Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
This forum is in permanent archive mode. Our new active community can be found here.
Global Warming - Is there a shift?
Do you think that 2009 will be the year in which Global Warming will be seriously challenged?
I've started to notice a lot of articles such as this and this.
A couple of thoughts:
1) A lot of the anti-global warming articles employ the same mistakes that they complain about. For example, just because this particular year may not have been warm doesn't disprove a longer trend. You can support either argument if you cherry pick isolated data points.
2) I have a serious problem when scientists can gain a lot of money and notoriety by taking a position on one side of the debate. This undermines the scientific process. I'm not faulting the scientists. It's the system that is flawed. A scientist should not have to worry about money or reputation when developing results. I've heard Richard Muller, amongst others, state that politics and fervor have influenced the ability to have genuine scientific debate on this topic. That's unfortunate.
3) My personal opinion is that the global warming model will prove to be incomplete. I suspect that we are either overestimating our role in the process or oversimplifying the factors that lead to global warming. However, I don't think that we should discount our role entirely.
4) Reducing pollution is not a terrible thing. Whether or not there is global warming, if it causes us to practice conservation, that's good.
5) There will be a lot of pressure to roll back any measures that cost money. In a deep global recession, the public is going to have little tolerance for costly programs.
6) I hope that Obama continues to see the need for significant investment in alternative energy research. The benefits from this are bigger than just the global warming issue.
I've started to notice a lot of articles such as this and this.
A couple of thoughts:
1) A lot of the anti-global warming articles employ the same mistakes that they complain about. For example, just because this particular year may not have been warm doesn't disprove a longer trend. You can support either argument if you cherry pick isolated data points.
2) I have a serious problem when scientists can gain a lot of money and notoriety by taking a position on one side of the debate. This undermines the scientific process. I'm not faulting the scientists. It's the system that is flawed. A scientist should not have to worry about money or reputation when developing results. I've heard Richard Muller, amongst others, state that politics and fervor have influenced the ability to have genuine scientific debate on this topic. That's unfortunate.
3) My personal opinion is that the global warming model will prove to be incomplete. I suspect that we are either overestimating our role in the process or oversimplifying the factors that lead to global warming. However, I don't think that we should discount our role entirely.
4) Reducing pollution is not a terrible thing. Whether or not there is global warming, if it causes us to practice conservation, that's good.
5) There will be a lot of pressure to roll back any measures that cost money. In a deep global recession, the public is going to have little tolerance for costly programs.
6) I hope that Obama continues to see the need for significant investment in alternative energy research. The benefits from this are bigger than just the global warming issue.
Comments
The way I see it, this is our planet. We live on this thing, so we should do our best to take care of it. Regardless of the whole global warming controversy we should try to lower pollution, create more efficient machines, and find alternative energy resources. We need to have a little respect for the place we live.
P.S. I'm not a hippy!