In his article “Sticking with the experts” (02/05/09), Blase Hennessy appears to have completely missed the entire premise of my previous letter to the editor titled “Knowledge and understanding” (01/26/09). I was the one suggesting that he needed to refer to the expert scientific opinions on climate change, including those presented by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, U.S. National Climate Data Center, National Snow and Ice Data Center and the U.S. Climate Change Science Program. He is also welcome to read the major scientific reports on climate change as prepared by the National Academy of Science, Royal Academy of Science and the American Metrological Society, to name just a few.
Instead, as evidence, Mr. Hennessy provides readers with a source of one article published by medical doctors in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons. He fails to mention the hundreds of peer-reviewed scientific papers published by climate science experts in numerous journals over the last 20 years, including in the Journal of Climate and in Climate Change, nor does he reference the several hundred research studies cited in the IPCC Climate Change 2007: Physical Basis Report. He is certainly welcome to use the Online Journals tool and Electronic Journal Center of the OhioLink Service provided by the UT Library to search for and review any of the hundreds of published scientific research articles on climate change.
He provides quotes from a handful of experts dismissing the scientific consensus that has emerged regarding climate change. There are certainly plenty of valid disagreements and debates over various aspects of the scientific understanding underlying climate change. However, it is also very easy to find many medical experts that do not support the current scientific agreement that smoking leads to serious human health impacts or those experts that would dismiss the theory of evolution. The dissenting views of a few do not necessarily outweigh the agreement of the majority. Experience, expertise, qualifications and credibility are important in this debate.
The survey that Mr. Hennessy refers to, known as the Oregon Petition from the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine, is widely dismissed as a fraud. The wording of the petition has been changed numerous times since it was first released in 1997, many names were added of people who did not sign the petition and a careful review of the signatories revealed that it does not contain the claimed nine thousand Ph.D.s. Instead I would refer readers to the supporting statements of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, U.S. National Research Council, American Geophysical Union, Geological Society of America, Royal Meteorological Society, American Chemical Society and American Institute of Physics as organizations that represent thousands of the top climate science experts. He is also welcome to examine the survey of scientists conducted by Peter Doran and Maggie Zimmerman recently published in the journal EOS determining that of the over 3,000 scientists surveyed, “80% agreed that humans significantly influence the global temperature.” I can also provide Mr. Hennessy references to several other similar scientifically designed surveys conducted that reveal similar results.
In reference to the course GEPL/EEES 2200 Climate Change, the students will be examining many of the scientific publications and reports from climate science experts that I have listed above as well as the wealth of Internet resources and information available on this subject from the scientific organizations also previously listed. They will also learn how to critically evaluate sources of scientific information and understand the need to more fully research the topic rather then rely on a few carefully selected references as Mr. Hennessy chooses to do.
In concluding, not only would I repeat my invitation for Mr. Hennessy to take the Climate Change course, but with Earth Day approaching on April 22, I challenge him to a public debate on the topic of the scientific understanding of climate change on a date and venue of his choosing. I will await his reply.
Dr. Patrick L. Lawrence
Associate Professor
Department of Geography & Planning
The Independent Collegian > Forum
Who are the experts?
Published: Monday, February 9, 2009
Updated: Monday, February 9, 2009
Also, bravo on your professionalism as an educator (complete and total sarcasm).
Bravo on waging a public printed battle with a student, not once but twice, bravo.
I say if Blase accepts your challenge for public debate (again, kudos on the professionalism) you should accept a challenge for debate from him on a medical or biological topic, should it present itself.
Oh the shameless self promotion of your class is rediculus, but based the level with which you have conducted yourself in this newspaper I would expect nothing less.
And finally, seeing as how you have enough time to write letters (2) to the editor that are as long as the editorials you are discussing, you obviously have way too much time on your hands. Please attempt to earn your paycheck, by teaching a class or doing some beneficial UNIQUE research. I do not support you with my tax dollars for this type of behavior