Rethinking Global Warming

I am reading Michael Crichton's State of Fear. I thought this was going to be a good adventure story with some science thrown in for verity...in fact, the book is all science with a story thrown in to tie together some very compelling arguments against global warming.

Crichton has peppered his novel with footnotes from various scientific journals, U.N. sources, and books from academia. The basic premise of his argument, and quite convincingly, is that global warming does not exist. That there is no empirical basis for thinking that it exists, and that certain socio-political forces have made it only the latest in a series of "crises" beneficial in harnessing money and political support for an idea which basically amounts to mass psychosis. At one point in the book, one of Crichton's characters compares the belief in global warming to the belief in witches in the Middle Ages.

On January 25, 2005, Crichton gave a speech to the National Press Club. The speech is a synopsis of the ideas presented in Crichton's State of Fear. If you don't have the time to read the book, this lecture will suffice to introduce you to all the main points made in the novel.

Here's an article from the Conservative minded Canada Free Press website in which Timothy Ball sets out his argument against the possible reality of global warming. Timothy Ball describes himself at the top of the above article as having a "Ph.D, (Doctor of Science) from the University of London, England and (as) a climatology professor at the University of Winnipeg."

Nota Bene: Dr. Ball's credentials have come under attack. In response he once sued the Calgary Herald.

In September, 2006, Ball filed suit against Johnson and four editors at the Calgary Herald newspaper for $325,000 for, among other things, “damages to his income earning capacity as a sought after speaker with respect to global warming”.[19]. In its response (point 50(d), p12), the Calgary Herald stated that “The Plaintiff (Dr. Ball) is viewed as a paid promoter of the agenda of the oil and gas industry rather than as a practicing scientist.”(Original statement of claim, Defendant Johnson's answer, Defendant Calgary Herald's answer). In June 2007, Ball abandoned the suit.

Crichton's own views on global warming have been criticized by the likes of Al Gore. The Popular Science website has a short biography on Crichton with some discussion on the reaction to his novel, State of Fear.

An article on foxnews.com reports on the opposition expressed by various scientist to an article by an Associated Press reporter. The article (Scientists Call AP Report on Global Warming 'Hysteria') presents various objections normally made by people who are not convinced that global warming is a man-made phenomenon. Sea levels, increased melting of glaciers, recent spikes in global temperatures, etc. are, the article states, not necessarily caused by greenhouse gases.

Lastly, Wikipedia has a lengthy article entitled, "Global Warming Controversy." The most interesting part of this article is a sub-section entitled "Controversy concerning the science."

I am now skeptical of both points of view. Like zoinks Scooby, looks like we're surrounded by uncertainty -- let's get outta here!