Monday, October 15, 2007

Skepticism against Al Gore’s documentary, award grows

Another science professor has joined the other professors and scientists who are openly questioning the validity of former vice president Al Gore’s Nobel Peace Prize for his work in environmental matters.

According to The Sydney Morning Herald reporter Steve Lytte, Colorado State University professor Dr. William Gray—considered one of the world’s foremost meteorologists—called it “ridiculous” that Gore received the Nobel prize and that it was the result of “people who don’t understand how the atmosphere works.”

Dr. Gray gave his comments at the University of North Carolina and said that global warming is not caused by humans. The 78 year-old professor also alleged that Gore and other proponents of man-made global warming are “brainwashing” children. He added: “We'll look back on all of this in 10 or 15 years and realize how foolish it was… The human impact on the atmosphere is simply too small to have a major effect on global temperatures.”

What’s been the cause of global warming? The professor attributes that to the natural cycle of ocean water temperatures—caused by the amount of salt in the ocean’s water. He expects a cooling period to begin soon and last for several years. Furthermore, according to the article, he pointed out data that showed there were 101 hurricanes from 1900 to 1949, during a time of cooler global weather, compared to 83 from 1957 to 2006 (during the earth’s warming cycle).

Dr. Gray acknowledged that his comments aren’t well received by scientific popular opinion, and he said that though he is troubled by more scientists not speaking out, they probably don’t out of fear of losing grant money.

The professor is the latest official to criticize Gore’s Academy Award-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth. A British court has ruled the documentary is riddled with inaccuracies, and that the film can be shown in schools only after the students have been informed of the errors.

What will the end result be? It’s difficult to say, but I do know this: Dr. Gray is a respected scientist whereas Gore (who has a degree in government from Harvard and briefly attended both divinity and law school) is not.

2 comments:

The Quoibler said...

Richard:

Excellent post, but I must say that it's tough to convince people using facts. Humans are driven to believe emotional arguments over logic. But you can try, try like the dickens! :)

Angelique

(p.s. Found you through Freelance Writing Jobs, Deb Ng's blog.)

Richard Zowie said...

Thanks for your comments, Angelique. :) As for how you found me, this is why I post my blog whenever possible. Best, rz