the convenient truth?
May 18, 2008 by scared of revolving doors
i read this article at the philippine daily inquirer, about how blaming man for global warming becomes a convenient excuse. the source, dr. perry ong, of the university of the philippines, mentioned a few points that might help us know what to do, instead of just giving up our electronics, turning off our lights for one hour everyday, and the like:
1. humans only contribute to 33% of global warming
2. the other 67%? nature
3. if we go back to basic science, we may be able to understand and address the issues concerning our environment
the article then goes on in naming 9 errors found in gore’s award-winning documentary.
in my opinion, global warming may be caused by a million things, man, nature, need, etc… but if everyone will do something, even in their own little way (energy conservation, research and scientific studies) i believe that we may be able to finally find the answers on how to save the world.
For a director of a research institute, this Dr. Ong sure shows a remarkable propensity for simply regurgitating other people’s talking points — often people with a vested interest in lying about and misrepresenting facts.
In fact, the US court explicitly ruled that “schools can continue to use An Inconvenient Truth as part of their teaching on climate change in accordance with the amended guidance” and that “the central arguments put forward in An Inconvenient Truth — that climate change is mainly caused by man-made emissions of greenhouse gases and will have serious adverse consequences — are supported by the vast weight of scientific opinion”. That is, the 9 errors aren’t major errors, and the film is broadly accurate.
And why’s Dr. Ong getting his science from newspapers and films anyway? He’s a scientist, he has access to the primary research material written by climate researchers. He could’ve consulted those to find out what climate scientists are really saying.
– bi, International Journal of Inactivism
Indeed, there are some groups which have been shown to misrepresent the facts about climate change and climate science, again and again. Check out especially the story about the Heartland Institute’s bogus list of 500 scientists — I’ve also been tracking this story on my blog.
– bi, International Journal of Inactivism