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Does "Global Warming" exist? Should the government stop "Global Warming"?
I don't know if "Global Warming" exits, but I am skeptical about it. Even if "Global Warming" does exist I don't think it should be the job of the government to stop it. I love warm weather and would love to live in a much warmer world. I suspect many scientists and politicians love the "Global Warming" mantra, because it gives them an excuse to demand that the government give them money to stop it. As H. L. Mencken said: "The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary."Source Former Astronauts & Employees to NASA: Stay Away from Global Warming LiveScience.com By Wynne Parry A group of former NASA employees, including astronauts, has called on the agency to stop making "unproven and unsubstantiated remarks" regarding global climate change specifically that human activities are driving global warming. "We believe the claims by NASA and (Goddard Institute for Space Studies), that man-made carbon dioxide is having a catastrophic impact on global climate change are not substantiated," write the 49 signatories in a letter to NASA administrator Charles Bolden. [Read the Full Letter] This is the most recent objection by skeptics who challenge the reality of human-caused global warming. For decades, climate scientists have warned that humans are changing the composition of our atmosphere, warming the planet and, as a result, face rising sea levels, more extreme weather and other consequences. The concept is now well established in scientific literature and attempts to address it are the subject of ongoing international talks. The letter originates from members of the Johnson Space Center Chapter of the NASA Alumni League, according to Walter Cunningham, a former astronaut who flew the Apollo 7 in 1968 and one of the letter's signatories. In its four paragraphs, the letter deliberately avoids delving into its signatories' reasons for doubting climate-change science, Cunningham told LiveScience. "It's really trying to get NASA to back off from taking political positions on science." Human-caused global warming is "a very open issue right now," he said. However, that is not how the scientific establishment sees it. NASA Chief Scientist Waleed Abdalati responded to the letter to say that if the work of NASA scientists who may use the agency's space-based observation tools to study climate change withstands the scrutiny of other scientists through peer review, then it encourages them to share their results with the public. "If the authors of this letter disagree with specific scientific conclusions made public by NASA scientists, we encourage them to join the debate in the scientific literature or public forums rather than restrict any discourse," Abdalati said in the statement. For his part, Cunningham said the peer-review process in which scientists in relevant fields scurtinize research Abdalati mentions is rigged against those who challenge the standard view of global warming. In spite of its wide acceptance among climate scientists and the scientific community, global-warming skeptics include some scientists. For instance, William Happer, a physicist from Princeton University who is not involved in the NASA letter, recently penned an editorial to the Wall Street Journal stating that the world has not warmed as the concept of carbon dioxide-driven global warming predicts it would. Like Happer, Cunningham has a background in physics, he is not a climate scientist. According to his NASA astronaut profile, Cunningham has a master's in physics from the University of California, Los Angeles, and completed doctoral work as well. Of the 46 signatories who listed their positions, eight are astronauts and others identify themselves as having worked in a variety of positions, including within NASA's science or engineering directorates. The letter calls out the leadership of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York, which is headed by James Hansen, a high-profile climate scientist, who has been an important force propelling the prospect of catastrophic, human-caused climate change into the public eye. Recently, Hansen has increasingly turned to activism, and was arrested at a protest in August. Hansen could not be reached for comment by deadline. Gavin Schmidt, also a climate scientist at GISS, takes issue with statements by global warming skeptics, such as, "It is clear that the science is NOT settled," as the letter reads. "Dealing with the future always involves dealing with uncertainty and this is as true with climate as it is with the economy," Schmidt writes in a post at RealClimate.org. "Science has led to a great deal of well-supported concern that increasing emissions of CO2 (in particular) are posing a substantial risk to human society." Among those who study climate, issues such as the existence of the greenhouse effect, increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases over the past century, their human origin, and warming over the 20th century are no longer subject to fundamental debate, he writes. The claims in the letter are too vague to be clear, Schmidt told LiveScience in an email, but "If any of signatories are ever in New York, I would be happy to discuss with them the science that gets done at GISS." You can follow LiveScience senior writer Wynne Parry on Twitter @Wynne_Parry. Follow LiveScience for the latest in science news and discoveries on Twitter @livescience and on Facebook.
