Garth Paltridge in the Financial review:
The broad theory of man-made global warming is acceptable in the purely qualitative sense. If humans continue to fill the atmosphere with carbon dioxide, there can be little doubt that the average temperature of the world will increase above what it would have been otherwise. The argument about the science is, and always has been, whether the increase would be big enough to be noticed among all the other natural variations of climate. The economic and social argument is whether the increase, even if it were noticeable, would change the overall welfare of mankind for the worse.
Attempts to resolve the arguments are plagued with problems, a lot of which are inherently insoluble. There are many aspects of the behaviour of the natural climate system and of human society that are unpredictable in principle, let alone in practice. But perhaps the biggest of the underlying problems, and it is common to both arguments since it inevitably exists when there is large unpredictability and uncertainty, is the presence of strong forces encouraging public overstatement and a belief in worst-case scenarios.
From the social and economic side of things, one might take much more notice of the global warming scare campaign if it were not so obvious that many of its most vociferous supporters have other agendas. There are those, for instance, who are concerned with preservation of the world’s resources of coal and oil for the benefit of future generations. There are those who, like the former president of France, Jacques Chirac, speaking at a conference on the Kyoto protocol in 2000, look with favour on the possibility of an international decarbonisation regime because it would be a first step to global governance (the president’s actual words were “For the first time, humanity is instituting a genuine instrument of global governance”.) There are those who, like the socialists of the 20th century, see international action as a means to force a redistribution of wealth both within and between the individual nations. There are those who regard the whole business mainly as a path to the sort of influence which, until now, has been wielded only by the major religions. More generally, there are those who, like the politically correct everywhere, are driven by a need for public expression of their own virtue.
Full essay:
http://afr.com/p/lifestyle/review/science_held_hostage_in_climate_Uamwgc7zXEsU6RbQJ5MWIJ#
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His conclusion:
“It would seem important also that any political and economic action on the matter of global warming should be flexible enough to be changed, or indeed discarded, should there be a significant shift in scientific or public perception. In terms of practical politics, the government of the day needs to give itself future wiggle room by making it clear to everyone that it is indeed making decisions on the basis of a fluid balance of probabilities, rather than on what activists insist is a scientific and economic certainty.”
Brutal regulatory attacks on efficient energy sources, on worldwide shipping, and on large agricultural and cattle businesses certainly do not need to be “flexible enough to be changed, or indeed discarded.” They must not be adopted in the first place.
And if the banks begin trading successfully again in carbon, and a carbon tax has been instituted in the US, how is this going “to be changed, or indeed discarded?” This author is pretending to offer the possibility of reversals of these economically destructive policies – a demonstration of the cleverness of offering false security through the fake “all of the above” approach.
mkelly says:
June 22, 2012 at 11:13 am
This statement is not correct. Many for decades have quetioned the basic science. Was it Bohr that said Arrhenus (sp) was wrong?
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You are very kind calling it “science”. It was a speculation based on another speculation, that the glass in a greenhouse warms it by trapping radiation. Then they transferred this speculation to the earth and the atmosphere and called it “greenhouse effect”. Unfortunately, they did not bother to check it scientifically. Later in 1909 professor Wood did it (http://www.wmconnolley.org.uk/sci/wood_rw.1909.html) and the “greenhouse effect” died.
Research School of Biology! Wow if a biological school permits this kind of dissent from the 99.99% consensus of Biologists that humans are halving the number of species every 50 years or so, then I highly recommend the institution to those who sincerely want to know something about wildlife biology. I base my estimate of 99.99% consensus on the fact that only one has shown up here with other than the usual biologist/activist catechisms and literature presented on the subject is all alarmist. Let’s have more free-thinking biologists – what a concept.
But the real worry with climate research is that it is on the very edge of what is called postmodern science. This is a counterpart of the relativist world of postmodern art and design. It is a much more dangerous beast, whose results are valid only in the context of society’s beliefs and where the very existence of scientific truth can be denied. Postmodern science envisages a sort of political nirvana in which scientific theory and results can be consciously and legitimately manipulated to suit either the dictates of political correctness or the policies of the government of the day.
Frankly, IMHO this statement may be far and away the most important and trenchant passage in the essay. Throughout the 20th century there has been an increase in the desire to simply deny reality, and classically it been science’s business to help delineate reality with all its warts. One important element in the deterioration of science that is not acknowledged is the fact that “post-normalism” legitimizes schemes like “creation science” and Muslim outrage over the Moon landings, or the conspiracy theory that we never have had a human set foot on the Moon, as legitimate views. It encourages those who dislike reality as we known it to deny it. Worse, it permits those with unhappy experience of the scientific method to reject it and institute top-down reasoning – e.g. attempts to explain geology in terms of biblical “flood theory” or any number of other synthetic views that support an individual or groups psychological needs. What is worse however is that by giving equal weight to any dissenting view point it opens the door to the rejection of legitimate criticism because it simply doesn’t suit one’s desires. In such a “climate” the only peer review is from those who agree with you. Anyone else is plainly a crackpot.
