The voice of 32,000 scientists = silence
It’s a tough life being a scientist in today’s world. When it comes to actually having anything to say on matters scientific, a scientist is usually the last person someone from the media will resort to because scientists aren’t necessarily the world’s most media friendly people. Call it media-muzzling…
The National Post and American Thinker recently dissected what it means to actually have 32,000 scientists agree on global warming (trust me, I can’t even get 2 scientific colleagues to agree with me!). And you begin to get an idea of the exasperation most scientists feel over this issue (See footnote). If any of these 32,000 scientists were to be interviewed about global warming, this is probably what they would face:
Interviewer: So, do you think global warming is happening?
Scientist: Yes, bu….
Interviewer: Thats’s a wrap! Did you get that Eddy? Good, can you pipe that ASAP back to the studio…
But what most scientists would dream about is an interview that went more like following – AND actually got transmitted to the public:
Interviewer: Do you think global warming is happening?
Scientist: Yes, but the world has been warming for 1000s of years.
I: But don’t you think the world right now is warming up far more rapidly than it has ever done so in the past because we are burning fossil fuels?
S: Our atmosphere is made up largely of nitrogen (78.1%) and oxygen (20.9%) . The other 1% is made up of greenhouse gases and some other inert gases. Carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas being toted as the baddy in this global warming debate makes up about 0.035% of the atmosphere.
I: Well, maybe that is a small amount, but surely it has a big effect? It causes global warming!
S: Water is actually the biggest greenhouse gas in the atmosphere followed distantly by CO2, then very small amounts of methane and ozone. Without these greenhouse gases, the world would be about 30 degrees cooler – in other words, our entire world, from the poles to the equator would be frozen!
I: Well, maybe we need greenhouse gases, but surely if man keeps pumping them into the atmosphere, its going to make the world hotter and then we all die.
S: There are more things which effect the temperature of this planet than the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere, things which man has no control over.
I: Such as?
S: Plate tectonics – our planet surface is basically a floating jigsaw on a pile of molten hot rock. If all those jigsaw pieces above sea level collide into one super continent, the world become very hot. Where plates collide, volcano’s erupt, producing releasing greenhouse gases and dust – they simultaneously increase and decrease the Earth’s temperature. The plates also effect ocean currents – when Antarctica became separated from every other land mass, it became incased in a cold water belt, which cooled the planet and started the ‘ocean conveyor belt…’
I: Woah! This is beginning to make my head spin! But why is the world warming up now?
S: The world is always fluctuating between hotter and colder extremes. Since Antarctica froze over about 35 million years ago, the world has been trapped in an ice age – one where one or both poles are permanently frozen…
I: What do you mean, ‘one or both poles…” global warming is causing the north pole to melt!
S: The north pole only froze over 2-3 million years ago because the warm waters circulating up the east coast of South America were no longer able to turn west at the Panama Ithmus….
I: Wwwwwwwwwwwwaaaaiiiitttt!!!! My head is really hurting! What about the CO2 WE – the human race – are contributing to the atmosphere and causing global warming???
S: But I haven’t told you abouthow warm the earth has been over time, CO2 levels and temperatures when the dinosaurs roamed the earth, about the effect of clouds, about volcano’s, about the Milankovitch cycle, about the sun, about…
I: I don’t care – you keep on adding things I can’t control to what is causing global warming! Everyone knows its increasing CO2 in the atmosphere – tell me why I should be concerned about global warming from me driving my car!
S: I’ve just tried to point out to you there are a lot more things than man burning fossil fuels causing the world to warm up at this time…
I: I know and I just want to know why I should be so concerned that driving my car is causing global warming which is catastrophic to the Earth!
S: Short answer or long answer?
I: Short, puh-lease!
S: Well, what of it? We are running out of fossil fuels to burn, the world has been up to 15 degrees hotter in the past and it will be hotter millions of years into the future. We might make it a few degrees warmer this century, but it will dissipate next century because we’ll run out of oil and gas – at least anything worth getting – by the middle of this century.
I: But what about the dire predictions about global warming??
S: What dire predictions? Sea levels rise by 59cm or 2ft? Temperature rises by 2 degrees celcius?
I: No – the ice caps are going to melt! The temperatures will rise uncontrollably! Animals will die! Forests will die! Cities and people will be flooded!
S: There is no way a 2000-5000m thick blanket of ice is going to melt this century, so forget about that! And there are natural mechanisms in place already like the Gulf Stream….
I: Stop! I don’t want to know another thing which I can’t control which will affect the temperature! I just want to know why I should be worried about carbon dioxide emissions! What about the forests and animals dieing?
S: Which do you think is killing forests faster – global warming or man clearing a football field-size bit of forest every second to grow biofuels and food? Which do you think is killing off the animals faster – man hunting and clearing natural habitats or global warming? Which do you think is killing the fishes off faster – man overfishing or rising water temperatures?
I: Oh.
And thats why they don’t let scientists talk. First they make it all really complicated, and secondly, they have a nasty way of putting things in perspective which might not agree with your idealised notion!
Footnote: The place where 32,000 scientists attempted to use modern technology to voice their opinion is a via website and the Oregon Petition, which has been calling upon scientists in the USA to agree to a statement about global warming. It’s not a statement which denies global warming at all – it is only a statement about the attempts to limit mankind’s’ production of greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide in particular. It is a petition which asks the scientist to basically recognise that the subject of man-made contributions to global warming has been blown out of all proportion and at the expense of the environment, scientific research and human welfare. Some thought provoking peer-reviwed, non-sponsored scientific papers are also provided to get scientists to think before they print AND post in their reply – this isn’t a quick, fill in a form hit send thing!
32,000 scientists – in America alone – agreed with the petition, 32,000….
