re: #41 austin_blue

Please do so, but keep in mind that his argument is based on vapor, not fact. NOAA is rock solid and has no axe to grind. They report the data, without spin.

Unless you believe in some conspiracy theory that NOAA is cooking the books for some nefarious plan. In which case…

Refer to Nirthers, Troofers, &c.

The scientists at NOAA and NASA certainly deserve respect for the work that they do, and are working with the best data that they have and the best models that they’ve made, but they are as human and fallible as the rest of us.

My Vulcanology professor at Penn State told me a story about a lecture in the 1950’s where fist fight broke out because one scientist that supported the well-established Cooling Earth Theory felt the need to physically defend the facts that were being challenged by a young upstart that was explaining the new Plate Tectonics Theory. The elder scientist insisted it was just warmed up Continental Drift Theory and shouldn’t even have been considered.

Maybe Dr. Roy Spencer, who is a former NASA climatologist specializing in satellite data, did really find an anomaly. Or maybe he didn’t. And maybe the NOAA scientists believe the data is in the expected range and don’t see the need to check their equipment. Maybe they’re right. Maybe not. Either way, Dr. Spencer doesn’t seem to be a complete crackpot. He’s obviously got a problem with evolution and would probably make a lousy biologist, but I think he’s worth recognizing in his field of expertise.

As much as Al Gore and many others may whole-heartedly insist that Man-made Global Warming Theory is settled science because of a consensus, it simply isn’t true. There is still quite a lot of doubt and some good alternate theories. One of which, we may have the opportunity to observe over the next few decades. It seems that our sun is going through an unusually quiet period of activity. It won’t be confirmed for another year or two if we are actually in an extended solar minimum, but if we are, historically such events have coincided with cooler than average global temperatures.

Maybe in a few years, we’ll have better evidence for a Solar Cycle Global Climate Change Theory than a the Human Emitted CO₂ one. Or maybe not. But I’m looking forward to finding out, one way or the other.