Posted on 02/28/2008 8:07:21 AM PST by jazusamo
It has almost become something of a joke when some "global warming" conference has to be cancelled because of a snowstorm or bitterly cold weather.
But stampedes and hysteria are no joke -- and creating stampedes and hysteria has become a major activity of those hyping a global warming "crisis."
They mobilize like-minded people from a variety of occupations, call them all "scientists" and then claim that "all" the experts agree on a global warming crisis.
Their biggest argument is that there is no argument.
A whole cottage industry has sprung up among people who get grants, government agencies who get appropriations, politicians who get publicity and the perpetually indignant who get something new to be indignant about. It gives teachers something to talk about in school instead of teaching.
Those who bother to check the facts often find that not all those who are called scientists are really scientists and not all of those who are scientists are specialists in climate. But who bothers to check facts these days?
A new and very different conference on global warming will be held in New York City, under the sponsorship of the Heartland Institute, on March 2nd to March 4th -- weather permitting.
It is called an "International Conference on Climate Change." Its subtitle is "Global Warming: Truth or Swindle?" Among those present will be professors of climatology, along with scientists in other fields and people from other professions.
They come from universities in England, Hungary, and Australia, as well as from the United States and Canada, and include among other dignitaries the president of the Czech Republic.
There will be 98 speakers and 400 participants.
The theme of the conference is that "there is no scientific consensus on the causes or likely consequences of global warming."
Many of the participants in this conference are people who have already expressed skepticism about either the prevailing explanations of current climate change or the dire predictions about future climate change.
These include authors of such books as "Unstoppable Global Warming: Every 1500 Years" by Fred Singer and Dennis Avery, and "Shattered Consensus," edited by Patrick J. Michaels.
This will be one of the rare opportunities for the media to hear the other side of the story -- for those old-fashioned journalists who still believe that their job is to inform the public, rather than promote an agenda.
The subtitle of the upcoming conference -- "Global Warming: Truth or Swindle?" -- is also the title of a British television program that is now available on DVD in the United States. It is a devastating debunking of the current "global warming" hysteria.
Nobody denies that there is such a thing as a greenhouse effect. If there were not, the side of the planet facing away from the sun would be freezing every night.
There is not even a lot of controversy over temperature readings. What is fundamentally at issue are the explanations, implications and extrapolations of these temperature readings.
The party line of those who say that we are heading for a global warming crisis of epic proportions is that human activities generating carbon dioxide are key factors responsible for the warming that has taken place in recent times.
The problem with this reasoning is that the temperatures rose first and then the carbon dioxide levels rose. Some scientists say that the warming created the increased carbon dioxide, rather than vice versa.
Many natural factors, including variations in the amount of heat put out by the sun, can cause the earth to heat or cool.
The bigger problem is that this has long since become a crusade rather than an exercise in evidence or logic. Too many people are too committed to risk it all on a roll of the dice, which is what turning to empirical evidence is.
Those who have a big stake in global warming hysteria are unlikely to show up at the conference in New York, and unfortunately that includes much of the media.
--------
Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305. His Web site is www.tsowell.com.
Thanks for your post, I was about to ping you.
I can’t stand the commercials where the kids start ticking like time bombs. It seems like the global warming crowd will stop at nothing in their quest to scare us.
That's a lot of manure. I'm sure it will grow many "News" stories in the Spring & Summer as the temperature rises.
They are arisin’. :)
Unless there are free strippers, drinks and caviar, I am betting the journalists don't show up.
It's both. Some of the CO2 increase is natural, some is man-made. But the total increase doesn't lead to much warming without positive feedback from water vapor which is where the models don't model well. Also the solar cosmic effects on clouds are not factored into the models, but are very real and measurable.
Article here:
http://www.dailytech.com/Temperature+Monitors+Report+Worldwide+Global+Cooling/article10866.htm
Global warming un-masked!
Global warming un-masked! (ping)
If they have those “perks” I’m putting it on my calendar!
Thanks for your input, will read your page.
SHOCKED, I tell you. I am SHOCKED that this conference sponsored by the Heartland institute would include people that had ALREADY expressed skepticism about climate change like this! Doesn't the Heartland Institute, who is actually PAYING these participants to come to the meeting (and to stay in one of New York's finest hotels to boot!), know that there is a scientific consensus on this issue? I think it is APPALLING that such a noteworthy organization as the Heartland Institute would actually INVITE and PAY these scientists to express their views PUBLICALLY, in a conference attended by other like-minded SCIENTISTS.
I'll be shaking my head all day about this.
The gloom and doomers are not going to like this, they’ve exhausted too much time and money on the warming and now they’ll have to switch back to a coming mini ice age.
This is what a group of British climate scientists wrote about "The Great Global Warming Swindle" mockumentary:
"“This programme misrepresented the state of scientific knowledge on global warming, claiming climate scientists are presenting lies. This is an outrageous statement... “We defend the right of people to be sceptical, but for C4 to imply that the thousands of scientists and published peer-reviewed papers, summarised in the recent international science assessment, are misguided or lying lacks scientific credibility and simply beggars belief.” (Alan Thorpe, Natural Environment Research Council, Brian Hoskins, University of Reading, Jo Haigh, Imperial College London, Myles Allen, University of Oxford, Peter Cox, University of Exeter, Colin Prentice, QUEST Programme, letter to the Observer, Sunday March 11, 2007).
They’ll just ignore the facts. The truth gets in the way of their ultimate objectives.
“Climate change” is a perfect issue for a wide range of liberals.
For some, it has become a religion...everybody needs a little religion.
For some, it is a tool to bash conservatives and Republicans.
For many, it is a way to make money and feel good about it.
For most, it is a way to stifle capitalism and bring “equality” to the world...socialism.
Most of all, it is an issue which is difficult to disprove, except over time. It is quite maddening that people buy into it.
Unfortunately, the damage will be done.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.