Clifford Mass

Clifford โ€œCliffโ€ Mass

Credentials

Background

Clifford F. Mass is a professor at the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Washington.2โ€œCURRICULUM VITAE: CLIFFORD F. MASSโ€ (PDF), January 16, 2018. retrieved from Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Washington. 3โ€œClifford F. Mass,โ€ UW Mesoscale Analysis and Forecasting Group. Archived June 27, 2018. Archive.is URL:https://archive.li/nTKap

According to his archived biographical sketch at the University of Washington’s Department of Atmospheric Sciences:4โ€œCliff Mass: Biographical Sketch,โ€ Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Washington. Archived October 11, 2013. Archive.is URL: https://archive.li/TCNnc

โ€œCliff Mass went to Cornell University for his undergraduate education where he majored in physics. During that time we worked with Astronomer Carl Sagan on a model of the Martian atmosphere and was active in the Cornell University Senate.

โ€œAfter Cornell he entered the Ph.D. program at the University of Washington. During the first few summers he worked with climatologist Stephen Schneider on the influence of volcanic eruptions, solar variations, and CO2 on climate. Although his Ph.D. was on African wave disturbances, the forerunners of tropical storms and hurricanes in the Atlantic, he caught the Northwest weather bug as a graduate student and began gathering information on the Puget Sound convergence zone and other local weather features.

โ€œLeaving the UW, he joined the faculty of the Meteorology Department at the University of Maryland, where he taught synoptic meteorology and weather prediction and worked on a variety of research topics, from Northwest weather circulations and high-resolution modeling, to the climatic implications of the Mount St. Helens eruption.

โ€œWhen an opening became available at the University of Washington, he moved back to Seattle as an assistant professor in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences.โ€

Mass has been fired from two positions at public radio stations where he had weather reporting segments. In 2011, he lost a position at KUOW after he reportedly โ€œkept veering away from weather and into commentary,โ€ Seattle Times reported. In 2020, Mass was fired from his part-time position at another stationโ€” KNKX (Formerly KPLU) after statements he had made on his personal blog following protests in downtown Seattle where he, according to KNKX, compared โ€œrecent events in Seattle to Kristallnacht, the 1938 pogrom carried out by Nazi Germany.โ€5Sandi Doughton. โ€œVeering off-topic, outspokenness led to meteorologistโ€™s split with KUOW radio,โ€ The Seattle Times, May 20, 2011. Archived January 20, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.vn/4L00T 6โ€œMeteorologist Cliff Mass loses job at another radio station over controversial comments about Seattle riots,โ€ King5, August 7, 2020. Archived January 20, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.vn/5dzqJ

Mass disputed the KNKX statement7โ€œKNKX to stop airing Weather with Cliff Mass, effective immediately,โ€ KNKX Public Radio, August 6, 2020. Archived January 20, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.vn/xYxkj and claimed โ€œActivist groups have been trying to get me dismissed from KNKX for over a year because they are unhappy with my science-based approach to climate change.โ€8โ€œMy Firing at KNKX,โ€ Cliff Mass Weather Blog, August 13, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.vn/0QUD8

Mass has often published his views at Cliff Mass Weather Blog, where he gets as much as 20,000 views on a typical day and up to 500,000 during some weather events, The Seattle Times reported.9Hal Bernton. “Seattle meteorologist Cliff Mass sparks controversy by diving into heat wave climate science,” The Seattle Times, August 3, 2021. Archived October 6, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/tF85a

While he has emphasized he is not a climate change denier,10Daniel DeMay. โ€œCliff Mass: Climate change is real, butโ€ฆโ€ Seattlepi, September 28, 2017. Archived June 28, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.li/8p4gJ Cliff Mass has claimed scientists and journalists exaggerate the impacts of climate change. 11Charles Mudede. “Why Does Cliff Mass Believe Scientists and Leftist Journalists Are Exaggerating the Dangers of Climate Change?” The Stranger, June 19, 2017. Archived October 8, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/recPo

Stance on Climate Change

October 2020

Mass wrote at his blog (emphasis in original):12โ€œCliff Mass Weather Blog,โ€ Cliff Mass Weather Blog, October 18, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.vn/fwqzz

โ€œIf the emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases continue on their present pace, there will be changes in our regional climate. In fact, some of the changes have already started. So by 2050:

  • Annual precipitation will increase slightly for most of the region.
  • Temperatures will warm by roughly 3-5F.
  • Winds and windstorms will experience little change.
  • Snowpack will decline dramatically (roughly 25%) by 2050.
  • Importantly, the model projections do not suggest any โ€œtipping pointsโ€ nor abrupt changes in our weather/climate as a result of increasing greenhouse gases.

