New doubts about climate change must be taken seriously

• Source: Global Times
• [23:20 December 06 2009]
• Comments

By Tian Wei

For someone like me who barely survived high school tests in physics, geography and chemistry, the science behind the belief of climate change and global warming is so sacred that I couldn't even begin to challenge it – until recently.

The change of mind was triggered somewhat by a yet-to-be-proved scandal, Climate gate. The University of East Anglia in the UK announced a week ago that the university was conducting a wide-ranging probe into allegations that its scientists manipulated data about global warming.

The probe started after thousands of e-mails of a scientist in the university were hacked and leaked. It was reported that in at least one of those e-mails, the scientist at the center of the storm asked all the others to delete certain e-mails, apparently after some data was requested by a climate-change skeptic under the Freedom of Information Act. The investigation will check for evidence as to whether data were manipulated or suppressed in ways that are "at odds with acceptable scientific practice and may therefore call into question any of the research outcomes," the university reportedly said.

This is quite a blow. Just days before the Copenhagen conference in which everybody is fighting against everybody else on emission target for the sacred cause of avoiding further global warming, scientists are accused of manipulating the data about the threat of global warming, the scientific belief based on which the Copenhagen conference ever is taking place, apparently with some hard evidence!

Having said all of these, I calmed myself down and asked myself not to be so naive that I would forget to think about the possibility that this scandal is yet another trick by some interest groups and global warming skeptics to threaten the success of the conference in Copenhagen. The agenda of global warming skeptics is clear. But the science, and the self-righteousness of the other side, may also cast legitimate doubts on the extent of global warming.

In order to find the answer as to whether science has proved that there is a phenomenon called global warming and human behavior is the element ultimately influencing it, I jumped into research over the weekend. Well, you might not take seriously what a scientific ignoramus like me might say. However, I hope we are not ignoring what was said by some of those well-respected scientists.