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Colorado State professor disputes global warming is human-caused
The Daily Reporter-Herald ^ | 9/19/2006 | Kate Martin

Posted on 09/19/2006 5:38:34 PM PDT by DaveTesla

Global warming is happening, but humans are not the cause, one of the nation’s top experts on hurricanes said Monday morning. Bill Gray, who has studied tropical meteorology for more than 40 years, spoke at the Larimer County Republican Club Breakfast about global warming and whether humans are to blame. About 50 people were at the talk.

Gray, who is a professor at Colorado State University, said human-induced global warming is a fear perpetuated by the media and scientists who are trying to get federal grants.

“I think we’re coming out of the little ice age, and warming is due to changes to ocean circulation patterns due to salinity variations,” Gray said. “I’m sure that’s it.”

Gray’s view has been challenged, however.

Roger Pielke Jr., director of the Center for Science and Technology Policy Research at the University of Colorado, said in an interview later Monday that climate scientists involved with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded that most of the warming is due to human activity.

“Bill Gray is a widely respected senior scientist who has a view that is out of step with a lot of his colleagues’,” Pielke said. But challenging widely held views is “good for science because it forces people to make their case and advances understanding.”

“We should always listen to the minority,” said Pielke, who spoke from his office in Boulder. “But it’s prudent to take actions that both minimize human effect on the climate and also make ourselves much more resilient.”

At the breakfast, Gray said Earth was warmer in some medieval periods than it is today. Current weather models are good at predicting weather as far as 10 days in advance, but predicting up to 100 years into the future is “a great act of faith, and I don’t believe any of it,” he said.

But even if humans cause global warming, there’s not much people can do, Gray said. China and India will continue to pump out greenhouse gases, and alternative energy sources are expensive.

“Why do it if it’s not going to make a difference anyway?” he said. “Whether I’m right or wrong, we can’t do anything about it anyway.”

But Pielke said it makes sense to reduce humans’ impact on the climate.

“There are uncertainties. It’s not like you

change your light bulbs today, you’re going to have better weather tomorrow,” he said. “It’s even better if those actions you’re taking make sense for other reasons, like getting off Middle Eastern oil or saving money.”


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: Colorado
KEYWORDS: global; globalwarming; globalwarmingping; warming
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Gray, who is a professor at Colorado State University, said human-induced global warming is a fear perpetuated by the media and scientists who are trying to get federal grants.

What else can I add to this statment?

An honest voice.

1 posted on 09/19/2006 5:38:36 PM PDT by DaveTesla
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To: DaveTesla

2 posted on 09/19/2006 5:41:24 PM PDT by george76 (Ward Churchill : Fake Indian, Fake Scholarship, and Fake Art)
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To: DaveTesla

Wow.. a voice of reason gets a little press....


3 posted on 09/19/2006 5:42:32 PM PDT by xcamel (Press to Test, Release to Detonate)
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To: DaveTesla

Time for the obligatory Global Warming is NOT Human Caused slide


4 posted on 09/19/2006 5:43:24 PM PDT by Paloma_55 (I may be a hateful bigot, but I still love you)
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To: DaveTesla
Gray, who is a professor at Colorado State University, said human-induced global warming is a fear perpetuated by the media and scientists who are trying to get federal grants.

I am not sure that is the main motivation, but it is political and there is a strong mob mentality that pressure scientist to go along with the theory.

5 posted on 09/19/2006 5:45:21 PM PDT by Always Right
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To: DaveTesla

bttt


6 posted on 09/19/2006 5:45:45 PM PDT by tje
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To: Paloma_55

7 posted on 09/19/2006 5:47:46 PM PDT by DaveTesla (You can fool some of the people some of the time......)
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To: DaveTesla
"Why do it if it’s not going to make a difference anyway?” he said. “Whether I’m right or wrong, we can’t do anything about it anyway.”

Exactly what I tell my global-warming crazed, Gore-worshipping liberal friends. And then listen to them howl...