To say something that will get me in trouble with the climate activists folks, there is no existential threat to our region through the middle of the century. We will be able to adapt to the modest changes that are expected, although some will be worrisome (loss of skiing at Snoqualmie Pass).โ€

May 28, 2018

โ€œ[C]limate scientists can not show that humans are entirely to blame for what has happened during the past fifty years. We know that some modes of natural variability have had major impacts (like the Pacific Decadal Oscillation) and that the warming trend and sea level rise has been going on for over a hundred thirty years ago (since the Little Ice Age ended)โ€“well before human emissions of greenhouse gases had a significant radiative effect,โ€ Mass wrote in a blog post titled โ€œWhy One Should Never Use the Term ‘Climate Denier’.โ€13โ€œWhy One Should Never Use the Term ‘Climate Denier’, โ€œCliff Mass Weather and Climate. May 28, 2018. Archived June 27, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.li/dSzsm

September 28, 2017

โ€œI’m no skeptic or denier, let me make that clear,โ€ Mass told Seattlepi. โ€œWhat I see is a mass of misinformation going on right now about the implications of climate change on weather extremes.โ€14Daniel DeMay. โ€œCliff Mass: Climate change is real, butโ€ฆโ€ Seattlepi, September 28, 2017. Archived June 28, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.li/8p4gJ

June 17, 2017

“[T]he somewhat cynical approach used by “climate activists”, some media, and unfortunately a few scientists has been to hype and exaggerate the impacts of increasing greenhouse gases on current weather or ecological events, even though there is really little evidence of a anthropogenic greenhouse gas origin,” Mass wrote at his blog in an article titled “Should Scientists and the Media Exaggerate Global Warming?15Should Scientists and the Media Exaggerate Global Warming?Cliff Mass Weather Blog, June 17, 2017. Archived October 8, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/mAVZo

December 20, 2016

โ€œThere are two groups that question the necessity of climate research and they are, strangely enough, on opposite sides of the political/environmental spectrum. On one hand, there is the ‘climate hoax’ contingent who believes that climate change is a Chinese invention to undermine the U.S. economy or a liberal plot to increase government and take control of our lives. On the other hand, there are those who suggest that climate change is ‘settled science’ and society has all the information it needs to act. That ‘97% of climate scientists’ agree on what will occur as greenhouse gases increase. [โ€ฆ] I will suggest that both are profoundly wrong and that research is acutely needed to understand and project climate change forced by natural processes AND human-enhanced greenhouse gases,โ€ Mass wrote on his blog (emphasis in original).16โ€œWhy is Climate Research Important?โ€ Cliff Mass Weather and Climate Blog, December 20, 2016. Archived June 27, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.li/Wf2A6

Key Quotes

March 13, 2020

Mass commented on COVID and compared it to the flu on his personal blog:

โ€œCoronavirus is not even in the same league as flu, which also kills the youngest among us. We did not close down universities, businesses, and more for flu,โ€ Mass wrote.17โ€œPanic and the Coronavirus: Is There is Better Approach?โ€œ Cliff Mass Weather Blog, March 13, 2020. Archived October 28, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.vn/X5Ur8

May 28, 2018

โ€œ[U]sing the term ‘climate denier cheapens the term ‘denier’ in a way that is painful to many in the Jewish community,โ€ Mass wrote in a blog post.18โ€œWhy One Should Never Use the Term ‘Climate Denier’, โ€œCliff Mass Weather and Climate. May 28, 2018. Archived June 27, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.li/dSzsm

โ€œThe solutions to greenhouse gas emissions are not name calling or laying on guilt trips. The solutions will be technological, with new energy sources displacing fossil fuels. And eventually we will learn how to pull CO2 from the atmosphere on an industrial scale.โ€

June 4, 2017

โ€œIn truth, the Paris Accord was a voluntary agreement, with little teeth, and inadequate to do the heavy lifting that is necessary to deal with increasing greenhouse gases,โ€ Mass wrote on his blog Cliff Mass Weather and Climate.19โ€œAfter the Paris Accord: What is the Best Route Forward for Dealing with Global Warming?โ€ Cliff Mass Weather and Climatei, June 4, 2017. Archived June 27, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.li/40L5x

Key Actions

August 31, 2021

Mass wrote a blog post claiming media outlets were inaccurate in suggesting that the strength of Hurricane Ida was increased by global warming.20Hurricane Ida and Global Warming: Unsupported Claims,” Cliff Mass Weather Blog, August 31, 2021. Archived October 6, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/Hkobk

“[T]here is little reason to expect that global warming had much to do with the rapid intensification of the hurricane over the Gulf of Mexico,” Mass concluded.

One example refuting Mass’s claim was the Washington Post, which pointed out how the most recent United Nations climate report had found human activities were a likely cause behind an increase in high-intensity hurricanes in the past 40 years.21Sarah Kaplan. “How climate change helped make Hurricane Ida one of Louisianaโ€™s worst,” The Washington Post, August 30, 2021. Archived October 6, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/HJPAd

MIT meteorology professor Kerry Emanuel, just one expert cited in that article, has written studies suggesting the frequency of such hurricanes could increase by six times by 2100.22Kerry Emanuel. “Hurricane Harvey’s rainfall,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Nov 2017, 114 (48) 12681-12684; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1716222114

“This is exactly the kind of thing weโ€™re going to have to get used to as the planet warms,” Emanuel said of Hurricane Ida.

