James Lovelock has been called the godfather of global warming.
He’s one of the world’s most honoured scientists and environmentalists.
His “Gaia theory” — that the Earth operates as a single, living organism — created an entirely new field of Earth science studies following its publication in 1979.
His electron capture detector first enabled scientists to detect CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) and other pollutants in the atmosphere, which in many ways was the start of the modern environmental movement.
His inventions have been used by NASA.
His books on the potentially cataclysmic effects of man-made climate change — The Revenge of Gaia and The Vanishing Face of Gaia — are required reading for anyone wanting to understand modern-day thinking on global warming.
And last week, in an interview with msnbc.com, he admitted he has been unduly “alarmist” about climate change, along with others like Al Gore.
Lovelock said it’s not happening as quickly as he feared and that he and many others have been “extrapolating too far” from computer models.
“The problem is we don’t know what the climate is doing,” Lovelock said. “We thought we knew 20 years ago. That led to some alarmist books — mine included — because it looked clear-cut, but it hasn’t happened.
In a paper published this month, a group of four scientists from the US and Finland argue that sulfur emissions from China’s rapidly growing economy have a cooling effect on the climate, offsetting the claimed warming impact of other human activity and carbon dioxide. The implication, of course, is that once China embarks on a similar sulfur reduction program to what the US implemented a generation ago, global warming will resume apace. This is of course impossible to prove, but allows alarmist client scientists to claim that they remain relevant for the next scene in this doomsday film.
The paper is a wonderful example of members of the Cult of Global Warming determining their conclusion (in this case to defend the proposition that global warming is caused by humans) despite the persistent erosion of evidence in that direction, and then coming up with a way to explain why every significant prediction of their cult seems not to be coming true. Read more: http://spectator.org/archives/2011/07/08/global-warming-tales-and-tail
disgraceful, but Tony will appreciate it in time to come.FEDERAL MPs have been handed a $5550 pay rise - just three months after pocketing a $44,000 salary boost.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard's salary increases by $14,430 to $495,430, meaning she is earning $129,064 - or $2482 a week - more than a year ago.
Surely reducing the amount of pollution is a good thing though? Ever been to LA? Can hardly breathe.