Last weekend when NASA Director Michael Griffin deigned to criticize global warming alarmists by saying “I am not sure that it is fair to say that it is a problem we must wrestle with” – Griffin made his remarks during an NPR radio interview. Afterwards, James Hansen, a scientist, also with NASA, was prompted to describe Griffin’s remarks as “arrogant” and “ignorant.”
Image – NASA Director Michael Griffin – courtesy NASA
But upon what “science” are Hansen’s criticisms based? Hansen testified before the imperious “Select Committee of Energy Independence and Global Warming of the United States House of Representatives” in April with a tome entitled “Dangerous Human-Made Interference with Climate.” It turns out that much of what Hansen told lawmakers was his opinion, and not tested and peer-reviewed scientific fact.
Image – NASA Scientist James Hansen – courtesy NASA
CO2 Science, a greenhouse gas think-tank, had this to say about Hansen’s testimony before the committee (my emphasis):
A case in point is the testimony that was presented by Dr. James E. Hansen to the Select Committee of Energy Independence and Global Warming of the United States House of Representatives on 26 April 2007. Being a recognized expert in the field of climatology, particularly climate modeling, and being considered by many to be perhaps the world’s foremost authority on the “greenhouse effect” of anthropogenic CO2 emissions, Hansen’s statements are typically regarded as expressions of fact. In many cases, however, they are merely his opinions. Hence, it is important to compare what Hansen says in his testimony with what has been learned through the practice of science by a large number of other researchers, whose vast arrays of observations and detailed analyses sometimes lead to conclusions that differ significantly from what Hansen contends.
CO2’s article, “Carbon Dioxide and Global Change: Separating Scientific Fact from Personal Opinion,” does a good job of showing how opinions are regularly misconstrued as fact by alarmists and, unfortunately, by lawmakers and the public.