July 2021

As outlined by the Seattle Times, Cliff Mass made a series of blog posts claiming the recent record-breaking heat wave in the Northwest was not a result of climate change.23Hal Bernton. “Seattle meteorologist Cliff Mass sparks controversy by diving into heat wave climate science,” The Seattle Times, August 3, 2021. Archived August 6, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/PzjBP

On July 5, Mass wrote a blog post claiming, “Without global warming, we still would have experienced the most severe heatwave of the past century.”24Was Global Warming The Cause of the Great Northwest Heatwave? Science Says No.Cliff Mass Weather Blog, July 5, 2021. Archived August 6, 2021.

“It is shown that high-resolution climate models do not produce more extreme high temperatures under the modest global warming of the past several decades and that global warming may even work against extreme warming in our region,” Mass wrote. “Importantly, this blog demonstrates that there is no trend towards more high-temperature records.”

Mass wrote a followup post on July 13 where he criticized a World Weather Attribution (WWA) report made by a team of 27 scientists that had concluded the heat wave would have been virtually impossible without climate change. Mass called the report “profoundly flawed.”25Flawed Heatwave Report Leads to False Headlines in Major Media,” Cliff Mass Weather Blog, July 13, 2021. Archived August 6, 2021.

Six of the WWA researchers wrote a rebuttal to Mass’s July 5 post. “Professor Mass’ blog post is a fundamental misrepresentation of the causality of complex events and irresponsibly under-represents the role of global warming in June of 2021,” they wrote.26WWA rebuttal to Cliff Mass’ July 5, 2021 blog post ‘Was Global Warming The Cause of the Great Northwest Heatwave? Science Says No.” Contributed to DocumentCloud by Hal Benton (The Seattle Times).

Dr. Kristie Ebi of the University of Washington was among the six authors of the rebuttal. Others were Michael Wehner of the Lawrence Berkely National Laboratory, Friederike Otto of the University of Oxford, Geert Jan van Oldenborgh of the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI), Robert Vautard of the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI), and Maarten van Aalst of the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre at University of Twente / Columbia University.27WWA rebuttal to Cliff Mass’ July 5, 2021 blog post ‘Was Global Warming The Cause of the Great Northwest Heatwave? Science Says No.” Contributed to DocumentCloud by Hal Benton (The Seattle Times).

January 17, 2021

University of Washington professor Alexey Marz posted on Twitter that Cliff Mass had sent a letter to the UW AAUP mailing list to โ€œask questionsโ€ like whether โ€œmajor players in social media suppress or distort information to a degree that might have changed the results of this election?โ€ 

November 17, 2021

Mass argued he was expelled from his position at KNKX due to pressure from a liberal “mob.”28KNKX, James Madison, and Mobs,” Cliff Mass Weather Blog, November 17, 2020. Archived October 8, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/C24BG

“I saw the surrender to the mob first hand,” Mass wrote.

First, it was climate change. Last spring, a mob of climate activists, including Seattle350, forwarded a petition to KNKX that complained that my viewpoints on climate presented in this blog (which reflect peer-reviewed scientific literature) were not consistent with their viewpoints on climate change, and that KNKX needed to make changes.”

[…]

“In a blog in August, I described the failure of the Seattle City Council and noted several similarities between the violent rioters of 2020 and the brownshirts of 1920’s/1930’s Germany (I have studied that period in some depth and believe that the similarities are profound). I never mentioned peaceful protestors who were concerned about excessive police violence–my blog was about violent and destructive rioters.

The mob, who evidently were sympathetic to the rioters, was outraged with my blog and they surged on KNKX management, demanding my expulsion from the station. KNKX panicked and made the immediate decision to do what the online mob demanded–end my tenure at KNKX. KNKX management was so desperate they violated our written contract. The mob won.”

August 2020

Cliff Mass lost his job with the NPR radio station KNKX after statements he made in his personal blog, reportedly comparing riots in Seattle to Kristallnacht in 1938.29โ€œMeteorologist Cliff Mass loses job at another radio station over controversial comments about Seattle riots,โ€ King5, August 7, 2020. Archived January 20, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.vn/5dzqJ

โ€œ[I]t was his drawing of parallels between destruction in downtown Seattle and a critical point in Jewish and European history that is at the heart of his departure from KNKX,โ€ King5 news reported. โ€œThat event is known as Kristallnacht. In November of 1938, Hitler Youth, and members of the SA, also known as โ€œbrown shirts,โ€ led two days of attacks on Jewish owned stores and synagogues, also resulting in arrests and murders.โ€30โ€œMeteorologist Cliff Mass loses job at another radio station over controversial comments about Seattle riots,โ€ King5, August 7, 2020. Archived January 20, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.vn/5dzqJ

Mass, who King5 noted is Jewish, commented: โ€œTo me, this is not academic. My family, even here in the United States, went through a lot of discrimination,โ€ he explained. โ€œFor example, my father wanted to move to a certain neighborhood, Jews and Blacks werenโ€™t allowed.โ€31โ€œMeteorologist Cliff Mass loses job at another radio station over controversial comments about Seattle riots,โ€ King5, August 7, 2020. Archived January 20, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.vn/5dzqJ

KNKX released the following statement on August 6, 2020:32โ€œKNKX to stop airing Weather with Cliff Mass, effective immediately,โ€ KNKX Public Radio, August 6, 2020. Archived January 20, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.vn/xYxkj

โ€œAt KNKX, we value high-quality, factual information in our news programming and we aim to present an array of voices that reflect our region.

