Letter to Editor, climate change far from nonsense

Adjust font size:

Manufacturing News, Source : The Manufacturer US
Published : 20 Jun 2007 13:00

Dear Sir

re: Climate Change Nonsense, letter in June 2007 edition

I was a little surprised when reading the letter from Fred C in the June edition of The Manufacturer.

Not at the fact that you published his contribution - free speech is a Constitutional right in the USA, even for those who set their faces against established fact.

The surprise was at your response; "...even the much-ballyhooed IPCC Report on Global Climate Change used such tepid language as 'it is very likely'..."

etc, etc.

The reason the IPCC Report used such tepid language is because it had to get the agreement of a wide range of scientific opinion, from the 'we're doomed' enthusiasts on one hand to 'nothing to worry about' on the other.

A 'UK Climate expert' reported in the Guardian newspaper, January 21 2007, said "The really chilling thing about the IPCC report is that it is the work of several thousand climate experts who have widely differing views about how greenhouse gases will have their effect. Some think they will have a major impact, others a lesser role. Each paragraph of this report was therefore argued over and scrutinised intensely. Only points that were considered indisputable survived this process. This is a very conservative document - that's what makes it so scary."

It was also necessary to get US acceptance of the Report. For years, the USA and Australia have been the only major economies to stand out against the Kyoto protocols. Things are changing, thank goodness.

U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman told a news conference at the time of publication that the report was "sound science" and "As the president has said, and this report makes clear, human activity is attributing to changes in our earth's climate and that issue is no longer up for debate." Kurt Volker, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs, said, "We support the recent IPCC report, in which U.S. scientists played a leading role." www.state.gov/p/eur/rls/rm/80465.htm

For the current US administration to endorse a document that accepted, in however tepid language, that fossil fuels contribute to global warming, is as big a shift as the Vatican's 1996 announcement that it accepted that Evolution is 'more than just a theory'. A welcome conversion to the bleedin'

obvious, however reluctant.

I would like to point out that I have no financial interest in propagating stories, studies or scientific analyses of global warming and its causes.

Nor am I an employee of any of the oil companies that persist in promoting the nonsense that burning fossil fuels has nothing to do with anything at all, other than having a good time.

The ostrich tendency in the climate change debate is free to hold its opinions and to express them. But let's not pretend that their position has scientific basis or validity, no matter how many times they say it. The only argument left is the extent to which global warming is influenced by human activity - a huge amount, a great deal or merely rather a lot.

I remain your obedient servant,

Ruari McCallion

Comments on this story

no comments yet...

click here to add a comment

You must be registered & logged in to add comments
Please register

The Manufacturer Magazine : Promoting best practice in Manufacturing