Green used to be just a color. Now it is a way of life, big business, and the source of no small amount of scientific controversy. We are now familiar with words that don’t normally go together like carbon and footprint.
So what do we make of the Global Warming Debate? From a Christian perspective, we do have a responsibility to take care of and steward God’s creation (cf. Gen.1-2). But this is not always easy to sort out in the modern world or even what this looks like amidst human priorities and the various ethical and economic issues raised.
In a recent article in the Times Online, it is being pointed out that there is some curious activity surrounding the dumping of the raw data on climate change and is worth a read.
“SCIENTISTS at the University of East Anglia (UEA) have admitted throwing away much of the raw temperature data on which their predictions of global warming are based.
It means that other academics are not able to check basic calculations said to show a long-term rise in temperature over the past 150 years.
The UEA’s Climatic Research Unit (CRU) was forced to reveal the loss following requests for the data under Freedom of Information legislation.
The data were gathered from weather stations around the world and then adjusted to take account of variables in the way they were collected. The revised figures were kept, but the originals — stored on paper and magnetic tape — were dumped to save space when the CRU moved to a new building.
The admission follows the leaking of a thousand private emails sent and received by Professor Phil Jones, the CRU’s director. In them he discusses thwarting climate sceptics seeking access to such data.
In a statement on its website, the CRU said: “We do not hold the original raw data but only the value-added (quality controlled and homogenised) data.”
The CRU is the world’s leading centre for reconstructing past climate and temperatures. Climate change sceptics have long been keen to examine exactly how its data were compiled. That is now impossible.
Roger Pielke, professor of environmental studies at Colorado University, discovered data had been lost when he asked for original records. “The CRU is basically saying, ‘Trust us’. So much for settling questions and resolving debates with science,” he said…” More…
Also, here is a helpful introduction to this topic by Dr. Jay Richards from a Christian perspective. Here are some of the key questions he addresses and that all of those involved in the global warming / climate change debate need to think carefully about. (And if the raw scientific data is not being made available to the public…this makes coming to an informed conclusion kind of difficult).
- Is the earth warming?
- Are we causing it?
- If the earth is warming and we are causing it, is that bad?
- Would the advised policies make any difference?
One final word on this. This is a contentious topic. So whatever view you hold, we need to remember to consider the evidence without demonizing the people with whom we disagree. This is the only sound way forward if progress is to be made.