โ€œWe turn to our regular commentators for their expertise and points-of-view when it comes to sports, food and the weather. But if a commentator, even on his own independent platform, delivers rhetoric that is offensive and inaccurate, we cannot support it.

โ€œThis is the case today with Cliff Mass. His post on his personal blog compares recent events in Seattle to Kristallnacht, the 1938 pogrom carried out by Nazi Germany, and draws distorted, offensive parallels between protesters and Nazi Brownshirts. We abhor the comparison and find it sensationalized and misleading โ€” it does not reflect who we are and what we stand for at KNKX.

โ€œThe segment Weather with Cliff Mass will no longer air on KNKX.โ€

Mass wrote a post at his blog with his version of events, claiming the station’s statement was โ€œfactually untrue and easily can be proven falseโ€ and that โ€œActivist groups have been trying to get me dismissed from KNKX for over a year because they are unhappy with my science-based approach to climate change.โ€ He alleged that โ€KNKX management is beholden to and attempts to please left-leaning activist donors.33โ€œMy Firing at KNKX,โ€ Cliff Mass Weather Blog, August 13, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.vn/0QUD8

Mass later wrote his version of events at his blog in a post titled “Political Violence is Always Destructive: My August Blog Revisited.”34Political Violence is Always Destructive: My August Blog Revisited,Cliff Mass Weather Blog, January 27, 2021. Archived October 8, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/VxFE3

In his post, Mass claimed a student petition calling for him to be fired from the University of Washington faculty were students who supposedly “supported the violent agenda of the rioters”:

“And at the University of Washington, a group of student activists, who supported the violent agenda of the rioters, started a petition drive to get me ejected from the UW faculty. Diversity of viewpoint, freedom of speech, and the role of tenure for protecting university faculty was not their concern,” Mass claimed.

According to Mass, “Most disturbing is that KNKX management and UW student activists deliberately distorted what I said, suggesting that I was comparing peaceful BLM protestors to Nazis, which is entirely false.”

The petition Mass referred to was an August 9, 2020 letter to the UW President Cauce, Provost Richards, and Dean Graumlich that described Mass’s post mentioning Kristallnacht as “not an isolated event, but rather, the latest in a long pattern of discriminatory, harassing, and bullying behavior both professionally and personally.”35Dear President Cauce, Provost Richards, and Dean Graumlich,” Open letter shared via Google Drive. Archived .docx on file at DeSmog.

“Mass has repeatedly targeted junior women scientists for disagreeing with his research conclusions and stances, intimidating, belittling, and harassing them publicly and privately. He has equated communities of color, indigenous communities, and union members to pigs. These behaviors are not isolated incidents, but rather are representative of the way Cliff Mass dismisses, bullies, and trivializes his colleagues, UW students, and the Seattle community,” the letter alleged. 36Dear President Cauce, Provost Richards, and Dean Graumlich,” Open letter shared via Google Drive. Archived .docx on file at DeSmog.

The letter calls on UW leadership to take action:

“[S]ilence about the way Mass has treated and continues to treat students, staff, and marginalized groups sends the message that the UW administration endorses and is complicit in his views. UW leaders are custodians of public discourse, and as such, have both the power and responsibility to call out discriminatory language, factual inaccuracies, misleading statements, and ideologically-motivated dogwhistles [sic].”37Dear President Cauce, Provost Richards, and Dean Graumlich,” Open letter shared via Google Drive. Archived .docx on file at DeSmog.

[…]

If the UW administration does not take decisive action to address this pattern of behavior, it contributes to a climate where these racist narratives are tolerated and demonstrates UWโ€™s lack of commitment to real change.38Dear President Cauce, Provost Richards, and Dean Graumlich,” Open letter shared via Google Drive. Archived .docx on file at DeSmog.

In a later June 2021 piece, Mass accused KNKX’s Director of Content of “racial profiling” for mentioning in an interview at Current.Org of “uncomfortable truths about race in public radio” where, according to Mass, “he complained about KNKXโ€™s ‘very white audience’, ‘white-led organization’, ‘mostly white newsroom’, and ‘all white announcers.'”

Mass commented: “Replace white with another race and you see how inappropriate his comments were.” He added: “There is a term for downgrading people of some races and wishing to give preference to individuals of other races. It is called racism.”39Listenership to Public Radio Station KNKX Plummets As the Station Turns Activist and Partisan,” Cliff Mass Weather Blog, April 19, 2022. Archive URL:https://archive.vn/HVVEd

December 9, 2019

Mass wrote a post claiming recent forest fires in Washington State were not the result of climate change.40Promoters of Climate Anxiety,” Cliff Mass Weather Blog, December 9, 2019. Archived October 8, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/fRkeg

“The truth is very different– there used to be MANY more wildfires in our region and the relationship of our fires with climate variations is very weak. But that hasn’t stopped irresponsible politicians from claiming just the opposite,” Mass claimed.

“The truth is that some very irresponsible folks are hyping and exaggerating the impacts of the minor global warming we have had so far, sending vulnerable individuals into a panic. And these irresponsible folks and individuals are painting an apocalyptic view of the future that is completely at odds with the best science,” he added.

