Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Dyson: Climate models are rubbish
The fuss about global warming is grossly exaggerated," writes Dyson in his new book "Many Colored Glass".
Well, we know that Freeman Dyson is a smart chap who has always propounded extreme views, the most disturbing probably being the Orion project, first sponsonered by a right wing US Govt (who presumably felt safe with the view that even if it didn't work as intended, Republican voters would still all go to heaven). Orion was an utterly crazy project to attempt to build a spaceship the size of an ocean liner and send it to Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, propelled by thousands of miniature nuclear bombs. Arthur C. Clarke had said "Orion isn't crazy. It would work. The question isn't whether we could do it, but whether we should do it". The advisability of nuclear tests and bombs aside, most sensible people thought not.
IMO: On global warming, I have recently been in Greenland, quite near the North Pole, and global warming certainly looked real to me. Other information readily available to the general public does strongly seem to support that view also. Much more should be done about global warming now. Global warming now makes, for example, needless increases in airline traffic seem ridiculous.
IMO: However Dyson's general contention, that the models aren't really science when they're programmed to produce the expected results, involves an attitude of mind that should always be properly and clearly considered by all who construct such models.
Well, we know that Freeman Dyson is a smart chap who has always propounded extreme views, the most disturbing probably being the Orion project, first sponsonered by a right wing US Govt (who presumably felt safe with the view that even if it didn't work as intended, Republican voters would still all go to heaven). Orion was an utterly crazy project to attempt to build a spaceship the size of an ocean liner and send it to Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, propelled by thousands of miniature nuclear bombs. Arthur C. Clarke had said "Orion isn't crazy. It would work. The question isn't whether we could do it, but whether we should do it". The advisability of nuclear tests and bombs aside, most sensible people thought not.
IMO: On global warming, I have recently been in Greenland, quite near the North Pole, and global warming certainly looked real to me. Other information readily available to the general public does strongly seem to support that view also. Much more should be done about global warming now. Global warming now makes, for example, needless increases in airline traffic seem ridiculous.
IMO: However Dyson's general contention, that the models aren't really science when they're programmed to produce the expected results, involves an attitude of mind that should always be properly and clearly considered by all who construct such models.
# posted by uv : 3:17 AM
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