2016 season?