October 20, 2019

In a post at his blog, Mass divided the “real debate” on climate into two groups. The first he described as a “confident, non-political group that believes technology, informed investments, rational decision making, and the use of the best scientific information will lead to a solution of the global warming issue,” and labeled this group “ACT” or “Apolitical/Confident/Technica.” He gave climate activist Greta Thunberg as an example, among others.41The Real Climate Debate,” Cliff Mass Weather Blog, October 20, 2019. Archived October 8, 2021. Archive URL:https://archive.ph/8NRxK

The other group he contrasted as “mainly on the political left, that is highly partisan, anxious and often despairing, self-righteous, big on blame and social justice, and willing to attack those that disagree with them.” According to Mass, this groupโ€”which he titles “ASP” or “Anxious, Social-Justice, Partisan” see “social change as necessary for dealing with global warming, requiring the very reorganization of society” and “often distort the truth when it serves their interests.”

“In many ways, the ASP group appears to be a religious movement, not unlike the many millennialist movements of the past,” Mass claimed. “There is no debate allowed, the science is ‘settled.’ Sounds like religious dogma.”

Mass concluded:

“Progress on climate change is being undermined by the efforts of the highly vocal, partisan, and ineffective ASP group. They are standing in the way of bipartisan action on climate change, efforts to fix our forests, and the use of essential technologies. They are a big part of the problem, not the solution.”

October 1, 2019

Mass wrote an article at his blog where he claimed he was being censored by the University of Washington in what he described as “a series of serious violations of freedom of speech and academic freedom.”42The University of Washington Should Not Censor Faculty Social Media,” Cliff Mass Weather Blog, October 1, 2019. Archived October 6, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/xU2TF

In his post, Mass claimed the Dean and senior staff at UW’s College of the Environment had “suppressed diversity of viewpoints and censored the social media of faculty and staff” including Mass’s own blog.

Mass wrote that he had opposed I-1631, a carbon tax initiative. “I agreed to be a signatory for the statement against I-1631 in the official voterโ€™s pamphlet and did a few blog posts on the subject,” he wrote, adding his stance was “not popular” among students:

“The pro-1631 students used social media to call me all kinds of names, as did one vocal post-doctoral researcher in oceanography. They stated that I was in bed with oil companies, was on the payroll of the Koch brothers, was racist, misogynistic, a climate denier, and other names I would not repeat in a family friendly blog[…]”

Writing of the criticism he had faced for “pigs at a trough” representing members of the 1631 consortium, which included minority groups, Mass claimed They ignored the fact that the 1631 coalition was overwhelmingly white and well-to-do. The fact I was expressing political opinions outside the UW did not seem important to them, nor did they care about the concept of freedom of speech. They wanted the department and college administration to do something about me and my blog.

According to Mass, the subsequent departmental letter that described his blog post as including “imagery and text that was racially insensitive and caused offense,”

This letter was not only inappropriate and arguably unethical but a violation of University of Washington faculty code, including the protection of academic freedom. […] UW administrators were sanctioning and shaming a faculty member inside the university for expressing political free speech outside of the UW”

Following this, Mass wrote that he went to the Secretary of the Faculty for guidance, who then arranged for mediation.

“I expected that UW leadership (President and Provost), once aware of the situation, would quickly take steps to ensure that such serious violations of academic freedom and first amendment protections did not happen again,” Mass wrote. “The COENV Deanโ€™s office and Dean Graumlich have refused to acknowledge the inappropriateness and illegality of the letter and shaming meeting, and so far neither the UW President nor Provost have acted to address the situation.”

January 2019

In a post at Medium, Dr. Alex Lenfernaโ€”secretary of the Climate Justice Coalition with a PhD on climate justice from the University of Washingtonโ€”detailed how he had received death threats after previously criticizing Cliff Mass over his prior blog with “racist imagery.”43Alex Lenferna. “The Non-Persecution of Cliff Mass,” Medium, January 14, 2019. Archived October 8, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/TXqZH

Lenferna detailed a timeline of events in the prior year. In November 21, the Assistant Dean of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion had sent a letter to the department of Atmospheric Sciences asking to avoid racist or offensive content. It did not mention Mass by name, however Mass “responded indignantly in an email, arguing that the letter was an attack on his freedom of speech and that he had never made any offensive analogies.”

Mass’s department head then shared the prior post by Lenferna, which had included “a screenshot of the offending imagery” as Mass had reportedly removed the original image and replaced it with another without an apology.

In response, Mass reportedly called for the UW’s HR department to intervene and also emailed the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) for a lack of โ€œcivilityโ€ and โ€œtoleranceโ€ against him. “This led to the decision to have a department meeting mediated by a university ombudsman,” Lenferna reported.

“Massโ€™ department had their meeting mediated by a university ombudsman wherein, according to several individuals present, a number of graduate students raised concerns because Mass had repeatedly contributed negatively to the inclusiveness of their community, the latest instance of this was his blog post which had racist imagery that they felt was not only inappropriate but was also representing them and their department in ways they didnโ€™t support,” he noted.

