Newark Advertiser reader’s letter: questioning if Al Gore is a ‘Giant of Science’ when it comes to climate change
C. Southgate has an odd choice of a “Giant of Science”. When I used the phrase I was thinking more of Archimedes, Galileo, Newton, etc rather than Al Gore.
The laws of Buoyancy, the fact that the earth is not at the centre of the universe and Newton's theories of motion. These are unchanging truths established beyond doubt and verified many times by scientists all over the world. Surely C. Southgate could not object to these theories being taught in schools?
Some also credit Isaac Newton with establishing the scientific method. ie a theory is without value unless it is proven by experiments or carefully observed and recorded data. Man-made climate change is one such theory.
All past ice ages and warm periods can be explained by climate scientists using the same tools and theories that they are now using to explain Man-made climate change. They have obviously looked at ALL other possible explanations for the current warming of the earth and found that man made CO2 is the major factor.
For the benefit of D. Cameron - A simple Google search will tell you that CO2 is the dominant cause of global warming, or does he think that there is a vast conspiracy involving Google, Microsoft, Apple and Yahoo to convince us otherwise?
From the web:-
Sunspots have been observed continuously since 1609. At the peak of the cycle, about 0.1% more Solar energy reaches the Earth, which can increase global average temperatures by 0.05-0.1°C. These numbers are very small compared with those of greenhouse gases.
Microplastics, if they travel as far as about 10 km from Earth’s surface, may contribute to global warming, adding 0.045 mW/m2 or more. Again a very small amount compared to the heating effect caused by increasing CO2 levels.
No one wants man-made climate change to be true, but it has been established by rigorous scientific method and verified by many scientists using many different techniques to a degree which would satisfy even Isaac Newton.
Even the oil industry including ExxonMobil, Shell, Texaco and BP are all moving decisively toward supporting reductions of CO2 emissions. This is going to cost these companies very dearly indeed. Do C. Southgate and D. Cameron really think that these companies are mistaken, been hoodwinked or are part of the vast conspiracy mentioned above?
No one questions the link between smoking and cancer, because the science was settled in the 1960s after more than 50 years of research. Scientists are as confident that humans cause climate change as they are that smoking causes cancer.
Regards, Nick Roulstone.
