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March 15, 2007

Miss Marple on Global Warming

Marc Sheppard
Solar expert Dr. David Whitehouse has submitted a marvelous retort to a fellow "scientist's" scathing criticism of The Great Global Warming Swindle.

On Tuesday, George (Moonbat) Monbiot wrote an article for the Guardian which declared that Channel 4's Problem with Science is that:
"It doesn't give a damn about whether the facts stack up - as long as it creates a controversy."
Attempting to make that point, he inaccurately insisted that the show's featured researchers -- who attributed climate change to activities of the Sun rather than rising greenhouse gases -- had all been either misrepresented or previously discredited. 

Of course, a zoologist's depictions of these noted meteorologists as "cranks" rather than "visionaries" would have likely sparked response in their own right. But it was his comparing them to loony conspiracy theorists which prompted this rejoinder from Dr. Whitehouse the following day:
"George Monbiot is guilty of the sins of those wedded to orthodoxy down the ages. He links those who believe the sun's activity affects climate change with those who think Aids is not caused by HIV, and with conspiracy theories like the World Trade Centre being deliberately blown up. This is scientifically irrelevant and proves nothing. Whatever our ignorance about the Earth's complex climate systems, the fact is that our sun's active behaviour is atypical when viewed over thousand-year timescales. When the sun was less active, as in the 17th century, the Earth chilled."
Responding to Monboit's cavalier dismissal of apparent solar / climate correlations, the learned author of The Sun: A Biography splendidly concluded by borrowing (albeit somewhat liberally) a quote from Agatha Christie:
 "Any coincidence is worth investigating," said Miss Marple, "then you can always discount it if it is just a coincidence."
Indeed.

Posted at 01:10 PM | Email |

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