Mass then “went to the climate denial community and alt-right media to make his exaggerated claims of persecution, arguing that his department was targeting him for his views around Initiative 1631, when in fact he was being called out for his non-inclusive and offensive behavior.”

Judith Curry was among those who rose to his defense. In a December 2018 article, she described Mass as a “victim of academic political bullying.”44Judith Curry. “Cliff Mass: victim of academic political bullying,” Climate Etc., December 12, 2018. Archived October 6, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/xl3jL

Curry suggested the reason for opposition to Mass was that he “broke with the progressive activists in terms of not supporting the latest carbon fee initiative in Washington, I-1631.”

In her conclusion, Curry suggested she was “not too worried about Cliff Mass,” as “Cliff has friends in high places and an enormous โ€˜bully pulpitโ€™ in terms of his blog and radio show.”

Lenferna argued this was innacurate, as “in fact he was being called out for his non-inclusive and offensive behavior.”

“Providing a text book ad hominem attack, she never bothered to engage with or even mention any of the arguments I made, or even link to my piece, she just slung those labels against me without any reasoning behind why,” Lenferna wrote.

Following the coverage by Curry, Anthony Watts‘s popular blog Watts Up With That called for people to support Mass in a pushback against the supposed “mob attacking” of him.

Samples included the following:

In this article, Watts and Rotter provide a list of UW contacts with this suggestion:

“Our idea is this: with the mob attacking Dr. Mass, it would probably be helpful if the administrators being bombarded by irrational hate mail against him received another side of the story, one of rational support for his commitment to truth and inquiry.”

The letter does suggest letters be “calm, on point, and polite.”

That WUWT article was also included in an issue of the “Weekly Climate and Energy News Roundup” by the Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP), posted at WUWT.45Weekly Climate and Energy News Roundup #340,” Watts Up With That, December 17, 2018. Archived October 6, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/1Gbvj

Lenferna wrote:

“In response to Mass, Watts and Curryโ€™s cries of persecution, their rather vicious fan base sent me a range of threatening emails, including ones wishing for me to be ‘slaughtered’.”

He reported that “the former Dean and Vice Provost of the Graduate School at the University of Washington, abused his position of power, and emailed me threateningly to demand I apologize to Mass and that if I did not then I ‘do not deserve to have the recognition and honor of being a UW Graduate Student’,” adding: “Iโ€™m far from the only one who Mass has responded to so aggressively for critiquing him. As a number of graduate students and professors I have spoken to have pointed out, Mass has a pattern of intimidation and aggression against those who disagree with him.”

He concluded:

“Mass and his (predominately climate denying allies) are engaged in a campaign to falsely claim that Mass is being persecuted, but there is no there there. Mass made problematic arguments and offensive analogies, and students have expressed frustration at his non-inclusive behavior. Far from persecuting Mass, arguably the UW has been too lenient and failed to take appropriate action. He has had no repercussions for his problematic political activities, and the only repercussions for his repeated non-inclusive behavior and harassment of others, is a politely worded letter which did not actually address Mass, and a meeting wherein students expressed frustration about Massโ€™ behavior, hardly a campaign of persecution.”

October 20, 2018

Cliff Mass, as reported by Dr. Alex Lenferna at Medium, was the โ€œlone scientistโ€ opposing Washington state Initiative 1631, which would push polluting companies to invest in clean technology. According to Medium, โ€œCliffโ€™s opposition stems from an inaccurate analysis of 1631, and is grounded not so much in science, but rather in a narrow anti-government ideology which was revealed when, for instance, Cliff compared Native Tribes, communities of color and unions to pigs for advocating for public investments in their communities.โ€46โ€œIf You Care About Climate Change, Donโ€™t Listen to Cliff Mass, Vote Yes on 1631,โ€ Medium, October 20, 2018. Archived October 25, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/zOnzZ

The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) published an informational post debunking a number of misleading claims opposing the initiative. For example, while Mass claims in his own article that big polluters won’t be held accountable, UCS clarifies that โ€œI-1631 covers the overwhelming majority of carbon emissions in the state by targeting major polluters like oil refineries, industrial facilities, and utilities that have not yet transitioned to clean energy.โ€47Julie McNamara. โ€œGetting the Facts Right on Washingtonโ€™s I-1631,โ€ Union of Concerned Scientists, September 27, 2018. Archived October 26, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/VO9z1

Others have noted that while I-1631 โ€œisn’t perfectโ€ it โ€œwould be more than a small start,โ€ with a wide array of benefits. Fellow Meteorologist Jeff Renner also announced his public support.48โ€œMeteorologist Jeff Renner on why he says #YesOn1631,โ€ Facebook video by use 350 Action, October 22, 2018. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

Climate and health experts also published a letter of support, writing that โ€œI-1631 will accelerate Washingtonโ€™s transition to a clean energy economy and set an example for the nation.โ€49โ€œOpen Letter Supporting Initiative 1631 by Leading Climate Experts,โ€ Scientists for 1631. Archived March 2, 2019. Archive URL: https://archive.vn/yHQIp

