What's the difference between a climate scientist and a management consultant?

What's the difference between a climate scientist and a management consultant? About $100/hour and five years of education. (Actually, I'm just being metaphorical there, it's not just climate scientists but in fact any type of research geophysicist.)

You see, both management consultants and climate scientists know that even if you're not part of the solution, there's good money to be made by selling the problem. Take Yellowstone National Park, for example. We know that it's about to erupt (about to erupt in this case meaning anytime from 3pm this afternoon to about 10,000 years form now). We know that when it does the ash fallout will pretty much bury the entire United States - people and all - and the resultant stratospheric aerosol cloud will cool the planet for a sufficiently long period that about 3 billion people will starve to death. Hence, people like myself can get money from a panicked government to research the matter (there's nothing more likely to reduce one's standing in the polls than having your entire electorate wiped out, just ask Gen. Pinochet). However, in practical terms they're completely wasting their money (actually, it's our money, but you know what I mean). Yellowstone Park is a bloody great magma chamber and there's absolutely nothing anyone can do to stop it erupting or mitigate the consequences when it does. But at least the government can say it's doing everything it can.

Getting money to research an insoluble problem just so that the leaders can sidestep responsibility - sounds like management consultency to me. Does anyone know if Accenture are interested in setting up a Climate Change Business Challenges Division? Pay me enough and I'll even wear a pinstripe suit.

*By the way, you really should check out the Accenture website, if only to see the feature entitled Go on, be a Tiger.