Lamar Smith Distorts Research
Posted on March 3, 2016 |
I (and others) happen to disagree with the conclusions of Fyfe et al., one of its authors being distinguished climate scientist Mike Mann. If scientists didn’t disagree, progress would be much more difficult. When we disagree with respect and politeness, everybody benefits.
There are of course a great many things we happen to agree on, one of which is that some people are exploiting their research, not representing it honestly, in order to promote an agenda.
One such is congressman Lamar Smith. Mike Mann recently penned this open letter to Smith:
Dear Congressman Lamar Smith,
Please don’t misrepresent (http://dailysignal.com/2016/02/26/the-inconvenient-facts-the-media-ignores-about-climate-change/) our recent Nature Climate Change commentary (http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/v6/n3/full/nclimate2938.html).
Our study does NOT support the notion of a “pause” in global warming, only a *temporary slowdown*, which was due to natural factors, and has now ended.
Our recent work (http://www.nature.com/articles/srep19831), which you fail to cite, indicates that the record warmth we are now experiencing can only be explained by human-caused global warming.
Michael E. Mann
Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Science
The Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA
16827
Well said.
Scientists will continue to disagree, as the battle of ideas moves us further on the path to truth. Unfortunately, political opportunists like Lamar Smith not only obstruct climate action when it’s most needed, they make it next to impossible for the voting public to know what it is that we disagree about. Of this you can be sure: it’s not what Lamar Smith claims.
tamino.wordpress.com |