8 posted on 09/19/2006 5:52:27 PM PDT by Argus
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To: Always Right
"I am not sure that is the main motivation"

An energy tax (carbon) on the worlds most productive
nations to fund a global socialist / Marxist redistribute
the wealth (mostly to the controlling Marxists)
controlling authority.
9 posted on 09/19/2006 5:52:34 PM PDT by DaveTesla (You can fool some of the people some of the time......)
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To: DaveTesla
Global warming is a misnomer: Actually, the trend is properly described as "ocean warming." Whatever the proper description, global warming and global cooling are cyclical phenomena. Weather cycles are driven primarily by the sun. They wax and wain in 150,000 + year cycles. IMHO: Right now, we are on the cusp of a new global cooling trend. Hot weather will give way to rapidly cooler weather.
10 posted on 09/19/2006 5:53:39 PM PDT by ex-Texan (Matthew 7: 1 - 6)
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To: DaveTesla

But...but...that's impossible. ALL scientists agree that global warming is human-caused. Man-Bear-Pig said so. Why would he lie?


11 posted on 09/19/2006 5:53:47 PM PDT by meowmeow (In Loving Memory of Our Dear Viking Kitty (1987-2006))
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To: DaveTesla
I see you have destroyed the temperature recordings before the 1600s! /s

I had this tagline half the summer. ;)

12 posted on 09/19/2006 5:54:10 PM PDT by SouthTexas (Of course it's hot, it's summer!)
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To: DaveTesla

How dare he challenge the sacred doctrine proclaimed by
the Wholly Gaseous One, Saint Albert!


13 posted on 09/19/2006 5:58:38 PM PDT by beethovenfan (If Islam is the solution, the "problem" must be freedom.)
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To: DaveTesla

"Gray said Earth was warmer in some medieval periods than it is today. Current weather models are good at predicting weather as far as 10 days in advance, but predicting up to 100 years into the future is “a great act of faith, and I don’t believe any of it,” he said."


I beleive most meteorologist couldn't even predict thier next number two even if they took laxative.


14 posted on 09/19/2006 5:59:44 PM PDT by diverteach
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To: Always Right
but it is political and there is a strong mob mentality that pressure scientist to go along with the theory.

Mob = Lib's / EnviroNazi's / Al Gore.....and all the other f***ing idiots.

There have been at least three times when I have read one of the Mob's articles when they say, "...this simply cannot be disputed.....this is final proof.....this is proof positive...."

Hey, for all of you that call yourselves "scientist's" - can you / do you feel the shame?

Probably not....mindless, robot morons.

Such a waste of good money on education....ya can't even think for yourself.

Personally, I can't wait to meet one of these Al Gore / EnviroNazi moron's face to face.....

I've come close....but not there yet.

15 posted on 09/19/2006 6:00:34 PM PDT by LasVegasMac (Islam........not fit for human consumption.)
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To: ex-Texan
" Right now, we are on the cusp of a new global cooling trend. Hot weather will give way to rapidly cooler weather."

Yes.

Long Range Solar Forecast

05.10.2006

Solar Cycle 25 peaking around 2022 could be one of the weakest in centuries.

May 10, 2006: The Sun's Great Conveyor Belt has slowed to a record-low crawl, according to research by NASA solar physicist David Hathaway. "It's off the bottom of the charts," he says. "This has important repercussions for future solar activity."

see captionThe Great Conveyor Belt is a massive circulating current of fire (hot plasma) within the Sun. It has two branches, north and south, each taking about 40 years to perform one complete circuit. Researchers believe the turning of the belt controls the sunspot cycle, and that's why the slowdown is important.

Right: The sun's "Great Conveyor Belt" in profile.

"Normally, the conveyor belt moves about 1 meter per second—walking pace," says Hathaway. "That's how it has been since the late 19th century." In recent years, however, the belt has decelerated to 0.75 m/s in the north and 0.35 m/s in the south. "We've never seen speeds so low."