Former Astronauts & NASA Employees Letter on Global Warming Wynne Parry, LiveScience Senior Writer Date: 12 April 2012 Time: 10:02 AM ET Editor's Note: This is the text of the letter sent by 49 former NASA employees to the agency asking it to stay out of what they see as a politicized and unsubstantiated field human-caused global warming. It was originally posted on the blog Watts Up With That? A NASA spokesman confirmed that the agency received the letter on Tuesday (April 11). March 28, 2012
The Honorable Charles Bolden, Jr. Dear Charlie, We, the undersigned, respectfully request that NASA and the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) refrain from including unproven remarks in public releases and websites. We believe the claims by NASA and GISS, that man-made carbon dioxide is having a catastrophic impact on global climate change are not substantiated, especially when considering thousands of years of empirical data. With hundreds of well-known climate scientists and tens of thousands of other scientists publicly declaring their disbelief in the catastrophic forecasts, coming particularly from the GISS leadership, it is clear that the science is NOT settled. The unbridled advocacy of CO2 being the major cause of climate change is unbecoming of NASAs history of making an objective assessment of all available scientific data prior to making decisions or public statements. As former NASA employees, we feel that NASAs advocacy of an extreme position, prior to a thorough study of the possible overwhelming impact of natural climate drivers is inappropriate. We request that NASA refrain from including unproven and unsupported remarks in its future releases and websites on this subject. At risk is damage to the exemplary reputation of NASA, NASAs current or former scientists and employees, and even the reputation of science itself. For additional information regarding the science behind our concern, we recommend that you contact Harrison Schmitt or Walter Cunningham, or others they can recommend to you. Thank you for considering this request. Sincerely, (Attached signatures) CC: Mr. John Grunsfeld, Associate Administrator for Science CC: Ass Mr. Chris Scolese, Director, Goddard Space Flight Center Ref: Letter to NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, dated 3-26-12, regarding a request for NASA to refrain from making unsubstantiated claims that human produced CO2 is having a catastrophic impact on climate change. /s/ Jack Barneburg, Jack JSC, Space Shuttle Structures, Engineering Directorate, 34 years /s/ Larry Bell JSC, Mgr. Crew Systems Div., Engineering Directorate, 32 years /s/ Dr. Donald Bogard JSC, Principal Investigator, Science Directorate, 41 years /s/ Jerry C. Bostick JSC, Principal Investigator, Science Directorate, 23 years /s/ Dr. Phillip K. Chapman JSC, Scientist astronaut, 5 years /s/ Michael F. Collins, JSC, Chief, Flight Design and Dynamics Division, MOD, 41 years /s/ Dr. Kenneth Cox JSC, Chief Flight Dynamics Div., Engr. Directorate, 40 years /s/ Walter Cunningham JSC, Astronaut, Apollo 7, 8 years /s/ Dr. Donald M. Curry JSC, Mgr. Shuttle Leading Edge, Thermal Protection Sys., Engr. Dir., 44 years /s/ Leroy Day Hdq. Deputy Director, Space Shuttle Program, 19 years /s/ Dr. Henry P. Decell, Jr. JSC, Chief, Theory & Analysis Office, 5 years /s/Charles F. Deiterich JSC, Mgr., Flight Operations Integration, MOD, 30 years /s/ Dr. Harold Doiron JSC, Chairman, Shuttle Pogo Prevention Panel, 16 years /s/ Charles Duke JSC, Astronaut, Apollo 16, 10 years /s/ Anita Gale /s/ Grace Germany JSC, Program Analyst, 35 years /s/ Ed Gibson JSC, Astronaut Skylab 4, 14 years /s/ Richard Gordon JSC, Astronaut, Gemini Xi, Apollo 12, 9 years /s/ Gerald C. Griffin JSC, Apollo Flight Director, and Director of Johnson Space Center, 22 years /s/ Thomas M. Grubbs JSC, Chief, Aircraft Maintenance and Engineering Branch, 31 years /s/ Thomas J. Harmon /s/ David W. Heath JSC, Reentry Specialist, MOD, 30 years /s/ Miguel A. Hernandez, Jr. JSC, Flight crew training and operations, 3 years /s/ James R. Roundtree JSC Branch Chief, 26 years /s/ Enoch Jones JSC, Mgr. SE&I, Shuttle Program Office, 26 years /s/ Dr. Joseph Kerwin JSC, Astronaut, Skylab 2, Director of Space and Life Sciences, 22 years /s/ Jack Knight JSC, Chief, Advanced Operations and Development Division, MOD, 40 years /s/ Dr. Christopher C. Kraft JSC, Apollo Flight Director and Director of Johnson Space Center, 24 years /s/ Paul C. Kramer JSC, Ass.t for Planning Aeroscience and Flight Mechanics Div., Egr. Dir., 34 years /s/ Alex (Skip) Larsen /s/ Dr. Lubert Leger JSC, Asst. Chief Materials Division, Engr. Directorate, 30 years /s/ Dr. Humbolt C. Mandell JSC, Mgr. Shuttle Program Control and Advance Programs, 40 years /s/ Donald K. McCutchen JSC, Project Engineer Space Shuttle and ISS Program Offices, 33 years /s/ Thomas L. (Tom) Moser Hdq. Dep. Assoc. Admin. & Director, Space Station Program, 28 years /s/ Dr. George Mueller Hdq., Assoc. Adm., Office of Space Flight, 6 years /s/ Tom Ohesorge /s/ James Peacock JSC, Apollo and Shuttle Program Office, 21 years /s/ Richard McFarland JSC, Mgr. Motion Simulators, 28 years /s/ Joseph E. Rogers JSC, Chief, Structures and Dynamics Branch, Engr. Directorate,40 years /s/ Bernard J. Rosenbaum JSC, Chief Engineer, Propulsion and Power Division, Engr. Dir., 48 years /s/ Dr. Harrison (Jack) Schmitt JSC, Astronaut Apollo 17, 10 years /s/ Gerard C. Shows JSC, Asst. Manager, Quality Assurance, 30 years /s/ Kenneth Suit JSC, Asst Mgr., Systems Integration, Space Shuttle, 37 years /s/ Robert F. Thompson JSC, Program Manager, Space Shuttle, 44 years/s/ Frank Van Renesselaer Hdq., Mgr. Shuttle Solid Rocket Boosters, 15 years /s/ Dr. James Visentine JSC Materials Branch, Engineering Directorate, 30 years /s/ Manfred (Dutch) von Ehrenfried JSC, Flight Controller; Mercury, Gemini & Apollo, MOD, 10 years |