Scientists can't know everything
The following letter to the editor appeared in today’s Moscow-Pullman Daily News:
Scientists can't know everything
I'm not a scientist, never claimed to be. Al Poplawsky holds as high a view of scientists as I do, for many (Opinion, Dec. 9).
Scientists can't know everything about their own field of study, much less all the others. They know the basics, understand the scientific method and from these have a mental model that covers the other areas outside their specialization. The foundation of it all is the desire to do honest research and trust everyone else to do the same.
In global warming, that trust has been abused. I ask that everyone not close their minds before reading www.petitionproject.org, which has a petition stating "We urge the United States government to reject the global warming agreement that was written in Kyoto, Japan in December, 1997, and any other similar proposals. The proposed limits on greenhouse gases would harm the environment, hinder the advance of science and technology, and damage the health and welfare of mankind. There is no convincing scientific evidence that human release of carbon dioxide, methane or other greenhouse gases is causing or will, in the foreseeable future, cause catastrophic heating of the Earth's atmosphere and disruption of the Earth's climate. Moreover, there is substantial scientific evidence that increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide produce many beneficial effects upon the natural plant and animal environments of the Earth."
This petition has been signed by 31,486 American scientists, including 9,029 with doctorates.
Also review the material on Dr. Don J. Easterbrook's Web page www.ac.wwu.edu/dbunny/research/global/index.htm, which is a part of the Web site of Western Washington University, where he is an emeritus professor. Also Roy Spencer, Ph. D., climatologist, at www.drroyspencer.com/ is a must read.
After reading the above, can anyone honestly say that human-caused climate change is not a fraud?
Walter M. Clark, Pullman