Man-Made Global Warming: 10 Questions

U.S. Senate Report: Over 400 Prominent Scientists Disputed Man-Made Global Warming Claims in 2007

IPCC Nobel winner calls IPCC report: "Dishonest Political Tampering with the Science..."

Good questions!

I thought Pat Sajak was just a game show host - I had no idea he was also an intelligent thinker.

The problem with this whole premise is that the sheer number of variables and unknowns is such that, by tweaking any group of them, one can reach the conclusion one wishes. A three-year cooling trend, for example, could be twisted to support the premise of “global warming”.

How do you argue with a man smart enough to go to work everyday with Vanna White?

Oh, and forgot: and all the policy decisions that go along with it.

Never mind 400 dissenters...

There are over 19000 signed up as dissenters at “The Petition Project”!

Apparently he bought a clue.

Cheers!

...oh, and Merry Christmas.

Alsa Doom and the Secret of Siotoo

EXCELLENT!

11. Why can’t we reverse global warming by turning our air conditioners on, full blast, and leaving our doors open?

Thank you, and Merry Christmas to you too!

"We’ve faced environmental issues throughout our history, but it’s difficult to remember one which has gained such “status” in such a short time."

1) Overpopulation
2) The Ozone Hole
3) Industrialization (Malthus)
4) Soylent Green
5) DDT
6) Global Cooling

In my lifetime (excepting #3 above), the left has always had the "Mommy Earth needs Socialism" program.

What makes us think people who cannot predict next week’s weather can predict anything else?

“The Goracle suddenly falls silent.”

I would add a couple of questions:

11) Who benefits from a concerted, global (or at least western-led) effort to reduce mankind's influence on global climate?

It is a fair question. If we are going to make policy decisions and take actions that will lead to dramatic, or even modest changes in lifestyle and living conditions for hundreds of millions of people... I think it fair to know something of the motives and interests of the people advocating these changes. If it will indeed cost the economies of a number of countries trillions of dollars, where will that money (power) go, and who will control it?

12) How certain are we, really, about global climate change? The current situation cries out for a dispassionate, non-partisan look at the state of the art in climate science.

Recently, it appears that "studies" and research funded by pro-environmental groups universally support the man-caused or man-enhanced global warming theory. Meanwhile, studies and research funded by various industry groups tends to find no scientifically sound link or proof of man's influence. When findings so clearly correlate to the advocacy of the sponsor... It calls the entire body of work into suspicion.

We desperately need a thorough, realistic, and humble assessment of our current knowledge-base on climate science. This would include the veracity and accuracy of historical climate data; our current understanding of the interactions of various elements of climate; an honest admission of what we do not know or do not yet fully understand about climate factor interactions; a study of climate modeling techniques, including how well they assimilate historical data to predict current conditions, as well as a sensitivity analysis so that their probability of correctly predicting future climates may be judged.

13) Finally, I would ask, is this effort futile? If the Earth's climate is indeed warming, is it folly to think we can do anything to change it? Do we realistically have the technology and resources to do anything on such a global scale? Do we realistically have the "human power" - the will to make such changes and sacrifices as may be necessary? This requires a serious, honest assessment of human nature. Given that we tend to go to war, kill, and destroy for often the most stupid/simplistic of reasons... Is it realistic to think that we as a species can effectively adopt such altruistic motives?

He’s had quite a few great essays in recent years. A very sharp guy.

Fred T. speaks for me:

March 22, 2007, 9:30 a.m.

Plutonic Warming

By Fred Thompson

Editor’s note: Click here to listen to the original radio commentary this transcript is based on.

Some people think that our planet is suffering from a fever. Now scientists are telling us that Mars is experiencing its own planetary warming: Martian warming. It seems scientists have noticed recently that quite a few planets in our solar system seem to be heating up a bit, including Pluto.

NASA says the Martian South Pole’s “ice cap” has been shrinking for three summers in a row. Maybe Mars got its fever from earth. If so, I guess Jupiter’s caught the same cold, because it’s warming up too, like Pluto.

This has led some people, not necessarily scientists, to wonder if Mars and Jupiter, non signatories to the Kyoto Treaty, are actually inhabited by alien SUV-driving industrialists who run their air-conditioning at 60 degrees and refuse to recycle.

Silly, I know, but I wonder what all those planets, dwarf planets and moons in our SOLAR system have in common. Hmmmm. SOLAR system. Hmmmm. Solar? I wonder. Nah, I guess we shouldn’t even be talking about this. The science is absolutely decided. There’s a consensus.

Ask Galileo.

— Fred Thompson is an actor and former United States senator from Tennessee.

© PAUL HARVEY SHOW, ABC RADIO NETWORKS

Here are some of his other essays:

http://www.patsajak.com/news_archive.php?view=says

Thank you - he’s got a great website - very interesting!