Quora is among the best-kept secrets in our Information Age. Because it contains no known political bias, such as virtually all information carried in mainstream media and in Wikipedia, it is a danger to the political left, which hurls endless slings and arrows at it.

The Quora platform is a place where questions of all kinds may be asked in various topic areas without divulging the identity of the questioner. In contrast, the identity, including such things as education and degrees, relevant employment history, travel experiences, languages they speak, etc., of the person choosing to answer the question is made known as part of a public profile that everyone can see.

Questions come from across the globe. Quora will translate them from any language to any other. About 60% of the questions are from the USA; a lot come from the UK, Canada, Australia, Netherlands, South Africa, Germany, India, Eastern Europe, and occasionally from the Near East and Africa.

We have decided to tell the true story of Quora in hopes that you will avail yourselves of its vast information potential, an environment in which you can judge the source and draw your own conclusions. We are indebted to Terigi Ciccone, a valuable contributor to Quora, for his assistance with this article. Terigi will be our guest on THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STORY broadcast on America Out Loud Talk Radio this coming Saturday and Sunday, July 30 and 31, at both 11 am and 8 pm eastern time.

Agewise, we would guess about 60% of questioners are in their late 20s through 50s; about 15% are in their 50s and 60s, 10% are over 60, and the rest are in their teens/early 20s.

Education-wise, we would say over 80% are college graduates, and above, about 10% each are in high school and in college.

Anybody can sign up as a responder. But you need to be invited to a space by the space moderator to be a contributor. One can be a contributor in many spaces such as Science and Engineering, Science bulletin, Physics of global warming, New real climate science, Politics, and more.

As a contributor, you can post in the spaces you were invited to join. In those spaces, you can post detailed articles, post a question to yourself and respond to your own question. 

Many questions are answered in less than 100 words, about 40% in less than 50 words, and often accompanied by an image or two. There are some responses that amount to a few thousand words.

Terigi Ciccone published an important paper that began as a question to Quora. “WHY CAN’T CO2 AND GREENHOUSE EFFECTS CAUSE GLOBAL WARMING?” as a discussion item on Academia.edu. It was sent to about 1,010 people. About 100 “reviewed it,” and about 50 participated in the discussion over a three-month period, then published there and subsequently in Quora in five different Spaces. See here.

Some excellent examples of questions and answers we found on Quora include a few below, with Terigi both asking the question and providing the answer.

Is there any difference between rated [power] plant capacity and plant capacity?

Terigi Ciccone

Engineer/Scientist/Artist/EX-Sierra/author on climate (e.g., “A Hitchhiker’s Journey Through Climate Change“)

Response:

Every power plant has a Nameplate Rating. For example, if a combined cycle power plant has a Nameplate Rating of 10 Megawatts, it is expected to produce 10 MW for every second it operates, and it will deliver it with a reliability of well over 99%.

But a “rating” of a wind turbine is ……. problematic. It will have a rating, say 10 MW when the wind turbine is operating under the ideal design conditions, say the wind is blowing at 29.5 miles per hour, and in exactly the perfect direction to the blades, meaning a straight line and not swirling around or gusting up and down. So, people now have to estimate what percent of the time that wind turbine can be expected to produce that power over a year’s time, and this guess is called a “Capacity Factor.” In Germany, they estimated this capacity factor at 25%, about 6 hours per day. OK, but what if the wind is blowing in those perfect conditions and you don’t need the electricity? Do you shut off the reliable fossil plant in the same electrical grid? Yes, German law gives absolute priority to wind turbines. Then, grid reliability and stability become even more problematic and increasingly complex to prevent blackouts. Best estimates that the real German capacity factor is maybe 12 to 17%. Then what do you do with that number? 

The German experience shows that, as windmills make up over 18% to 20% of the total electrical demand, the grid becomes more unstable and unreliable. Meaning they need to be backed up by gas-guzzling, fast-responding gas turbines to prevent blackouts. Thus, these gas turbines that back up the wind turbines end up burning more fossil fuels than they would burn if the wind turbines were not there at all.

President Biden and advocates of the Green New Deal say we must accelerate our Green New Deal energy policies to prevent the looming threat of global warming. Do you agree with that?

Terigi Ciccone

Response:

Here’s what the Wall Street Journal had to say on 5-28-22, addressing only the electrical outlook for the USA. 

“Perhaps they will address other consequences of the GND like shortages of gasoline and diesel, the looming food shortages, and skyrocketing inflation in future articles.

And yet, not one laboratory scientific test has ever been done producing data that demonstrates that CO2 and the Greenhouse Effect causes global warming.”  

Why isn’t the extra CO2 in the atmosphere being absorbed by plants? Why is it causing global warming?

Terigi Ciccone

Response:

There are two assumptions imbedded in the question that are a product of indoctrinating propaganda and no scientific understanding.

First, plants and phytoplankton absorb more CO2 when it is plentiful. As a result, plants grow faster, bigger and more plentiful. In addition, plants in higher levels of CO2 can grow and thrive with up to 70% less water. So, at higher CO2 levels, deserts shrink.

Second, the CO2/greenhouse effect idea has been around for more than 150 years. In the last 50 years, hundreds of billions in research grants have been squandered based on this flawed theory. And to date not one scientific experiment has EVER been done showing that an IR photon absorption by CO2 has EVER generated or CAUSED any warming of any kind.

What are some of the easiest things to do to protect the environment?

Terigi Ciccone

Response:

First protect the environment around you and your loved ones. That’s rule number 1. Make sure there’s no trash in your city or county. Report all spills or noncompliance to your local authorities.

And most importantly, stop worrying about the world’s climate. It will be just fine with or without your help.

If mainstream media were to follow Quora’s example, then their circulation numbers wouldn’t be plummeting. Tune in to our upcoming show with Terigi Ciccone to learn how you, too, can use this important media source!

 
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Dr. Jay Lehr is a Senior Policy Analyst with the International Climate Science Coalition and former Science Director of The Heartland Institute. He is an internationally renowned scientist, author, and speaker who has testified before Congress on dozens of occasions on environmental issues and consulted with nearly every agency of the national government and many foreign countries. After graduating from Princeton University at the age of 20 with a degree in Geological Engineering, he received the nation’s first Ph.D. in Groundwater Hydrology from the University of Arizona. He later became executive director of the National Association of Groundwater Scientists and Engineers.

Tom Harris is Executive Director of the Ottawa, Canada-based International Climate Science Coalition, and a policy advisor to The Heartland Institute. He has 40 years experience as a mechanical engineer/project manager, science and technology communications professional, technical trainer, and S&T advisor to a former Opposition Senior Environment Critic in Canada’s Parliament.