You don’t see this o…

You don’t see this often enough in the mainstream media, so here’s some exposure for this issue from a non-mainstream source. The Canada Free Press reports that Al Gore’s new movie, and the claims it makes, actually have some critics. I know, you wouldn’t think there were many of them at all, but it ain’t necessarily so.

“Scientists have an independent obligation to respect and present the truth as they see it,” Al Gore sensibly asserts in his film “An Inconvenient Truth”, showing at Cumberland 4 Cinemas in Toronto since Jun 2. With that outlook in mind, what do world climate experts actually think about the science of his movie?

Professor Bob Carter of the Marine Geophysical Laboratory at James Cook University, in Australia gives what, for many Canadians, is a surprising assessment: “Gore’s circumstantial arguments are so weak that they are pathetic. It is simply incredible that they, and his film, are commanding public attention.”

The obvious question comes to mind, given how global warming critics are covered (when they are):

But surely Carter is merely part of what most people regard as a tiny cadre of “climate change skeptics” who disagree with the “vast majority of scientists” Gore cites?

The answer is intriguing, and not one you’ll hear from reporters who have their minds made up.

No; Carter is one of hundreds of highly qualified non-governmental, non-industry, non-lobby group climate experts who contest the hypothesis that human emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) are causing significant global climate change. “Climate experts” is the operative term here. Why? Because what Gore’s “majority of scientists” think is immaterial when only a very small fraction of them actually work in the climate field.

I think that the “non-governmental, non-industry, non-lobby” phrase is particularly noteworthy. So many people sounding alarms are being paid to say what they’re saying, or have a vested interest in having man-made global warming become a subject of official policy by the government and grants from universities.

Even among that fraction, many focus their studies on the impacts of climate change; biologists, for example, who study everything from insects to polar bears to poison ivy. “While many are highly skilled researchers, they generally do not have special knowledge about the causes of global climate change,” explains former University of Winnipeg climatology professor Dr. Tim Ball. “They usually can tell us only about the effects of changes in the local environment where they conduct their studies.”

This is highly valuable knowledge, but doesn’t make them climate change cause experts, only climate impact experts.

So we have a smaller fraction.

But it becomes smaller still. Among experts who actually examine the causes of change on a global scale, many concentrate their research on designing and enhancing computer models of hypothetical futures. “These models have been consistently wrong in all their scenarios,” asserts Ball. “Since modelers concede computer outputs are not “predictions” but are in fact merely scenarios, they are negligent in letting policy-makers and the public think they are actually making forecasts.”

The article goes on to show example after example of claims made by by the global warming crowd in general, or Gore’s movie in particular, debunked by fellows who work in the fields that they’re critiquing. Very little of this ever gets on the morning, evening or late night news, but it’s worth knowing about.

In April sixty of the world’s leading experts in the field asked Prime Minister Harper to order a thorough public review of the science of climate change, something that has never happened in Canada. Considering what’s at stake – either the end of civilization, if you believe Gore, or a waste of billions of dollars, if you believe his opponents – it seems like a reasonable request.

You’d think that, but the Left and the media have made up their mind. Dissent will not be tolerated (or reported).

(Cross-posted at Stones Cry Out. Comments welcome.)

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