According to theory and observation, the speed of the belt foretells the intensity of sunspot activity ~20 years in the future. A slow belt means lower solar activity; a fast belt means stronger activity. The reasons for this are explained in the Science@NASA story Solar Storm Warning.

"The slowdown we see now means that Solar Cycle 25, peaking around the year 2022, could be one of the weakest in centuries," says Hathaway.

This is interesting news for astronauts. Solar Cycle 25 is when the Vision for Space Exploration should be in full flower, with men and women back on the Moon preparing to go to Mars. A weak solar cycle means they won't have to worry so much about solar flares and radiation storms.

see caption

Above: In red, David Hathaway's predictions for the next two solar cycles and, in pink, Mausumi Dikpati's prediction for cycle 24.

On the other hand, they will have to worry more about cosmic rays. Cosmic rays are high-energy particles from deep space; they penetrate metal, plastic, flesh and bone. Astronauts exposed to cosmic rays develop an increased risk of cancer, cataracts and other maladies. Ironically, solar explosions, which produce their own deadly radiation, sweep away the even deadlier cosmic rays. As flares subside, cosmic rays intensify—yin, yang.

Hathaway's prediction should not be confused with another recent forecast: A team led by physicist Mausumi Dikpata of NCAR has predicted that Cycle 24, peaking in 2011 or 2012, will be intense. Hathaway agrees: "Cycle 24 will be strong. Cycle 25 will be weak. Both of these predictions are based on the observed behavior of the conveyor belt."

How do you observe a belt that plunges 200,000 km below the surface of the sun?

see caption"We do it using sunspots," Hathaway explains. Sunspots are magnetic knots that bubble up from the base of the conveyor belt, eventually popping through the surface of the sun. Astronomers have long known that sunspots have a tendency to drift—from mid solar latitudes toward the sun's equator. According to current thinking, this drift is caused by the motion of the conveyor belt. "By measuring the drift of sunspot groups," says Hathaway, "we indirectly measure the speed of the belt."

Right: Hathaway monitors the speed of the Conveyor Belt by plotting the drift of sunspot groups from high to low solar latitude. This plot is called "the Butterfly Diagram." The tilt of the wings reveal the speed of the Conveyor Belt. [More]

Using historical sunspot records, Hathaway has succeeded in clocking the conveyor belt as far back as 1890. The numbers are compelling: For more than a century, "the speed of the belt has been a good predictor of future solar activity."

If the trend holds, Solar Cycle 25 in 2022 could be, like the belt itself, "off the bottom of the charts."



16 posted on 09/19/2006 6:04:46 PM PDT by DaveTesla (You can fool some of the people some of the time......)
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To: DaveTesla

Every winter we have warming...

we call it Florida.

.


17 posted on 09/19/2006 6:09:14 PM PDT by george76 (Ward Churchill : Fake Indian, Fake Scholarship, and Fake Art)
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To: SouthTexas
Gee a 2% increase in solar radiance and a 2% global
average temperature (actually in the coldest places).

*Who da thunk it.....

(*Curly to Moe...)
18 posted on 09/19/2006 6:11:20 PM PDT by DaveTesla (You can fool some of the people some of the time......)
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To: DaveTesla
“Why do it if it’s not going to make a difference anyway?” he said. “Whether I’m right or wrong, we can’t do anything about it anyway.”

To understand the left completely you need to start thinking with the wrong organ. It is all about how to make themselves 'feel' better. Therefore, just doing 'something' makes them 'feel' better. Doing nothing has no effect on their 'feelings'. When you try to explain to them that doing the wrong thing is worse then doing nothing, they cannot even grasp the concept. It is like telling Muslims that they are too violent.

19 posted on 09/19/2006 6:14:26 PM PDT by justa-hairyape
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To: Argus

I made my SIl's head explode when I asked her this question, "If the GOP said they could control the weather to your benefit, would you vote a straight a ticket?"


20 posted on 09/19/2006 6:14:30 PM PDT by Cletus.D.Yokel (Paging Regenery Publishing...paging Regenery Publishing to the smoking beaver.)
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