Townhall.com, Where Your Opinion Counts
Talk Radio:   Bill Bennett   Mike Gallagher   Dennis Prager   Michael Medved   Hugh Hewitt   
BREAKING NEWS  LeftArrow - Townhall.com : Conservative, Political, Republican   RightArrow - Townhall.com : Conservative, Political, Republican  
Columns, funnies & more in your inbox!
  • Check the boxes and send us your email address to receveive your free newsletter
  • Your daily must-read of conservative columns, cartoons and news. Coulter, Sowell, Krauthammer and more.
  • Townhall.com’s weekly inside scoop on what’s happening behind the scenes in the world of politics. When news breaks, we report.
  • Signup to receive the latest daily Townhall cartoons
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Thomas Sowell :: Townhall.com Columnist
Global Hot Air
by Thomas Sowell
Vote on It:
Average Vote:
[+] Text [-]
 
Poll
Will the Dems' health care Christmas Present to America be an improvement or detriment to our health care system?


If you heard both arguments, you might not be so willing to go along with those who are prepared to ruin the economy, sacrificing jobs and the national standard of living on the altar to the latest in an unending series of crusades, conducted by politicians and other people seeking to tell everyone else how to live.

What about all those scientists mentioned, cited or quoted by global warming crusaders?

There are all kinds of scientists, from chemists to nuclear physicists to people who study insects, volcanoes, and endocrine glands -- none of whom is an expert on weather or climate, but all of whom can be listed as scientists, to impress people who don't scrutinize the list any further. That ploy has already been used.

Then there are genuine scientific experts on weather and climate. The National Academy of Sciences came out with a report on global warming back in 2001 with a very distinguished list of such experts listed. The problem is that not one of those very distinguished scientists actually wrote the report -- or even saw it before it was published.

One of those very distinguished climate scientists -- Richard S. Lindzen of MIT -- publicly repudiated the conclusions of that report, even though his name had been among those used as window dressing on the report. But the media may not have told you that.

In short, there has been a full court press to convince the public that "everybody knows" that a catastrophic global warming looms over us, that human beings are the cause of it, and that the only solution is to turn more money and power over to the government to stop us from our dangerous ways of living.

Among the climate experts who are not part of that "everybody" are not only Professor Lindzen but also Fred Singer and Dennis Avery, whose book "Unstoppable Global Warming: Every 1500 Years," punctures the hot air balloon of the global warming crusaders. So does the book "Shattered Consensus," edited by Patrick J. Michaels, professor of environmental sciences at the University of Virginia, which contains essays by others who are not part of "everybody."

1 2
| Full Article & Comments | < Previous
Share:
Vote on It:
Average Vote:
 
About The Author
Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institute and author of The Housing Boom and Bust.
 
TOWNHALL DAILY: Sign up today and receive Thomas Sowell and Townhall.com's daily lineup delivered each morning to your inbox.
 
©Creators Syndicate

News Articles On This Topic
 

Simplest of science proves the hype!!!!!
Worried about apocalyptic sea level rises? Still straddling the fence over the GW debate? All juiced up over whether or not you should move inland sometime in the next 1000 years? Sleep well tonight with these two simple experiments:

A tray of ice can be a real life model for the arctic ice cap. Take an ice tray full of ice and leave it on the counter of your kitchen overnight. A drinking glass of ice water can be a real life model for the ice caps melting into the ocean. Take a drinking glass and fill it with ice cubes, then fill the glass to the very brim with water and leave it on your kitchen counter as well.

Next morning, while you are having your cup o' joe, check to see if either the tray or the glass overflowed during the night. If it did, then worry about the rising sea levels. If it did not start asking the tough questions of the motives of "scientists".

Carbon Dioxide in the Myths
Concerning the issue of global warming, it seems clear that various involved scientific communities do not communicate with each others. This truth was discovered by having managed many brilliant scientists and engineers in labs and technology centers for many years. With a technical background is in device physics, I started the analysis with "counting molecules" above every square meter of earth, it can be determined that there are 8 X 10^25 (8 followed by 25 zeros). About 85% of greenhouse warming occurs when infrared light (photons) at a wave length just under 15 microns are emitted by the earth. When in energy balance, the earth radiates 235 watts per square meter (W m^-2)into space. Since each radiation event can occur in any direction, it can be determined that at the surface, the earth radiates at an average of 470 W m^-2. The energy of a 14 micron infrared photon is "fixed" at 1.34 X 10^-20 Joules. (19 zeros after the decimal point before the 134) For reference, a 14 micron photon is more energetic than a 15. Therefore, the average number of photons per second per square meter emitted by the earth is 3.5 X 10^22. For these photons, each CO2 molecule has a absorption cross section of about 5 X 10^-22 m^-2. What it all means is that at 100% absorption, it requires only 2 X 10^21 molecules above each square meter to capture ALL the photons the earth emits (and that accounts for 85% of global warming). The earth ALREADY has 40,000 times MORE CO2 then is required! Of course in the world of physics,there are other governing issues. However, It can be shown that even if CO2 concentrations doubled, warming from CO2 would be limited to about half a degree centigrade.
So why is there such a difference in the science between scientific communities? Part of the issue is that Mechanical Engineers maintain the HITRAN data base for photon absorption and don't seem to talk to anyone outside their community except the occasional physicest. It is the Cosmetologists who rely on massive, though flawed, computer models, but don't seen to talk to either physicists or mechanical engineers. Worse, is the "sloppy science" of assuming correlation is cause. There is clear evidence that both temperature and CO2 levels rose and fell in sync at least six times in the last 600,000 years. It is NOT clear which drives the other or if both are driven by something else.
Sign Up to Post Your CommentsSign Up to Post Your Comments
If you are already registered, click here to login. Otherwise, please take a few seconds to register with Townhall.com. Once you sign up, you’ll be able to post your comments immediately, use the action center, get podcasts, and more!
Note: Fields marked with a red asterisk (*) are required.
Salutation:
First Name:
*
Last Name:
*
Email:
*
Nickname:
*
Note: Nick name will be shown when you post comments.
Address 1:
*
Address 2:
City:
*
State:
*
Zip:
*
Phone:
      
Your daily must-read of conservative columns, cartoons and news. Coulter, Sowell, Krauthammer and more.
(Bi-Weekly) We highlight the best opportunities from our partners for surveys, action items and more.