Joanne Nova



Joanne Nova aka JoNova (real name Joanne Codling), born circa 1967, is an Australian right wing communicator who mainly writes to promote anti-science views of climate in books and a denialist weblog, joannenova.com.au. She has no evident academic background in climate science; her degree (B.Sc.) is in molecular biology. Nova is based in Perth, Western Australia.

Career
Nova runs the Australian company Science Speak, the main aim of which is to promote AGW denialism.

For four years, Nova worked for the Shell Questacon Science Circus, based in Canberra, Australia. The Science Circus is an outreach program run by Questacon, the Australian National Science and Technology Centre. The program is sponsored by Shell Oil, with additional support from Australian National University. She has also worked for Foxtel, a cable television company part owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation.

Books: Skeptic's Handbook I and II
Nova is the author of The Skeptic's Handbook, a publication that purports to give climate skeptics "the tools [they] need to cut through the red-herrings, and avoid the traps." The main contention of The Skeptic's Handbook is the claim that CO2 does not drive global warming. The handbook has been thoroughly debunked by John Cook's Skeptical Science website, and also by DeSmogBlog. Since then Jo Nova has written a "Skeptic's Handbook II", which mainly attacks climate science with political arguments, such as "global bullies want your money". Throughout the Skeptic's Handbook II, Nova adopts positions that are not falsifiable, hence unscientific; an example is "There is no consensus, there never was, and it wouldn’t prove anything even if there had been." The Handbook is a grab-bag of catchphrases and polemic.

Shaky on climate science
Nova has been called out by climate bloggers for her shaky grasp of science, particularly over the Tropospheric Hot Spot. Both Cook and Lambert show that she is wrong on this question, inter alia.

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Global warming skeptics
 * SourceWatch:Project:Creating Articles on Sponsors and Speakers at The 2008 International Conference on Climate Change

External resources

 * Nova's website: http://joannenova.com.au
 * Skeptical Science posts about Joanne Nova

External articles

 * How Jo Nova doesn't get past climate change http://www.skepticalscience.com/How-Jo-Nova-doesnt-get-past-climate-change.html
 * How Jo Nova doesn't get the CO2 lag http://www.skepticalscience.com/How-Jo-Nova-doesnt-get-the-CO2-lag.html
 * How Jo Nova doesn't get the tropospheric hot spot http://www.skepticalscience.com/How-Jo-Nova-doesnt-get-the-tropospheric-hot-spot.html 
 * Deltoid, Skeptic's Handbook : Not Novel, Not Right http://scienceblogs.com/deltoid/2008/12/skeptics_handbook_not_novel_no.php
 * Jo Nova reveals climate science's endgame : http://watchingthedeniers.wordpress.com/2010/12/15/jo-nova-reveals-climate-sciences-endgame-controlling-the-world-bwah-ha-ha/

By Nova

 * Joanne Nova, "The Great Global Fawning: How Science Journalists Pay Homage to Non-Science and Un-Reason", Presentation to the Heartland Institute's International Conference on Climate Change (2009), March 10, 2009. (PowerPoint)