[Coral-List] Expert Disagreement in Climate

[Eugene Shinn]

Thanks Charles, There was yet another aspect to the climate changes 
issue. When I was with USGS in the early 1990s there was an unwritten 
rule against using the term Global Warming. Climate change was a hot 
political issue but work at the agency was restricted to climate changes 
in the past not in the present. Many scientists kept out of trouble by 
researching change during the geologic past. After I retired I was asked 
to join the AAPG climate change committee where I served for 3 years. As 
a committee we also opted for climate change rather than global warming. 
Being geologists no one wanted to be branded with warming. We were all 
familiar with climate change in the geologic past. Nevertheless our 
committee was split down the middle with half on one side of the issue 
and half on the other. I sat in the middle and learned lot. As a result 
I was privy to every argument on every side of the issue. Little has 
change since except that the issue has as become an order of magnitude 
more political. No one was accusing the industry of funding skeptics to 
create so called deniers back then. I recall being on TV news saying a 1 
meter rise in sea level would flood 75% of the Florida Keys. No one 
seemed to care at the time. That data came from our research paper  
(Lidz, B.H., and Shinn, E.A., 1991, Paleoshorelines, reefs, and a rising 
sea (South Florida): Journal of Coastal Research, v. 7, no. 1, p. 
203-229.)   I suggest listers  read 
<Understanding%20the%20#ExxonKnew%20>http://corporate.exxonmobil.com/en/current-issues/climate-policy/climate-perspectives

Especially read the segment “Understanding the Exxon Knew controversy”

I realize people will say this is just Exxon propaganda. It is not. I 
know because I experienced it all. Gene