Scripps scientist predict that global warming-by2050-will cause ocean levels to rise 1to 1 1/2 feet, causing La Jolla Shores to flood during storms, and San Diego temperatures will rise 8 degrees.
Calling on our Scientific Community to Decode the Climate Data
We need to change the tone of the Climate Change discussion. The subject is too important to be handled as an emotional issue. Thomas Friedman, a columnist for the New York Times, recently recommended that “the climate-science community should convene its top experts — from places like NASA, America’s national laboratories, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford, the California Institute of Technology and the U.K. Met Office Hadley Centre — and produce a simple 50-page report.” [Scripps should be added to the list of participants.]
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The emotional discussion sometimes degenerates into the supporters of global warming calling politicians and scientists questioning the validity of global warming as “deniers”, saying that is not acceptable to question the “fact” of global warming. In return, politicians and scientists questioning the validity of global warming are accusing the global warming scientists as presenting sloppy or, even, fraudulent research.
In addition, the IPPC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) is attempting to restore its compromised reputation after months of dealing with scandals associated with its scientists and science. The IPPC, a UN sponsored group, shared the Nobel Peace Prize with former Vice President Al Gore in 2007.
Mr. Ban Ki-moon, the secretary general of the United Nations, announced that a panel of top scientists from around the world will review the research and management practices of the IPPC.
Various revelations have rocked the IPCC which include the release of emails seeming to indicate that contradictory data was being withheld from other scientists, the destruction of some original data, an erroneous prediction on the melting of Himalayan glacier, and some conflict of interest allegations.
We need the scientists to get together. Other prominent scientists like Dr. Richard Lindzen, MIT (Mass. Institute of Technology) have offered other interpretations of the data. The public and politicians need to have the scientists meet and to frame the issues and interpret the data. Once we define the problem, we can then focus our attention on what to do next.
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