Despite claims that the theory of global warming is “irrefutable,” the science behind this theory is now being called into question. Al Gore and all the others who wanted the world to take the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) report as untouchable science now have a problem as reports of flaws in both the methods and the data keep on coming.
The Washington Post laid out yesterday multiple flaws in the IPCC report. These include everything from misreporting critical dates, sloppy sourcing—including the use of anecdotal evidence from mountain climbers and a student’s dissertation – to the erroneous assertion that 55% of the Netherlands is below sea levels, when only 26% of the country is. Among the many travesties is that the Environmental Protection Agency used the IPCC to justify its recent ruling on CO2 emissions posing a danger.
And on that same day, the very scientist at the center of the “Climategate” affair, Phil Jones admitted to the UK’s Daily Mail that he has lost track of his data and that his lack of organization has made him reluctant to share his data with critics. So much for the scientific method.
Oh, and Jones also admitted that in the past 15 years there has not been any “statistically significant” global warming. This is the irrefutable evidence of global warming?
As Sens. James Inhofe (R-OK) and John Barrasso (R-WY) have pointed out, these errors are all the more reason to re-examine the evidence and block the mandatory CO2 limits the White House is pushing in the American people. While errors do not disprove a theory, neither does sloppy research buttress a hypothesis, especially when the results could cost our economy millions of lost jobs, our families thousands in disposable income, and our competitive standing in the world.
More than just the integrity of the world’s scientific community is at stake. So is our freedom and economic survival.