Dear Friends,
As you’ve surely heard, the scandal surrounds e-mails that have been said to show a concerted effort by a group of climate scientists to distort data and to silence skeptics of global warming. While defenders of the scientists say that these e-mails are being taken out of context, my own read on the situation is this: While I don’t think things are quite as nefarious as some people are claiming, at least a few of the e-mails clearly suggest ethical lapses, and many more suggest a level of arrogance that is sad to see from anyone, and especially tragic coming from people whose work should be held to the highest standards of both science and ethics.
Nevertheless, the failings of these individual scientists do not change the laws of physics. Earth is still livable only thanks to the naturally occurring greenhouse effect, Venus is still unlivable because of its far stronger natural greenhouse effect, and the basic science of global warming remains as solid as ever. For anyone who has questions about what to believe with regard to global warming, please read my Global Warming Primer, which I have just updated earlier today. (By the way, I will continue to update the primer as needed, and appreciate any suggestions anyone might have.) There’s also a good article about the scandal in today’s New York Times. And, as is often the case, one of the most insightful commentaries on this issue was provided by Jon Stewart; if you don’t mind the bleeped-out foul language, watch this clip (the relevant part starts at about 2:30 into the clip).
Hope you find this info and the global warming primer helpful.
Best wishes,
Jeff
PS. The Shuttle launch was awesome!