[Coral-List] The Great Global Warming Swindle

William Allison beliamall at dhivehinet.net.mv
Sat Mar 24 06:51:04 EDT 2007


This message should not be interpreted as critical of well-intentioned
responses to my initial posting on this issue. I wish to make my intention
clear and to indicate why we should be paying attention to the documentary
and other communications like it.

The intention of my initial posting was to bring the documentary to the
attention of the list because from where I sit, it seems to be influencing
public opinion. I have since managed to download and view the documentary.
It is clearly a polemic, often employs the same emotional bag of tricks the
alleged climate-change conspiracy is accused of using, and the charge that
scientists and activists discerning climate change are are motivated by
vested interest cuts both ways, to say the least. Ignoring the documentary's
rhetoric, it presents some aspects of the problem that are not addressed in
the on-line available IPCC Summary for Policy Makers for Working Group I
"The Physical Science Basis". Particularly noticeable by its near-absence in
that section of IPCC report is empirical evidence about solar forcing. In
the documentary this issue is convincingly presented with supporting
evidence as a coherent sun-based explanation for global warming that appears
to relegate CO2 to a minor role at best. Regardless of whether it is valid
or not, it is easily grasped by, and therefore is in principle appealing to,
a general audience. It is effective communication, even if perhaps it is not
good science; I'll leave that to the experts to decide, and doubtless it is
covered somewhere in the IPCC report. Even so, it does not seem to have been
widely or effectively disseminated at this point in time, rather is the
perspective of the documentary that is being effectively communicated to the
public. If the perspective presented in the documentary is being more
effectively marketed (a deliberate choice of words) than is the IPCC
perspective, then it should be a matter of concern to those seeking
rational, fact-based public discussion.

Sincerely,

Bill

> From: Mark Eakin <Mark.Eakin at noaa.gov>
> Date: Fri, 23 Mar 2007 16:09:00 -0400
> To: Coral Listserver <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
> Subject: Re: [Coral-List] The Great Global Warming Swindle
> 
> It continues to amaze me when reputable scientists rely on partisan
> or opinionated sources as reliable references for scientific
> discussions.  NGOs and politicians on both sides of this, and most
> other, debates often use selective data to make their points.
> Journalists may go even farther to maximize their draw.
> 
> I suggest that you skip the opinion web sites and read the IPCC
> report.  The 4th assessment report is now coming out.  It was
> developed by more than 2,000 scientists from more than 100
> countries.  This is an intergovernmental body, meaning that
> scientists involved were cleared by their governments.
> 
> The Summary for Policy Makers for Working Group I "The Physical
> Science Basis" was released in February and is available from http://
> www.ipcc.ch/.  If you really care about the issue, you can manage to
> read the 13 pages of text plus figures.
> 
> Working Group II on Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability will be
> released on 6 April.
> 
> Cheers,
> Mark
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ------------------------
> C. Mark Eakin, Ph.D.
> Coordinator, NOAA Coral Reef Watch
> National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
> Center for Satellite Applications and Research
> Satellite Oceanography & Climate Division
> e-mail: mark.eakin at noaa.gov
> url: coralreefwatch.noaa.gov
> 
> E/RA31, SSMC1, Room 5308
> 1335 East West Highway
> Silver Spring, MD 20910-3226
> 301-713-2857 x109                   Fax: 301-713-3136
> 
> 
> The contents of this message are mine personally and do not
> necessarily reflect any position of the Government or the National
> Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Coral-List mailing list
> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list




More information about the Coral-List mailing list