Scientist accused of misconduct for reporting polar bear deaths

Can spotting dead polar bears add up to misconduct?

A scientist with the BOEMRE who has in the past reported on the increasing number of drowned polar bears has been accused of "scientific misconduct" related to the 2006 paper in which he reports these polar bear deaths.

IMAGES of polar bears drifting on isolated chunks of ice made the species a poster child for the perils of climate change. Now the US-government scientist who raised the alarm about the animals' plight has been suspended from his post and is accused of scientific misconduct.

The news set competing narratives loose in the blogosphere. Environmentalists claim that Charles Monnett of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) is the victim of a "witch hunt" aimed at opening up more of Alaska to oil and gas drilling. Meanwhile, climate sceptics have dubbed the affair "polarbeargate" and claim Monnett's work is discredited.

In 2004, during an aerial survey of bowhead whales in the Beaufort Sea north of Alaska, Monnett and his colleague Jeffrey Gleason observed four dead polar bears. In 2006, they noted in Polar Biology that these were the first drowned bears seen since the survey began in 1987 - and speculated that such drownings may increase as pack ice retreats.

And it looks like Big Oil is the culprit here...?

Monnett oversees projects studying Arctic wildlife that could be affected by oil exploration. His suspension comes as BOEMRE is considering permits to expand drilling in Alaska. "If someone wanted to remove him from the scene in a way that left no fingerprints, this would be the way to do it," says Jeff Ruch of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, which is defending Monnett.

Additional articles;
Polar Bear Researcher Suspended, Spurring Alarm
Bear researcher frozen out

reply to post by Blackmarketeer


Yeah it has nothing to do with the huge heatwave worldwide.....Let's blame big oil....Anyone that can get a finger pointed at them does anymore!!

reply to post by Chrisfishenstein


What would a huge heat wave (assuming you are referencing the 2011 heat wave) have to do with loss of polar ice and polar deaths that were reported in a 2006 paper - that led to this scientist being called on the carpet?

reply to post by Blackmarketeer


I guess I will throw it out there.....Global warming and the polar ice caps melting has been going on long before 2006.....But I am sure you still want to blame big oil?? Right.....

Big oil finds the ice caps with polar bears attached to them and cuts them apart to send them out into the ocean, leaving their families behind so they can die because big oil is just sooooo nasty to wildlife.....

reply to post by Chrisfishenstein


Nice maturity level there, I could expect better from a 12 year old, LOL.

Back to topic:

The scientist in question (Monnett) was by far in the cross-hairs of the Climate change deniers and the pro-oil exploration set, even though he never once spoke out against oil exploration. All he did was write a paper indicating the loss of arctic ice for polar bears drowning in newly opened waters (that just happened to be picked up for "An Inconvenient Truth").

Very curious they would first state that he was suspended for scientific misconduct and now they are changing their tune. Even the other scientists in his field claim he is being subjected to a witch-hunt.

Scientists being held accountable for their actions?

Blame Big Oil!

Outlandish claims to propagate fraud doesn't get the grants anymore.

Sorry scientists.

Originally posted by Chrisfishenstein
reply to post by Blackmarketeer

 

I guess I will throw it out there.....Global warming and the polar ice caps melting has been going on long before 2006.....But I am sure you still want to blame big oil?? Right.....

Big oil finds the ice caps with polar bears attached to them and cuts them apart to send them out into the ocean, leaving their families behind so they can die because big oil is just sooooo nasty to wildlife.....

Global Warming... what a joke... but you obviously want a carbon tax on your breath...

your politicians pushing that crap forgot to factor in en.wikipedia.org... in the "gee its getting so hot" models..

and yes.. big oil is nasty to wildlife smart ass.. have you seen the Gulf of Mexico?

reply to post by Chrisfishenstein


I didn't know Al Gore posted on ATS?

Originally posted by Carseller4
Scientists being held accountable for their actions?

Blame Big Oil!

Outlandish claims to propagate fraud doesn't get the grants anymore.

Sorry scientists.

How about holding Big Oil accountable for it's actions? Removing one pesky scientist for writing a report on the effects of climate change on Polar Bears is child's play for them. Wherever Big Oil goes, it carves a path of ecological carnage.

Polar bears are efficient swimmers, for such large animals.
While in the water they paddle with their front feet, and use the hind feet as rudders. They can swim at a speeds of 4-6 mph and paddle non-stop for 100 miles. Have been seen swimming several hundred miles from the nearest ice or land. While swimming, they keep their eyes open, their nostrils shut and their ears flattened to their heads. Polar bears can stay under up to 2 minutes. They are also capable of leaping out of the water 7'-8' feet from a swimming start. They have been seen catching seals that way.

Read more: wiki.answers.com...