In Mass’s original blog post opposing I-1631, according to Medium, โ€œCliff compares tribal nations, communities of color, and laborers to pigs for asking for investments in their communities.โ€ Mass later removed an image of pigs, replacing it with an image of a fox and money and the message โ€œclever as a fox.โ€50โ€œIf You Worry About Climate Change and Care About the Environment, Vote No on I-1631,โ€ Cliff Mass Weather and Climate Blog, October 14, 2018. Archived October 25, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/D4j13

A search of the Internet Archive confirms Mass had used an image with the filename โ€œSouthern_pork_productionโ€ in the original blog post (screenshot below, by DeSmog โ€“ alternate archive here):51โ€œIf You Worry About Climate Change and Care About the Environment, Vote No on I-1631,โ€ Cliff Mass Weather and Climate Blog, October 14, 2018. Archived October 14, 2018. Archive.fo URL: archive.fo/xCld4

Later in his blog post, Mass also defended โ€œbig oil,โ€ writing:

โ€œ If Big Oil was covering up global warming, they did a very bad job at it. The impact of CO2 has been talked about since the 80s and the estimates of the impacts have not really changed in thirty years. Global warming gets wide attention in the media, and if anything is hyped up and exaggerated. Greenhouse warming has been no secret.โ€

[โ€ฆ]

โ€œBig oil has provided a high-quality product at a declining price (considering inflation) that is demanded by virtually everyone. Yes, even environmental activists, who often are big travelers. If their products were not demanded, they would go out of business, like others before them.

To paraphrase Shakespeare: ‘the problem dear environmentalist is not in the oil companies, but in ourselves for demanding their product’.โ€

Mass made another anti-I-1631 post on Sunday, October 21, claiming it was โ€œat odds with democratic values.โ€52โ€œInitiative I-1631: At Odds with Democratic Values,โ€ Cliff Mass Weather and Climate Blog, October 21, 2018. Archived October 25, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/x8uXu

August 21, 2018

Mass appeared on KIRO Radio’s Ron and Don show where he described recent wildfires as โ€œhistorically normalโ€ for the region and claimed there was no connection to climate change.53โ€œDonโ€™t like the smoke? We can change that,โ€ KIRO Radio, August 21, 2018. Archived August 24, 2018. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog. Archive.is URL: https://archive.fo/gsK5H

โ€œThis is the worst smoke interval weโ€™ve had in decades, probably 50, 70 years around here,โ€ Mass said on the show. โ€œItโ€™s a very interesting event, meteorologically.โ€

Mass suggested this event is nothing new:

โ€œThere used to be a large number of fires in the early part of the 20th Century and before that,โ€ Mass said. โ€œPeople donโ€™t realize that this used to be a very smoky place because we have forests all around us. There used to be fires all the time. So smoke is not unknown around here.โ€

โ€œSo what is unusual is that we suppressed the fires for almost 100 years. So people got used to the fact there weren’t a lot of fires and smoke, but that’s the natural state around here.โ€

The host asked: โ€œCliff, as humans, what should we learn from this?โ€ Mass responded:

โ€œWell, number one is we have to fix our forests up. You know, some people say this is climate change or something else, but the key thing is probably not climate change. It’s that we have these forests that we’ve suppressed fires for one-hundred years and they are totally messed up. They are completely overgrownโ€”dense growth that is completely unnatural.โ€

December 27, 2017

Mass wrote a blog post titled “The Paradox of Sea Level Rise” where he claimed recent sea level rise was not due to climate change.54The Paradox of Sea Level Rise,” Cliff Mass Weather Blog, December 27, 2017. Archived October 8, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/xK8uO

He referenced the Little Ice Age, claiming that subsequent warming was mostly natural, a common climate change myth debunked at Skeptical Science.55What ended the Little Ice Age?Skeptical Science. Accessed October 2021.

“[C]laims that all or most of the rise in sea level is due to human-emitted greenhouse gases appear problematic because it started before humans could be the main cause,” Mass claimed in the post.

December 2017

Mass started a personal crowdsource fundraising page to run his own climate modeling project from the University of Washington.56โ€œDetermining the Regional Impacts of Climate Change,โ€ University of Washington. Archived October 25, 2018.

โ€œOnly the support of interested citizens will make this regional climate modeling project a reality. In a period where government support of climate research is collapsing, non-traditional funding mechanisms like this are essential,โ€ the fundraising page reads.

โ€œFunds for this kind of work is not available from the Federal government, particularly since climate change research is now collapsing. Thus, crowdfunding is an essential approach for ensuring that society has the information it needs to be ready for climate change.โ€

As of campaign end at December 27, 2017, Mass had raised $11,800 of the $50,000 goal.57โ€œDetermining the Regional Impacts of Climate Change,โ€ University of Washington. Archived October 25, 2018.

