Regarding Kevin Ma's column on "deniers" (Gazette, July 30).
First and most important, real scientists are humble. They admit that their theories could be wrong and welcome criticism. Albert Einstein did this when he published his General Theory of Relativity. In his book, he listed the weaknesses in his theory and invited others to use these weaknesses to try and prove his theory wrong.
Secondly, real scientists do not insult their opposition. They instead use the facts to disprove their opponents' claims. Resorting to insults is a red flag that usually indicates that the person using them has failed to win the scientific argument. Especially when words like deniers are used. This is no accident, they could have accused their opponents of being poor scientists. "Denier" is intended to stop debate and demean the opposition and it works well.
Lastly and most obvious, the best way to examine the faults in a theory is to talk to those who are the best-qualified opponents of the theory. Not those who are unblushing supporters like the scepticalscience.com people. The best opposing view in my opinion is in the Non-Governmental International Panel on Climate Change (NGIPPC) report, published very year to point out errors in the IPCC report and give the opposing view. See http://climatechangereconsidered.org/ This gets better every year and is published by several highly credible climate science experts. This is the document that the Gazette should critique.
The most unscientific part of the Gazette article and frankly, the most ridiculous and naive in the extreme, is the idea that the IPCC is in no way biased and all world scientists are OK with the AGW hypothesis. Scientists who write articles opposed to man-made global warming do not get published in the mainstream journals. This can ruin their careers. Where was the Gazette during the climategate scandal? This also explains where the 97% number comes from. Only true believers may worship at the AGW shrine.
And just because they teach this half-baked theory in schools doesn't mean that it's settled science. They teach lots of pap in our public schools. The IPCC has admitted that average global temperatures have had a "hiatus" for about 19 years even though CO2 continued to increase each year. This is a life threatening body blow to the AGW theory.
The sun drives the climate, not man. 100 years ago if you claimed to be able to control the climate, they would place you into a mental institution.
W.G. Whitney, St. Albert
