Heretics and Climate Change

In today's New York Times Magazine (Sunday, March 29, 2009) readers will find an article on Freeman Dyson entitled “Civil Heretic” . Clearly the world needs heretics - especially when they are geniuses and even if they are sometimes flat-out wrong. Dyson is a world renowned scholar and physicist, and has worked at Princeton's prestigious Institute for Advanced Study (the type of place that has hired people like Albert Einstein)for over 50 years. Dyson has recently come out saying that he believes the dangers of human-induced climate change have been greatly exaggerated.

The article is worth reading, but take note of a quote at the end. Dyson is quoted saying “But I knew Roger Revelle. He was definitely a skeptic. He’s not alive to defend himself.” Dr. Roger Revelle was Al Gore’s professor at Harvard and Gore often refers to him as the person who first introduced him to the idea that a build-up in the Earth's atmosphere of human-induced greenhouse gases might have long-term catastrophic consequences. By saying that Revelle was a skeptic is Dyson's way of saying Gore is wrong, or worse a liar.

I point my readers to an article published by the New York Times on July 25, 1977 entitled “Scientists Fear Heavy Coal Use May Produce Adverse Shift in Climate.” The article discusses a 281 page report written by Dr. Roger Revelle and other members of the National Academy of Sciences warning of “Highly adverse consequences” for the planet’s climate system were the world to continue to burn coal through the 21st century. The Times went on to report that Revelle, who authored the summary of findings, advocated early action “which was needed because it would take decades to narrow the uncertainties and then a full generation to move to new sources of energy, if that, as expected proves necessary.”

I can not know for sure that Dyson is wrong about the danger of climate change. What do know for sure is that he was very wrong about Roger Revelle.

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