Duster says: “Worse, it permits those with unhappy experience of the scientific method to reject it and institute top-down reasoning – e.g. attempts to explain geology in terms of biblical “flood theory” or any number of other synthetic views that support an individual or groups psychological needs.”
Catastrophism is not “a synthetic view that supports an individual’s psychological needs.” It is a legitimate line of research into earth history so successful in explaining mass extinctions that uniformitarians have, over the years, incorporated catastrophism into every geologic era.
As for individual “psychological needs” – or metaphysical commitments, or personal proclivities, politics, and idiosycracies – the undeserved reputation of academic scientists as a class of special humans who are not freighted with all of these is quickly vanishing. Only independent scientists have some limited claim to the great Western tradition of true scientific inquiry.
Duster says:
June 22, 2012 at 11:32 am
Greg, you missed the point. What he is highlighting is that there are undisputed empirical facts, whiich scientists on both sides of the dispute accept. One fact is that CO2 does get warmer as it absorbs IR.
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There are actually 2 conflicting AGW narratives. The main one is about CO2 absorbing a portion of IR radiation and emitting a part of it back to the earth surface thus causing additional warming. This one has already been debunked by professor Wood in 1909.
The other one is the one you are talking about: CO2 warming the rest of the air directly. This is the most ridiculous notion. Just imagine, how hot CO2 must get to warm the air by 7 degrees (this is the CO2 part according to the AGW concept). Given only 1 of every 2600 air molecules is CO2, each CO2 molecule must get thousands degrees hot. This notion is obviously absurd, but it works with some people, unfortunately.
Science held hostage? Hmmm…
More like taken round the back and shot several times, dragged through the mud, drawn and quartered and staked out as a warning to any other ‘scientists’ – all by those climatological terrorists!
Personally, I’d be happier if science was being held hostage – at least we’d be able to negotiate for it’s safe return! As it is, discussing with psuedo-science believers is somewhat pointless!
If they say that the number of humans is part of the problem then wouldn’t fewer animals allow room for more humans? Just trying to use their logic. (My head hurts now.)
Duster says:
“One fact is that CO2 does get warmer as it absorbs IR.”
No, the temperature of a gas is a measure of its translational motion ONLY, the motion of vibration is technically internal energy. When a CO2 molecule absorbs IR its internal energy increases which may (or may not) be transferred into translational motion (temperature) through a collision, alternatively it may simply radiate the energy as IR.
Isn’t there an element of global wealth redistribution in all of this? To that extent it makes a lot of sense to increase representation of those who hope to be on the receiving end.
Maybe it is evidence that they are giving up hope on pseudo-science and are going right for the money.
From the article:
Hmm…, 3.5% of annual CO2 emissions are man-made. The remaining 96.5% of annual CO2 emissions are from natural sources. How do those man-made 3.5% of annual CO2 emissions fill up the atmosphere with carbon dioxide?
It’s all the fault of man, and nature has nothing to do with it? I did not bother with reading the rest of the article, but it certainly is not very comforting to know that so many of its readers are impressed by it.
In the meantime, oblivious to the changing sentiments of the world around them:
Nah, don’t think I’ll be one of the comments you’d want.
Hurray, American politicians are even more mad than ours ….oh, hang on, everything than starts in America washes up in England 5 – 10 years later…
Greg House says:
June 22, 2012 at 12:48 pm
Duster says:
June 22, 2012 at 11:32 am
Greg, you missed the point. What he is highlighting is that there are undisputed empirical facts, whiich scientists on both sides of the dispute accept. One fact is that CO2 does get warmer as it absorbs IR.
=====================================================
There are actually 2 conflicting AGW narratives. The main one is about CO2 absorbing a portion of IR radiation and emitting a part of it back to the earth surface thus causing additional warming. This one has already been debunked by professor Wood in 1909.
The other one is the one you are talking about: CO2 warming the rest of the air directly. This is the most ridiculous notion. Just imagine, how hot CO2 must get to warm the air by 7 degrees (this is the CO2 part according to the AGW concept). Given only 1 of every 2600 air molecules is CO2, each CO2 molecule must get thousands degrees hot. This notion is obviously absurd, but it works with some people, unfortunately.
