Scientific elite need to confront consequences

FROM-Daily 49er


By Jessica Wood


In November 2009, e-mails from the University of East Anglia showing evidence of manipulated data were leaked onto the Internet, compromising the integrity of scientific claims made to strengthen the case for global warming in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Report.

“What is this claim,” you ask?

According to a claim made in the IPCC Report, it is highly likely that Himalayan glaciers will completely melt away by 2035.

What’s peculiar is that most glaciologists have arrived at the mutual consensus that this sort of depletion should, in reality, take hundreds of years.

Tricky. The IPCC appears to be in a pickle.

Now the matter lies in the hands of the IPCC to pick up the disjointed pieces of scientific data that have been strewn upon the scientific community, or really anyone who gives a shit about global warming.

Despite the false claims in the publication, the IPCC continues to accept, for the most part, that the perpetrators of global warming are the good ole’ Homo sapiens.

That’s right. You, me and Dupree. But I digress.

Despite the major error, an apology with a sugarcoated smile and a cherry on top seems to be enough to right the wrongs made by the IPCC.

The data was not misprinted; there was no misunderstanding. What has happened here is a blatantly intentional skewing of data in order to get the ball back in the UN’s possession.

Is it permissible to disregard such overt manipulation of empirical data from a publication that should be of the most reliable sort?

Chew on this. Global warming is occurring, noticeably enough that it is unnecessary for the IPCC to manipulate data in order to prove a point.

However, the IPCC is receiving a pat on the back for apologizing since its claims did not change the grand scope and original conclusion of the report, that being man-made emissions are the cause of global warming. No harm, no foul.

Sure, apologizing is the “right thing to do.” We can forgive and forget, but in this case, may we? I’m not so certain.

One thing is for sure: Scandals such as these are forgiven when compared to the large scheme of things, mostly thanks to we-the-people and our media outlets.

Celebrities, artists, politicians, scientists and the like are rarely persecuted for their actions. Usually it ends up being us simpletons who are forced to endure the brunt of the consequences of these individuals’ carrying-ons, mostly because we are too ignorant and lazy to bother examining the information, evidence and claims being made by such people.

Continually brushing these incidents off as nothing and allowing the cheaters and liars to get away with some pretty hefty claims is unacceptable.

Just as Shirley & Company so aptly sang “Shame, shame, shame” in the mid 1970s, some more shaming is in order.

Shame on the IPCC for distributing a publication with false claims pertaining to global warming, an issue so pertinent in today’s world.

Double shame on the IPCC for expecting people to forgive the organization once its spokesman apologized.

And, finally, shame on the people, the publishers, the distributors, or anyone who accepts false information and provokes researchers to keep spewing out more B.S. It’s time to wake up and start paying attention.

Oh well, I guess even the UN body needs its ass saved sometimes.


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