Benedict: In praise of climate-change skepticism

Thanks, Simon. For those interested in looking into the science of climate change, hundreds -- probably thousands -- of papers were presented on the subject at the recent American Geophysical Union conference last week. A few highlights:

Expansion of the Hadley Cell Under Global Warming:

http://www.agu.org/cgi-bin/SFgate/SFgate?language=English&verbose=0&listenv=table&application=fm06&convert=&converthl=&refinequery=&formintern=&formextern=&transquery=gc%20and%20sc%3dgc&_lines=&multiple=0&descriptor=%2fdata%2fepubs%2fwais%2findexes%2ffm06%2ffm06%7c284%7c3444%7cExpansion%20of%20the%20Hadley%20cell%20under%20global%20warming:%20A%20likely%20new%20driver%20for%20droughts%7cHTML%7clocalhost:0%7c%2fdata%2fepubs%2fwais%2findexes%2ffm06%2ffm06%7c13931627%2013935071%20%2fdata2%2fepubs%2fwais%2fdata%2ffm06%2ffm06.txt

Projections of Novel and Disappearing Climates by 2100AD

http://www.agu.org/cgi-bin/SFgate/SFgate?language=English&verbose=0&listenv=table&application=fm06&convert=&converthl=&refinequery=&formintern=&formextern=&transquery=gc%20and%20sc%3dgc&_lines=&multiple=0&descriptor=%2fdata%2fepubs%2fwais%2findexes%2ffm06%2ffm06%7c276%7c3274%7cProjected%20Distributions%20of%20Novel%20and%20Disappearing%20Climates%20by%202100AD%7cHTML%7clocalhost:0%7c%2fdata%2fepubs%2fwais%2findexes%2ffm06%2ffm06%7c14036798%2014040072%20%2fdata2%2fepubs%2fwais%2fdata%2ffm06%2ffm06.txt

Paleoclimactic Perspecives on Climate Change

http://www.agu.org/cgi-bin/SFgate/SFgate?language=English&verbose=0&listenv=table&application=fm06&convert=&converthl=&refinequery=&formintern=&formextern=&transquery=gc%20and%20sc%3dgc&_lines=&multiple=0&descriptor=%2fdata%2fepubs%2fwais%2findexes%2ffm06%2ffm06%7c278%7c3329%7cPaleoclimatic%20Perspectives%20on%20Climate%20Sensitivity%20to%20Carbon%20Dioxide%7cHTML%7clocalhost:0%7c%2fdata%2fepubs%2fwais%2findexes%2ffm06%2ffm06%7c13637753%2013641082%20%2fdata2%2fepubs%2fwais%2fdata%2ffm06%2ffm06.txt

The keynote address was given by the great Ohio State researcher Lonnie Thompson. His talk is available as a webcast, but his conclusion is worth noting. To paraphrase, he said that as early as the l960's, we had excellent science on the Cuyahoga River, showing that fish were dying en masse, that the water was unsafe to drink, that dangerous compounds were accumulating, etc. What did we as a society do?

Nothing -- until the river caught fire. Then we acted, and now walleyed pike and other fish species have returned to the river, which is safe for boating and recreation. I understand that Ohio is very proud of its restored river, and deservedly so.

Now, Thompson asks, what will it take before we as a species act on climate change? His guess: twin Category 5 hurricanes hitting the Gulf Coast.

Sounds about right to me. The problem, of course, is that it's far more difficult to heal a global climate than it is to heal a river.

Caught up with the story. The river had caught fire many times before, that's a fact, but nonetheless the Cuyahoga was one of the most polluted rivers in the country, and the incident did contain "useful truths" that came to symbolize an era in American pollution. And Lonnie Thompson is indeed a greatly admired and worthy scientist, which you will see if you read a book about his ground-breaking work at high altitude, "Thin Ice." Thompson has been based at Ohio State since the l970's.