A phrase usually attributed to the late senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan is that one's opponent is entitled to his own opinions, but not his own facts. It is a put down that gets repeated endlessly on by the members of panels on the cable news networks. Despite that frequent repetition, it is also a statement that is true. Facts, as they say, are stubborn things. How one interprets the facts, however, is a matter of opinion.
I keep thinking of this dichotomy when I look at the recent articles regarding global warming. Over the weekend, I saw a pronouncement from a scientific advocacy group that 2013 was the fourth warmest year in history and the warmest without an "el nino" effect in the Pacific. These figures were proof positive for the group that global warming is getting worse. Meanwhile, there are all sorts of articles discussing the worldwide atmospheric temperature readings that show that warming ended 15 years ago with the numbers holding steady over that decade and a half.
There is no way that both sets of figures can be correct. Either warming has stopped or it is getting worse. These are not inaccurate measurements of ice cap coverage or figures based upon a census of elusive polar bears. These are thermometer readings, a measurement which can be taken with extreme accuracy.
I have to admit that I find the conflict in the figures baffling. Either one side or the other is lying, or that side is really bad at basic science. I cannot accept either of those alternatives although I lean towards finding one side to be liars. The anti-global warming group has been using temperature measurements accumulated by NASA, among others, so I doubt that they are the ones who are lying. Nevertheless, someone needs to explain how this contradiction can be presented by the "scientific" community. It ought to be as easy as determining whether it is day or night. Instead, we just get confusion.
I keep thinking of this dichotomy when I look at the recent articles regarding global warming. Over the weekend, I saw a pronouncement from a scientific advocacy group that 2013 was the fourth warmest year in history and the warmest without an "el nino" effect in the Pacific. These figures were proof positive for the group that global warming is getting worse. Meanwhile, there are all sorts of articles discussing the worldwide atmospheric temperature readings that show that warming ended 15 years ago with the numbers holding steady over that decade and a half.
There is no way that both sets of figures can be correct. Either warming has stopped or it is getting worse. These are not inaccurate measurements of ice cap coverage or figures based upon a census of elusive polar bears. These are thermometer readings, a measurement which can be taken with extreme accuracy.
I have to admit that I find the conflict in the figures baffling. Either one side or the other is lying, or that side is really bad at basic science. I cannot accept either of those alternatives although I lean towards finding one side to be liars. The anti-global warming group has been using temperature measurements accumulated by NASA, among others, so I doubt that they are the ones who are lying. Nevertheless, someone needs to explain how this contradiction can be presented by the "scientific" community. It ought to be as easy as determining whether it is day or night. Instead, we just get confusion.
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