Monarch Extinction press releases.

[Charles Bordelon]

Thank you Woody.  I think what we got earlier was an accidental message.  At
least, I would not be so arrogant, anyway.  cb
----- Original Message -----
From: "Woody Woods" <woody.woods at umb.edu>
To: <stan_gorodenski at asualumni.org>; <aa6g at aa6g.org>
Cc: <patfoley at csus.edu>; <monarch at saber.net>; <leps-l at lists.yale.edu>
Sent: Thursday, November 13, 2003 6:28 PM
Subject: Re: Monarch Extinction press releases.


> Hi Stan and all,
>
> In teaching undergraduate courses that must necessarily touch on this
issue,
> I make a distinction between present global warming (no doubt) and
> anthropogenic effects (very possible, even probable, but still debatable
> because of the "noise" in the data).
>
> Also, I try to get across the difference between science, arising from
> disprovable hypotheses, and politics, consisting of advocacy. It has
always
> surprised me how difficult it is to convey that distinction.
>
> I am no authority on this subject either, but have to convey it fairly, as
> best I can, at least once each semester in introductory courses. However,
I
> don't think it has been overly "political" of me to point out that we are
by
> far the planet's most successful species, albeit briefly thus far; we are
> unique in our ability to modify habitat, and ultimately to steer the
future
> of the evolutionary process.
>
> A favorite quote that I do not use when teaching: "We do not have very
long
> to prove that we are not a lethal mutation." --Manfred Eigen.
>
> Woody
>
> *************************************************
> William A. Woods Jr.
> Department of Biology
> University of Massachusetts Boston
> 100 Morrissey Blvd
> Boston, MA 02125
>
> Lab: 617-287-6642
> Fax: 617-287-6650
> *************************************************
>
> > From: "Stanley A. Gorodenski" <stan_gorodenski at asualumni.org>
> > Reply-To: stan_gorodenski at asualumni.org
> > Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2003 15:42:26 -0800
> > To: aa6g at aa6g.org
> > Cc: patfoley at csus.edu, monarch at saber.net, leps-l at lists.yale.edu
> > Subject: Re: Monarch Extinction press releases.
> >
> >
> >
> > Chuck Vaughn wrote:
> >
> >> stated outright that it is human caused. We give ourselves so much
> >> credit! The planet has been much warmer and much colder than it is
> >> right now. We now find ourselves in a slight warming trend after a
> >> cooling tend a few hundred years ago. So What?
> >
> > Although there have been periods in geologic history where the planet
> > has been colder or just as warm or warmer than now, the difference is
> > that the models developed by researchers in this area cannot account for
> > the current increase in temperature unless they introduce anthropogenic
> > factors as the major, or only, causes. This is where simple correlations
> > with the past can be misleading. It is true that their models may be off
> > and there are other undiscovered influencing factors (such as the
> > recent, I believe, realization of the absorption of CO2 due to the
> > uplift and weathering of mountains), but I place more faith in the
> > results of their research than simple correlations produced by the
> > non-scientist or scientist not researching in this area. I have not yet
> > seen a convincing argument (the correlations with geologic past are not
> > convincing to me), with the _possible_ exception of sunspot correlations
> > Paul produced some time ago (which was, apparently, successfully refuted
> > a few years later) on the other side that seriously throws into doubt
> > anthropogenic factors as being the major, or only, cause of the current
> > global warming.
> >
> > I am not preaching and I am not an authority on this subject, just
> > stating things as I know them. Does anyone have convincing evidence that
> > seriously throws into doubt th athropogenic hypothesis? I would like to
> > know because, like most everyone else I would guess, our opinions are in
> > part molded by what we believe are credible sources.
> > Stan
> >
> >
> >
> >
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>
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