November 2017

Writing at The Stranger, scientist Sarah Myhre detailed her experience with Cliff Mass following a scientific testimony she was invited to give to the Washington State House Environment Committee on greenhouse gas emission reduction. During the testimony, she commented on Cliff Mass’s views on climate changeโ€”โ€œMany of us at the University of Washington do view his views as coming from a denialist or contrarian place,โ€ Myhre said. She wrote that afterwards, Mass had written โ€œmany angry emailsโ€ in response.58Sarah Myhre. โ€œThe Culture of Harassing and Demeaning Women Scientists,โ€ The Stranger, November 17, 2017. Archived June 27, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.li/u64PY

โ€œFrankly, I was terrifiedโ€“I was completely out of my depths, and I didnโ€™t want to be a lightning rod,โ€ Myhre wrote. She added that she then went for coffee with Cliff Mass where, she wrote, โ€œHe stuck his finger in my face and threatened me: ‘if you donโ€™t retract your public testimony, I will retract it for you.’โ€

Mass responded by disputing Myhre’s version of events:

โ€œThis is a total lie. I never said that and never stuck any fingers in anyone’s face. Sarah Myhre choose to defame me and call me names in her testimony. I had never heard of her before that. Several folks emailed me after her testimony telling me that she was ‘throwing me under the bus.’ Her efforts to paint me as an extremist was both wrong and unnecessary, particularly as I not only am concerned about climate change, but was a major supporter of the carbon tax initiative.โ€

Responding to Mass’s comment, Myhre said โ€œI stand by everything in my piece.โ€

Myhre was also profiled in a 2018 piece by the Climate Science Legal Defense Fund of “scientists who have been threatened with legal attacks or harassed by politically and ideologically motivated groups.”59Perspectives of Scientists Who Become Targets: Sarah Myhre,” Climate Science Legal Defense Fund, May 30, 2018. Archived October 8, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/j4szF

CSLDF summarized Myhre’s experience following her January 2016 testimony:

“Mass sent angry emails to Myhreโ€™s supervisors at the university touting his own credentials and accusing her of being unprofessional. Myhre said her job was not threatened due to her strong reputation and alliances. However, ‘Because the academic institution is so risk averse and conflict averse, it reframes me as a problematic voice rather than someone trying to do due diligence in public. I wasnโ€™t being problematic, I was being honest.'”

Myhre said she was then targeted by other climate change “contrarians” associated with think tanks such as the Cato Institute, the Washington Policy Center, and the Heartland Institute. That included “misogynistic emails from Todd Myers of the Washington Policy Center,” who had also testified before the committee.

In December 2016, Myhre also faced criticism from Judith Curry, who has been a noted supporter of Mass. Following an interview for “Our Warm Regards” where Myhre spoke of the MeToo movement in science including the harassment of female scientists, and her own experiences with sexual assault during fieldwork, Curry tweeted: Sarah Myhre I am calling you out. You are one of the biggest online climate bullies out there. In case you havenโ€™t noticed, I am a โ€˜woman in science.โ€™”

August 31, 2017

Mass wrote a blog post titled “Global Warming and Hurricane Harvey” where he claimed “the results are clear: human – induced global warming played an inconsequential role in this disaster.”60Global Warming and Hurricane Harvey,” Cliff Mass Weather Blog, August 31, 2017. Archived October 6, 2021. Archive URL:https://archive.ph/EXK0P

Mass’s claim ran counter to the findings of the scientific community, with other studies coming out in the following months, for example in Environmental Research Letters.61Scott Waldman. “Global Warming Tied to Hurricane Harvey,” E&E News, December 14, 2017. Republished at Scientific American. Archived October 6, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/f2A4I

May 2017

Mass attended a moderated debate at The Stranger versus “philosopher-in-chief” Charles Mudede. Mudede had called Mass “‘a very dangerous weatherperson’ and contends that the University of Washington atmospheric sciences professor is aiding climate-change deniers by promoting skepticism about the causes of certain weather-related events,” moderator Eli Sanders wrote.

Responding to the question whether he believed in climate change, Mass replied: “I don’t usually like the word ‘believe,’ but I certainly know that climate change is a very serious issue.”

Mudede commented on why he had used “dangerous” to describe Mass:

“I think that climate change is real, and I think there’s real resistance to addressing it, and I think we’re running out of time. When we have comments that are not entirely wrong, but they give people reason to doubt whether or not the situation is graveโ€”to me, that’s what I would call dangerous.”

Mass also emphasized adaptation as a response:

“Climate change is going to happen. The gases in the atmosphere already ensure that we’re going to warm. We’re going to have to build different infrastructure. We’re going to have to modify our infrastructure. We have to have adaptation and resilience. And so society has to have accurate information about what we believe is going to happen. We cannot exaggerate it, because we have to do things to prepare.”

Audio of the debate below:

July 21, 2011

Cliff Mass was featured on a panel discussion at the Washington Policy Center’s “9th Annual Environmental Policy Conference and Lunch.” The conference featured well known climate change skeptics like Patrick Moore.62The Role of Science in Environmental Policymaking,” Discovery Institute, July 21, 2011. Archived October 4, 2012. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/Q5Ita

The Discovery Institute, a group dedicated to “challenging Neo-Darwinism and working on the theory of intelligent design”63A Brief History of Discovery Institute,” Discovery Institute, January 1, 2008. Archived October 8, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/bWWG2 was a co-sponsor of the event.64The Role of Science in Environmental Policymaking,” Discovery Institute, July 21, 2011. Archived October 4, 2012. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/Q5Ita

Affiliations

Social Media

Publications

Cliff Mass wrote the 2008 book The Weather of the Pacific Northwest and has broadcast a weekly weather information segment on KPLU, a local public radio station. 

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