| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"Captain Compassion" |
| Date: |
09 May 2006 03:28:03 PM |
| Object: |
Clouds of Global-Warming Hysteria Finally starting to lift? |
Clouds of Global-Warming Hysteria Finally starting to lift?
National Review ^ | 5/8/2006 | Kenneth Green
Ever since the debate broke out over climate change, the world’s
attention has been riveted on computer-driven horror stories and the
positively silly idea of establishing global-weather control by
actively managing the atmosphere’s greenhouse-gas emissions. This
focus has gathered up a lethal coalition of people with diverse
motivations for promoting it. I call it a lethal coalition because,
for nearly 20 years, this coalition has killed off any attempt to look
at climate change through a rational lens, and to look at climate
policy in a pragmatic way.
Environmentalists, who have long espoused a version of humankind as an
energy-powered cancer on the Earth, see greenhouse-gas controls as a
way to starve out the tumor of humanity. Many scientists, unable to
look beyond linear thinking, can’t get past the idea that the only
answer to change is to impose stability. Temperance fiends of all
stripes—who’ve hated fossil fuels, cars, large houses, urban sprawl,
highways, rich people, fat people, industrial economies, airplanes,
meat consumption, non-recycled paper, and just about everything else
that might make someone smile—see energy rationing via greenhouse-gas
controls as the answer to their prayers.
One-worlders and other socialist sorts have seen the potential for
finally giving the U.N. control over all the “commanding heights” of
the world by giving them control of a key driver of development.
Hollywood, of course, has always known that disaster sells movie
tickets. And rent-seeking companies and governments that compete with
the U.S. seek to use greenhouse-gas controls to give them an edge over
their competition. In the past, if one failed to believe extreme
computer-modeling exercises, or shied away from putting the world on
an energy diet, the lethal coalition was unanimous in damning you as
some kind of tobacco scientist, flat-earther, or most recently, a
holocaust denier.
Recently, however, there are signs that the lethal coalition may be in
trouble. In a trend that should be worrisome to those who believe the
value of science lies in its authority, alarmist climate scientists
are increasingly the object of derision by people with enough power to
reach even the general public. Michael Crichton’s State of Fear, for
example, has educated millions of readers about climate science.
Parody sites such as The Onion and ecoenquirer.com are heaping scorn
on scientists who are increasingly sounding like angry authoritarian
oracles.
Some establishment scientists seem to be getting the message that they
may have overplayed their hands and become more parody than prophet.
In just the last few weeks, two studies in major journals (Nature and
Geophysical Research Letters) dump cold water on the high-end
horror-story estimates coming out from modelers seeking ever
higher-end scenarios to publicize. The articles, which cast a gimlet
eye on climate-model predictions, show that more likely estimates for
doubling of the world’s carbon-dioxide level (which many argue will
never happen) would produce a warming between 1.5 – 4.5 degrees
Celsius, with only a 15-percent chance of going higher than 4.5
degrees. Not a walk in the park, but not the stuff of
Hollywood-disaster epics.
And other scientists seem to have figured out that there’s more than
one way to skin a cat. One used to hear near unanimity among the
scientists beating the drum of climate alarmism. There was,
invariably, only one possible course of action supported by “the
consensus of scientists”: reducing greenhouse-gas emissions
immediately, even if it meant the collapse of national economies. Not
any more. On April 18, a group of 90 scientists wrote an open letter
to Canada’s prime minister observing that “Advances in climate science
.. . . have provided more evidence supporting the need for action and
development of a strategy for adaptation for projected changes.” The
group goes on to emphasize that as “mitigation measures will become
effective only after many years . . . adaptive strategies are
essential and must begin now.”
These cracks in the climate coalition are excellent signs that
rationality might win out in the debate over climate change and
climate policy. The world needs more brave scientists to step up to
the plate, disavow the hunt for ever-scarier scenarios, and join a
meaningful discussion of what we might do to protect future
generations from climate variability.
--
"There are no absolute certainties in this universe. A man must try to
whip order into a yelping pack of probabilities, and uniform success is
impossible." -- Jack Vance
"Civilizaton is the interval between Ice Ages." -- Will Durant.
"War is God's way of teaching Americans geography" -- Ambrose Bierce
"Long term commitment in relationships is only necessary because it takes
so damn long to raise children. Marriage may well be some kind of trick
to keep the males around beyond sexual satiation." -- Captain Compassion
"Progress is the increasing control of the environment by life.
--Will Durant
Joseph R. Darancette
daranc@NOSPAMverizon.net
.
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| User: "Joe S." |
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| Title: Re: Clouds of Global-Warming Hysteria Finally starting to lift? |
09 May 2006 05:37:42 PM |
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"Captain Compassion" <daranc@NOSPAMverizon.net> wrote in message
news:7bu162ln55dtqgqhlbireg2qlo6kghjbkc@4ax.com...
[ Nothing of value snipped. ]
Michael Crichton's State of Fear, for
example, has educated millions of readers about climate science.
Michael Crichton's "State of Fear" is FICTION. The fact that this article
claims that the book has educated millions tells us about the value of this
article. More fiction.
--
NewsGuy.Com 30Gb $9.95 Carry Forward and On Demand Bandwidth
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| User: "Captain Compassion" |
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| Title: Re: Clouds of Global-Warming Hysteria Finally starting to lift? |
09 May 2006 08:42:15 PM |
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On Tue, 9 May 2006 18:37:42 -0400, "Joe S." <anon@mous.com> wrote:
"Captain Compassion" <daranc@NOSPAMverizon.net> wrote in message
news:7bu162ln55dtqgqhlbireg2qlo6kghjbkc@4ax.com...
[ Nothing of value snipped. ]
Michael Crichton's State of Fear, for
example, has educated millions of readers about climate science.
Michael Crichton's "State of Fear" is FICTION. The fact that this article
claims that the book has educated millions tells us about the value of this
article. More fiction.
Fiction? So. One of the few fiction book I've ever seen with actual
references in the back.
All is text. The difference between fact or fiction is moot. All can
be deconstructed to the point where all is meaningless.
--
"There are no absolute certainties in this universe. A man must try to
whip order into a yelping pack of probabilities, and uniform success is
impossible." -- Jack Vance
"Civilizaton is the interval between Ice Ages." -- Will Durant.
"War is God's way of teaching Americans geography" -- Ambrose Bierce
"Long term commitment in relationships is only necessary because it takes
so damn long to raise children. Marriage may well be some kind of trick
to keep the males around beyond sexual satiation." -- Captain Compassion
"Progress is the increasing control of the environment by life.
--Will Durant
Joseph R. Darancette
daranc@NOSPAMverizon.net
.
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