Climate Change Resources for the Doubters
Our NSF session on Global Climate Change drew much more commentary than the average presentation. In this case, not so much on the changing climate, but on the discussion regarding the causes of this warming and other events.
I promised to place on the website alternative sources if our members would let me know what resources the “doubters” rely on. Below I include the primary sources that were provided to me.
I am not swayed by them. As I said earlier, for years I harbored doubts on the extent of climate change and the causes, but am now squarely in the camp that acknowledges the climate is changing, and rapidly. I also subscribe to the conclusion backed by an overwhelming number of scientific studies that a major cause of the changes is due to man-made carbon emissions.
However, as I have also said, I agree with the Danish scientist, Bjorn Lomborg, who while agreeing with the science, recommends that we learn to adjust to climate change to the extent we can, and not commit economic suicide in attempting to mitigate all of the consequences.
No one has provided what I would call a science-based alternative study to counter the above conclusions. I did receive recommendations that I—and our membership—needed to read certain pieces, which I duly now pass on.
The first is a 98 slide PowerPoint by the flier Dick Rutan, who reminds us often in the presentation that he is an engineer. Not a scientist, but an engineer, but do read thru the slides if you can.
I have also appended a link to Dr. Fred Singer, now almost 90, a scientist who is on record of opposing the notion that man has contributed to climate change (Singer also opposes the idea that 2nd-hand smoke can cause cancer).
One participant strongly recommended I read a piece from RANGE magazine, which I include a link to. Now I like RANGE magazine and its editor, C.J. Hadley, for its robust defense of ranching and Western independence. Not sure it comes to my mind as the definitive source for climate change opinion, but here it tis.
CATO is doing some work on this topic as well.
Dr. Steve Atcheson, a Reno physician, sent a lengthy email defending the skeptical view. Two references are included that he strongly recommended, one by the science fiction writer Michael Crichton, and the 2nd by Princeton professor William Happer.
Enjoy!
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Here is the link to the Rutan presentation:
http://rps3.com/Files/AGW/EngrCritique.AGW-Science.v4.3.pdf
Here is the link to the RANGE Magazine article by Dr. Michael Coffman
http://www.rangemagazine.com/features/winter-13/range-wi13-climate_fraud.pdf
Here is the link to the CATO Institute. It has several short and some longer reports on the topic that you might consult.
Click here: The Cato Institute
Here is a link to Dr. Singer’s work
Click here: Climate Deniers Are Giving Us Skeptics a Bad Name: Newsroom: The Independent Institute
And here is the link to the Crichton article:
http://kaahlsfiles.com/thesis/thesis%20papers/3%20Low/crichton2003.pdf.
And finally to the Happer piece:
http://www.firstthings.com/article/2011/05/the-truth-about-greenhouse-gases.
Now that does it for me! If you want to continue the debate with Dr. McCarthy, be my guest. But I need to move on from this overly emotional topic!
–Ty
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Postscript: One point that was made in the presentation was that Hoover Dam, because of low water inflows from the Colorado River, has stopped producing electricity. Not the case, at least not yet—the Bureau of Reclamation is very concerned with the drop in the water level in Lake Mead, but feels that the Dam can continue to produce electricity until 2016. After that, they are less certain….and that could be a major economic catastrophe.