Green Science Online Blog

Climate Science NOT Settled

Even though the mainstream media downplayed its importance, the release of thousands of digital documents from the Hadley Climate Research Unit in England last November showed that even those scientists most committed to the concept of human-caused global warming are not in lock-step agreement.

And it also gave lay-people a good glimpse of the “under-belly” of science–that scientists are just as human and just as prone to pride, petty arguments and a vengeful spirit as anyone else.

When digging for truth, it’s rarely easy to say that the science is “settled.”  There are so many pieces of the universe that are far from being competely understood by scientists, how earth’s climate works being one of them.

That fact that the planets and Sun revolve around the earth was “settled” for millenia, though there were “skeptics” all along.  Newtonian Mechanical theory explained a lot, but it turned out to be only a special case of the more universal theory of Quantum Mechanics, which itself  had to be revised several times during the last century.

Saying that “the science is settled” on the theory that human-caused global warming is dooming our planet is about as crazy as saying that the science is settled on the causes of and cures for cancer.

One of the most shocking facts from the exposed emails is the way these pillars of the scientific community decided that if they couldn’t control the peer review process at a scientific journal, they would conspire to shut it down.

And to say that the scientists who wrote those embarrassing emails should be respected for their “peer reviewed” research and their status as IPCC big-shots, while other scientists, who stayed away from the political game, are not “qualified,” is whitewash.  Or greenwash.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Click here for a Free Mini-Course:

Six Startling Facts You Need to Know Before Changing Another Light Bulb!

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

By now, all our readers have heard of the FOOD vs. FUEL controversy. Does the large-scale production of biofuels from corn and other crops help or hurt people and the environment? Have we created a world-wide food shortage and increased water pollution by trying to decrease our dependence on oil, as well as our carbon dioxide “footprint?”

There are no easy, quick answers to this question–no snappy sound bites. The solutions will only be found in rigorous, peer-reviewed research, private investment in development, and many years of time. Meanwhile, what should we citizens encourage our political representatives to do?

For one thing, don’t panic. And don’t try to overhaul our entire energy economy overnight by piling on crippling fuel taxes and legislating drastic quotas for renewable fuel percentages that nobody realistically expects to be able to meet.

And for another thing–let’s ratchet down the mud-slinging. Both sides have valuable input. Let’s hear respectfully from ALL the parties involved.

Our mission at GreenScienceOnline is ambitious. We want the truth.

There are many valid reasons to “go green.” These include political, economic, philosophical, social, religious, aesthetic and altruistic. All good reasons, all worthy of discussion and action.

However, here at GreenScienceOnline, we have chosen to focus on green science and technology. According to Merriam-Webster’s Medical Dictionary (Merriam-Webster, Inc. 07 Jan. 2008. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/science>) “science” is the

knowledge or a system of knowledge covering general truths or the operation of general laws especially as obtained and tested through the scientific method and concerned with the physical world and its phenomena (emhasis mine).

Simply, the TRUTH. And we mean, the truth about the physical world as “obtained and tested by the scientific method.”

Not the “truth” of consensus, because in science, the majority doesn’t rule. The truth rules. And as we know from history (just ask Galileo), it may take the majority decades, or centuries, to learn the truth about a phenomena of the physical world.

We welcome your comments.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

What’s your MOST BURNING QUESTION about home energy efficiency?

Please click here to submit your question to Green Science Online. Thanks!

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>