Well that assumes that each CO2 molecule could only do it once. Whereas each molecule could absorb and collisionally activate many times. At atmospheric pressure an excited state CO2 molecule would give up all its excess energy in a matter of nanoseconds (667cm-1 as opposed to air at 300K at 200cm-1, so ~467cm-1 given up). CO2 molecules will continually absorb IR and pass it on to their neighbors. Wood’s attempt at debunking was flawed by the way.
“If humans continue to fill the atmosphere with carbon dioxide, there can be little doubt that the average temperature of the world will increase above what it would have been otherwise.”
In the first darn paragraph…. WHOOPS, there goes his credibility…
So, Phil. Where’s the heat, then? Still hidden in Trenberth’s pipeline?
Eventually you’re going to realize what most of us already understand: with a 40% rise in CO2, the predicted runaway global warming just isn’t happening.
And it never was. Because there is no acceleration of the natural global warming since the LIA.
The real world does not support your CO2=CAGW belief system. An honest scientist would step back, and try to figure out why his conjecture has turned out to be so wrong. Instead, you keep trying to argue that everyone else is wrong. Me, I listen to what the planet is telling us.
“fill the atmosphere with CO2”
(headdesk)
Smokey says:
June 22, 2012 at 3:33 pm
So, Phil. Where’s the heat, then?
All around us, it’s why we’re not 30ºC colder than we are!
Phil. says:
June 22, 2012 at 3:04 pm
…CO2 molecules will continually absorb IR and pass it on to their neighbors.
===================================================
Yeah, but in case of pure CO2 the neighbours are CO2 molecules, too, right?
Now, if 1 CO2 molecule warms another 2600 non-CO2 molecules by 7 degrees (given these non-CO2 molecules are not warmed otherwise), what temperature should be expected if all molecules are CO2, I mean, if every single of them is warmed both directly by IR and by it’s neighbours? I guess, thousand of degrees. We would not need the Sun any longer (LOL).
AllanJ says:
June 22, 2012 at 1:10 pm
“Isn’t there an element of global wealth redistribution in all of this?”
An element of….? It’s their one and only goal!
Phil. says:
June 22, 2012 at 3:04 pm
Wood’s attempt at debunking was flawed by the way.
=======================================================
Wood’s experiment demonstrates that (even very much) back radiation does not warm at all or warms insignificantly.
You are welcome to present arguments for the opposite.
Phil. says:
“All around us, it’s why we’re not 30ºC colder than we are!”
Prevarication. Misdirection. A red herring non-answer.
The question specifically concerned Trenberth’s ‘missing heat’. The endless runaway global warming predictions that were made constantly, right up through AR-4, were based on the now falsified belief that the large and fast run-up in CO2 would cause an acceleration in global temperatures.
That has not happened. Therefore, the CO2=CAGW conjecture is falsified. QED
And if CO2 causes any AGW, the effect is so negligible that it is unmeasurable, therefore it can be completely disregarded for all practical purposes.
Science is being held hostage due to the billions of grant dollars being shoveled out by the federal government every year in it’s effort to demonize “carbon” and thus implement Cap&Tax.
Those perpetrating the AGW scam have no professional ethics. The truth is not in them. They are lying for money and for political power. They lie, because they do not have the scientific facts to support their arguments.
DirkH says:
June 22, 2012 at 10:10 am
Dirk, the Friday Review “your guide to the world of issues, ideas and opinion” is a 12 page or so,supplement to the Financial review and seems to stand apart from the business scene and the usual left-right divide of the Fairfax press. I try to check it out each week.
Anything can be made ‘political’. Most things can be made ‘very political’. If enough money gets involved in the matter, a few things can be made ‘very very political’. There is a point in time that the ‘very very political’ things in life can also become ‘religious’. When things get ‘religious’ there’s no reason to expect anything is going to be resolved politically.
Generally well written, and I agree with most of the conclusions, but the “preamble” is “lukewarmer”.
IMHO there is little reason to believe that CO2 does ANY warming. It causes increased cooling of the upper atmosphere and convection / evaporation is the driver in the lower atmosphere, so added CO2 might well increase the radiative heat loss. Choosing warming vs cooling amounts to choosing one unproven theory of radiation over another poorly tested but more visible theory about convection and radiation (with much more empirical observation behind it).
So I, for one, see NO reason to embrace the LukeWarmer position, nor any reason to reject it. We just don’t know.
What we do know is that some natural process caused the plunge into the Little Ice Age and some similar natural process caused the exit, so there HAS been warming since then. But assertions about what was the cause, when that cause ended and some other cause began, and any assertions about CO2 are just putting theory ahead of evidence.
Still, he has observed the political and sociological “issues” correctly…