Current Events — HabitableZone

Current Events » in reply to Depends on the interpretation

"I just posted an article..."

I know, and if you noticed, I posted another one from the same source more or less showing that the article you reference was not, to put it generously, written in a professional manner.

The assumption that all dissent on this issue is by definition suspect, is inane. As far as showing my sources are "pristine," the links are all still there in earlier posts. I think the burden of proof is on you.

On a related note, Discover Magazine has, finally, put up the interview with Henrik Svensmark. For the record, the funding for his organization seems to come from a beer company.

In 1996, when you reported that changes in the sun’s activity could explain most or all of the recent rise in Earth's temperature, the chairman of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel called your announcement "extremely naive and irresponsible." How did you react?

I was just stunned. I remember being shocked by how many thought what I was doing was terrible. I couldn't understand it because when you are a physicist, you are trained that when you find something that cannot be explained, something that doesn't fit, that is what you are excited about. If there is a possibility that you might have an explanation, that is something that everybody thinks is what you should pursue. Here was exactly the opposite reaction. It was as though people were saying to me, "This is something that you should not have done." That was very strange for me, and it has been more or less like that ever since.

So it's difficult to do climate research without being suspected of having a hidden agenda?

Yes, it is frustrating. People can use this however they want, and I can't stop them. Some are accusing me of doing it for political reasons; some are saying I'm doing it for the oil companies. This is just ridiculous. I think there’s a huge interest in discrediting what I'm doing, but I've sort of gotten used to this. I've convinced myself the only thing I can do is just to continue doing good science. And I think time will show that we are on the right track.

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