Quote:
|
Originally Posted by jacktruth
Global Hot Air
By Thomas Sowell
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
What about all those scientists mentioned, cited or quoted by global warming crusaders?
There are all kinds of scientists, from chemists to nuclear physicists to people who study insects, volcanoes, and endocrine glands -- none of whom is an expert on weather or climate, but all of whom can be listed as scientists, to impress people who don't scrutinize the list any further. That ploy has already been used.
Then there are genuine scientific experts on weather and climate. The National Academy of Sciences came out with a report on global warming back in 2001 with a very distinguished list of such experts listed. The problem is that not one of those very distinguished scientists actually wrote the report -- or even saw it before it was published.
One of those very distinguished climate scientists -- Richard S. Lindzen of MIT -- publicly repudiated the conclusions of that report, even though his name had been among those used as window dressing on the report. But the media may not have told you that.
In short, there has been a full court press to convince the public that "everybody knows" that a catastrophic global warming looms over us, that human beings are the cause of it, and that the only solution is to turn more money and power over to the government to stop us from our dangerous ways of living.
Among the climate experts who are not part of that "everybody" are not only Professor Lindzen but also Fred Singer and Dennis Avery, whose book "Unstoppable Global Warming: Every 1500 Years," punctures the hot air balloon of the global warming crusaders. So does the book "Shattered Consensus," edited by Patrick J. Michaels, professor of environmental sciences at the University of Virginia, which contains essays by others who are not part of "everybody."
Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institute and author of Basic Economics: A Citizen's Guide to the Economy.
|
This is where Sowell loses credibility on this issue. To imply that the scientists that support global warming are not distinguished environmental scientists and climatologists is just wrong. Among the organizations that support the global warming argument are The American Meteorological Society and the American Geophysical Union. I am confident that the scientists that make up these organizations are in fact trained in the relevant disciplines. I wish that Sowell and other political writers would refrain from making grandiose statements about this issue when they are not experts especially if their position goes against the facts. IMO, the real question is not "does global warming exist", but rather what are its consequences and what type of timeframe do we have to correct the problem that we have helped to create. It may be that once the media and public accept the idea that C02 and Greenhouse gases are affecting our climate, a more clear-headed approach can be taken that doesn't involve extreme statements which suggest the threat of imminent catastrophe. It also may be the case that when pushed the experts will admit they do not really know what the consequences of global warming WILL be, but rather only that it exists. This is a healthy debate that should and will eventually take place. Indeed just yesterday an executive working for Exxon Mobil stated that they will no longer attack the science behind the idea of global of warming but rather participate in the debate on how to deal with it. In my opinion, this is the smart approach... agree to what is obvious (there is scientific consensus), gain some credibility in so doing, and then attempt to affect policy in a way that has minimal effect on your corporation.