{"id":234748,"date":"2021-04-24T17:23:01","date_gmt":"2021-04-24T14:23:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/obama-admin-scientist-says-climate-emergency-is-based-on-fallacy\/"},"modified":"2021-04-24T17:23:01","modified_gmt":"2021-04-24T14:23:01","slug":"obama-admin-scientist-says-climate-emergency-is-based-on-fallacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/obama-admin-scientist-says-climate-emergency-is-based-on-fallacy\/","title":{"rendered":"#Obama admin scientist says climate &#8217;emergency&#8217; is based on fallacy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;<strong>#Obama admin scientist says climate &#8217;emergency&#8217; is based on fallacy<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>\u2018The <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/sciencee\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"5\" title=\"Science\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Science<\/a>,\u201d we\u2019re told, is settled. How many times have you heard it?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><em>Humans have broken the earth\u2019s climate. Temperatures are rising, sea level is surging, ice is dis<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>earing, and heat waves, storms, droughts, floods, and wildfires are an ever-worsening scourge on the world. Greenhouse gas emissions are causing all of this. And unless they\u2019re eliminated promptly by radical changes to society and its energy systems, \u201cThe Science\u201d says Earth is doomed.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Yes, it\u2019s true that the globe is warming, and that humans are exerting a warming influence upon it. But beyond that \u2014 to paraphrase the classic movie \u201cThe Princess Bride\u201d \u2014 \u201cI do not think \u2018The Science\u2019 says what you think it says.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>For example, both research literature and government reports state clearly that heat waves in the US are now <em>no more common<\/em> than they were in 1900, and that the warmest temperatures in the US have not risen in the past fifty years. When I tell people this, most are incredulous. Some gasp. And some get downright hostile.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>These are almost certainly not the only climate facts you haven\u2019t heard. Here are three more that might surprise you, drawn from recent published research or assessments of climate science published by the US government and the UN:\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u200aHumans have had no detectable impact on hurricanes over the past century.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Greenland\u2019s ice sheet isn\u2019t shrinking any more rapidly today than it was 80 years ago.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>The global area burned by wildfires has declined more than 25 percent since 2003 and 2020 was one of the lowest years on record.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Why haven\u2019t you heard these facts before?\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-style-default\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" alt=\"Dr. Steven Koonin was the undersecretary for science at the U.S. Department of Energy in the Obama administration.\" class=\"wp-image-18053730 lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/koonin-obama.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=300 300w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/koonin-obama.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=640 640w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/koonin-obama.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1280 1280w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/koonin-obama.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/koonin-obama.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=2000 2000w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Dr. Steven Koonin was the undersecretary for science at the U.S. Department of Energy in the Obama administration.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Getty Images (2)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Most of the disconnect comes from the long <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/game\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"7\" title=\"Game\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">game<\/a> of telephone that starts with the research literature and runs through the assessment reports to the summaries of the assessment reports and on to the <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">media<\/a> coverage. There are abundant opportunities to get things wrong \u2014 both accidentally and on purpose \u2014 as the information goes through filter after filter to be packaged for various audiences. The public gets their climate information almost exclusively from the media; very few people actually read the assessment summaries, let alone the reports and research papers themselves. That\u2019s perfectly understandable \u2014 the data and analyses are nearly impenetrable for non-experts, and the writing is not exactly gripping. As a result, most people don\u2019t get the whole story.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Policymakers, too, have to rely on information that\u2019s been put through several different wringers by the time it gets to them. Because most government officials are not themselves scientists, it\u2019s up to scientists to make sure that those who make key policy decisions get an accurate, complete and transparent picture of what\u2019s known (and unknown) about the changing climate, one undistorted by \u201cagenda\u201d or \u201cnarrative.\u201d Unfortunately, getting that story straight isn\u2019t as easy as it sounds.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-style-default\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" alt=\"A firefighter conducts back-burning measures to secure residential areas from encroaching bushfires in the Central Coast.\" class=\"wp-image-18059154 lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/wildfires-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=300 300w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/wildfires-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=640 640w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/wildfires-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1280 1280w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/wildfires-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/wildfires-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=2000 2000w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>The global area burned by wildfires has declined more than 25 percent since 2003 and 2020 was one of the lowest years on record. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>I should know. That used to be my job.