Global Warming Conference: Why all the Alarmism?
Nicolas Loris /
The Chicago-based Heartland Institute is hosting its Third International Conference on Climate Change and its second this year. The event, taking place in Washington DC, has a lot of the same players as the second conference but all of them are worth hearing again. It’s a group of climatologists, scientists, economists and a few politicians.
Kicking off the event is Dr. Richard Lindzen, professor of atmospheric sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He argues there are three reasons why purported climate science typically supports global warming alarmism. The first is triage, typically used as a medical term to prioritize patients based on severity of their condition. When it comes to alarmist ideas as opposed to “there’s not a problem”, you can guess which one will be priority for the media.
The second reason is what Lindzen refers to as opportunism of the weak. Environmentalists will pick up on weak studies – studies not based on solid evidence and run with them. In other words, you don’t have to produce sound scientific studies to get your name in the paper or environmental alarmists’ support.