An inconvenient conclusion

Former Vice-President Al Gore recently won the Nobel Prize for his report on this subject, titled "An Inconvenient Truth." The crux of the message presented is that our planet is headed for destruction unless we all become "green" in our attitudes and behaviors enough to reverse the process. Gore's thesis contains numerous examples of data that supports this conclusion. Unfortunately, much of the data is cherry-picked.

Those of us with a scientific background, be it social, behavioral, or natural, understand the validity and necessity of looking at ALL of the data, rather than just the data that supports our biases. In fact, there IS NO SCIENCE unless that is done and, consequently, whatever the results one gleans cannot be called scientific evidence. That seems to be a minor inconvenience to those who support a particular perspective; especially the one on global warming

For example, official data according to David Bellamy, an Australian botanist, show that in every year since 1998, world temperatures have been getting colder, and in 2002 Arctic ice actually increased. Richard S. Lindzen, the MIT Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, recently wrote that there has been no warming since 1997 and no statistically significant warming since 1995. In addition, the Global Warming Petition Project urges Washington to reject the Kyoto international global warming pact as there is "no convincing scientific evidence that human release of carbon dioxide, methane, or other greenhouse gases is causing or will, in the foreseeable future, cause catastrophic heating of the Earth's atmosphere and disruption of the Earth's climate. So far more than 31,000 scientists have signed it. Recently the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies released data that wrongly cast this past October as the warmest in recorded history, due to errors in data collection. In fact, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration -- NOAA -- found 63 local snowfall records and 115 lowest-ever temperatures for the month. Finally, it is now accepted that 1934, not 1998, is the hottest year on record in American history. (rasmussenreports.com)

The above paragraph contains information the average citizen rarely hears or reads because it is not considered to be "politically correct." Too many people have jumped on the global warming bandwagon and contrary data and perspectives simply aren't allowed. The thought police are still alive and well it seems.

Our planet is from 4.5 to 4.6 billion years old and we've only developed instruments sophisticated enough to measure temperature and temperature variations over the past few hundred years. We know our planet has undergone cycles of change, becoming warmer and then cooler as a natural pattern, rather than man-made, and many voices not being heard in the national media believe that natural pattern is continuing. Joe Bastardi, long-range forecaster for Accu-Weather, has researched all the existing data as far back as recorded data goes and believes that whatever warming we have seen in recent years is over and that we are, in fact, about to embark on a colder trend that will last into the foreseeable future.

One of the first things a student learns in an intro research methods class is that something isn't necessarily so just because you believe it to be. It can only be proven or not proven through the proper use of the scientific method that examines ALL of the scientific evidence, not just the evidence that supports your own parochial view.

This column is not written as an attempt to say that there is no such thing as global warming and climate change because that would be just as ludicrous as those who believe there is. The point is to make the claim that no one appears to be looking at all the data and allowing the data to speak for itself, rather than being interpreted by minds with parochial interests.

This is a time to hear all sides and examine all the evidence, not just the parts that support our own biased opinions.