Thoughts on Kingdom, Church, and Grace from an American living in Hong Kong

Friday, December 4, 2009

High Priests of Science


This week a computer was hacked at a scientific lab in England; a lab which is a more respected institution studying the effects of climate change. The break in involved the stealing of a number of e-mails which seem to indicate:

* the need to raise people's fear about global warming
* that raw data that was not helpful to the argument of rising temperatures was thrown out
* and that other data was altered to fit the theories of global warming better.

Now I love Science! One of my favorite courses in high school back in the day and still I love to read science articles about the newest discovery in this and that. But I'm a sceptic in many areas and science is a big one. When I get into discussions on controversial science matters, I am always bewildered when inevitably people always fall back on science as if it was this "pure" and "unbiased" discipline. That scientists dispassionately gather evidence and present those findings in a neutral atmosphere with no external factors at all...just a desire for the truth!

And I'm always like, "You're kidding, right?"

There are big bucks in research grants and right now politics are all geared towards environmental protection. Governments and other foundations are throwing lots of pesos at anything labeled "Green"...cuz being Green is what is hot. So is it surprising that flawed human scientists alter data to fit a political or economic agenda? Of course not!

The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Scientists Hide Global Warming Data
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Actually, global warming has never been a burr under my saddle. I've always believed that yeah, we're probably affecting the climate a little, but no, not to the degree the Environmental High Priests would have us believe.

I've always taken the approach of my man Dennis Miller when he says, "The average temperature in the last 100 years has risen by one degree...that sounds pretty stable to me."

11 comments:

Andrew said...

Yeah, I've always been iffy on this one, and have felt it would be far more effective to just point at the yellow soup that hangs over most cities.

Paul Patrash said...

Steve,
Check out this video...
http://www.globalclimatescam.com/
This has only been around for a couple of days but already has millions of hits. The speaker was interviewed on WJR today, this is an excerpt from a speach he made in Minnasota last week. The speaker was once a member of Margaret Thather's administration, his job was to review and revise treaties on the climate before England agreed to sign them. This man has no political agenda and nothing to gain from his position.

Bob said...

Like so many emotional issues like this, it's the extremes that drive me nuts. On the one hand, Al Gore has made his post-VP career out of trying to convince us all that we're burning up and it's all our fault. The other end of the spectrum includes ultra right-wingers who think anyone who cares about the environment is a tree hugger and worshiping Mother Earth.

Logan said...

On a semi non-related note, I feel very sorry for that poor polar bear in the picture...

Anonymous said...

I agree with Logan...poor little bear. That's all I've got this morning. Still on my first cup of coffee.

Redlefty said...

It's snowing in Houston today.

Steve H. said...

Yeah...poor bear. I googled "Global warming pics" and when I saw that picture, I knew I had my post pic :)

Steve H. said...

Paul,

I went to that website but couldn't get any video to play

Andrew said...

Thanks to Google for making it easy for us bloggers to grab that pertinent accompanying pic!

Paul Patrash said...

Steve,
Check out the .pdf file and the youtube video below.
(Remember when we were kids...the call to arms was for "global cooling". I remember seeing maps of Michigan covered in ice by year 2000!! lol)

http://scienceandpublicpolicy.org/images/stories/papers/originals/Monckton-Caught%20Green-Handed%20Climategate%20Scandal.pdf

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stij8sUybx0

Paul said...

Jon Stewart's the funniest guy in America and a welcome antidote to whatever it is we needed antidoting from.