boss of nasa sensible on global warming

Japanese / Related posts from blogosphere

Boss of NASA sensible on global warming

of NASA since 2005 said the following on NPR (see news.google.com,

transcript, blogs, audio):

I have no doubt that a trend of global warming exists. I am not

sure that it is fair to say that it is a problem we must wrestle

with. To assume that it is a problem is to assume that the state of

Earth's climate today is the optimal climate, the best climate that

we could have or ever have had and that we need to take steps to

make sure that it doesn't change. I guess I would ask which human

beings - where and when - are to be accorded the privilege of

deciding that this particular climate that we have right here

today, right now is the best climate for all other human beings. I

think that's a rather arrogant position for people to take.

Precious.

I have always believed that the people who actually work with hard

sciences and technology simply shouldn't buy a cheap and soft

pseudoscientific propaganda such as the "fight against climate

change". NASA has been doing many amazing and non-trivial things and

they must also be irritated when pseudoscience based on such shaky and

unscientific notions is given so much attention - in fact,

breathtakingly, more than NASA's space program itself.

The ideology of a "fight against climate change" is based on a whole

network of assumptions - dozens of assumptions each of which is highly

questionable, to say the least. As long as we are a scientifically

inclined society, each of these assumptions should be studied

separately because rationally speaking, they are independent.

One of these assumptions says that the current climate is better than

a different climate and it should be preserved. It is an arbitrary,

irrational assumption that was also recently criticized by Czech

president Klaus in his book, among other people.

Needless to say, a different kind of scientists such as NASA's own

James Hansen responded in an irritated way. But NASA is not primarily

the home of strange scientists who "prove" a 20-meter sea level rise

using the concept of scientific reticence.

Antimatter spaceship for Mars missions that the NASA administrator

likes (click)

NASA is primarily the home of serious engineers and scientists who are

doing some truly impressive stuff - besides the spaceships and devices

telling us so much about cosmology, we also find climate-related

activities including the stuff about the satellite measurements of

temperatures and about cosmic influences on our climate. These are the

real sources of NASA's natural authority: James Hansen is not.

The Reference Frame applauds Michael Griffin and encourages him to act

as a self-confident boss of a highly prestigious institution. Let me

re-emphasize that it is Griffin, not Hansen, who is the boss of NASA

and this fact should be taken into account if it turns out that one of

them should leave NASA. Any sign of weakness, Dr Griffin, will be used

against you. More precisely, I would recommend the boss of NASA to

fire Hansen for his despicable comments about his boss as soon as

possible.

And that's the memo. (Via Bob Ferguson.)

P.S. So far, Dr Griffin, BS MS MS2 MBA MEng Civil MEng Aerospace PhD

is doing very well. For example, they have published the following

press release:

* NASA is the world's preeminent organization in the study of Earth

and the conditions that contribute to climate change and global

warming. The agency is responsible for collecting data that is

used by the science community and policy makers as part of an

ongoing discussion regarding our planet's evolving systems. It is

NASA's responsibility to collect, analyze and release information.

It is not NASA's mission to make policy regarding possible climate

change mitigation strategies. As I stated in the NPR interview, we

are proud of our role and I believe we do it well.

But Griffin must be ready to act in the same way even if the pressure