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m a scientist \u2014 I work to understand the world through measurements and observations, and then to communicate clearly both the excitement and the implications of that understanding. Early in my career, I had great fun doing this for esoteric phenomena in the realm of atoms and nuclei using high-performance computer modeling (which is also an important tool for much of climate science). But beginning in 2004, I spent about a decade turning those same methods to the subject of climate and its implications for energy technologies. I did this first as chief scientist for the oil company BP, where I focused on advancing renewable energy, and then as undersecretary for science in the Obama administration\u2019s Department of Energy, where I helped guide the government\u2019s investments in energy technologies and climate science. I found great satisfaction in these roles, helping to define and catalyze actions that would reduce carbon dioxide emissions, the agreed-upon imperative that would \u201csave the planet.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-style-default\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" alt=\"The actual science shows that Greenland\u2019s ice sheet isn\u2019t shrinking any more rapidly today than it was 80 years ago.\" class=\"wp-image-18053762 lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/melting-glacier.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=300 300w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/melting-glacier.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=640 640w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/melting-glacier.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1280 1280w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/melting-glacier.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/melting-glacier.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=2000 2000w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>The actual science shows that Greenland\u2019s ice sheet isn\u2019t shrinking any more rapidly today than it was 80 years ago. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">The Asahi Shimbun via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>But doubts began in late 2013 when I was asked by the American Physical Society to lead an update of its public statement on climate. As part of that effort, in January 2014 I convened a workshop with a specific objective: to \u201cstress test\u201d the state of climate science.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>I came away from the APS workshop not only surprised, but shaken by the realization that climate science was far less mature than I had supposed. Here\u2019s what I discovered:\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><em>Humans exert a growing, but physically small, warming influence on the climate. The results from many different climate models disagree with, or even contradict, each other and many kinds of observations. In short, the science is insufficient to make useful predictions about how the climate will change over the coming decades, much less what effect our actions will have on it.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>In the seven years since that workshop, I watched with dismay as the public discussions of climate and energy became increasingly distant from the science. Phrases like \u201cclimate emergency,\u201d \u201cclimate crisis\u201d and \u201cclimate disaster\u201d are now routinely bandied about to support sweeping policy proposals to \u201cfight climate change\u201d with government interventions and subsidies. Not surprisingly, the Biden administration has made climate and energy a major priority infused throughout the government, with the appointment of John Kerry as climate envoy and proposed spending of almost $2\u2009trillion dollars to fight this \u201cexistential threat to humanity.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-nypost-small-post\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"231\" height=\"347\" alt=\"Unsettled Steven E. Koonin\" class=\"wp-image-18053781 lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/unsettled.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=300 300w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/unsettled.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=640 640w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/unsettled.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1280 1280w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/unsettled.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=231 231w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/unsettled.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=462 462w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 231px\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Trillion-dollar decisions about reducing human influences on the climate should be informed by an accurate understanding of scientific certainties and uncertainties. My late Nobel-prizewinning Caltech colleague Richard Feynman was one of the greatest physicists of the 20th century. At the 1974 Caltech commencement, he gave a now famous address titled \u201cCargo Cult Science\u201d about the rigor scientists must adopt to avoid fooling not only themselves. \u201cGive all of the information to help others to judge the value of your contribution; not just the information that leads to judgment in one particular direction or another,\u201d he implored.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Much of the public portrayal of climate science ignores the great late physicist\u2019s advice. It is an effort to persuade rather than inform, and the information presented withholds either essential context or what doesn\u2019t \u201cfit.\u201d Scientists write and too-casually review the reports, reporters uncritically repeat them, editors allow that to happen, activists and their organizations fan the fires of alarm, and experts endorse the deception by keeping silent.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>As a result, the constant repetition of these and many other climate fallacies are turned into accepted truths known as \u201cThe Science.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><em>This article is an adapted excerpt from Dr. Koonin\u2019s book, \u201c<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Unsettled-Climate-Science-Doesnt-Matters\/dp\/1950665798?tag=nypost-20\">Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What It Doesn\u2019t, and Why It Matters<\/a>\u201d (BenBella Books), out May 4.<\/em>\n            <\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2021\/04\/24\/obama-admin-scientist-says-climate-emergency-is-based-on-fallacy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#Obama admin scientist says climate &#8217;emergency&#8217; is based on fallacy&#8221; \u2018The Science,\u201d we\u2019re told, is settled. How many times have you heard it?\u00a0 Humans have broken the earth\u2019s climate. Temperatures are rising, sea level is surging, ice is disappearing, and heat waves, storms, droughts, floods, and wildfires are an ever-worsening scourge on the world. Greenhouse&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":234749,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/wildfires.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[103327,77143,43485,71640,67907,70754],"class_list":["post-234748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-4-24-21","tag-climate","tag-climate-change","tag-hurricanes","tag-science","tag-wildfires"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=234748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234748\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/234749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=234748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=234748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}