One difficulty with the enviroscience feeding frenzy for more tax money is that, in spite of the best efforts of the lowest common denominators in government committees, some data does accumulate. When that data does not support the mythology of enviroscience, the self interests of all sorts of people are put at risk. This could not happen to a nicer group of people.
Figure 3 from
World Climate Review, 3-1, p 15 (1994), discussing the work of J. W. Krzyscin, summarizes ozone values between 1958 and 1991 at about 30 stations located between latitudes 30° and 60° (over the Northern Hemisphere) . Figure 4 is from Science 267, p 612 (1995) by R. A. Kerr. This includes global temperature data from balloon measurements between 1958 and 1994 and satellite measurements between 1979 and 1994.
This record shows a substantial variability over these short time intervals. A longer record would doubtless show an even wider range.
Within this observed time, however, there is virtually no net change. Ozone was about - 3% in 1958, rose as high as + 3.5%, drifted over a 7% range, and then declined to about - 3%. (Figure 3 is normalized to 0 and plotted as total percentage change.) Temperature was 0° C in 1958, drifted over a 1.5° C range, and was about 0° C in 1994. (Figure 4 is normalized to 0° C and plotted as degrees centigrade. The range in degrees Fahrenheit is about 3 degrees.) Where does this data leave the people who have obtained large grants of tax money on the basis that ozone reduction in the Northern Hemisphere is already wiping out animal species (see, for example, "Fried Frog's Eggs'' in
Access to Energy 21-9, p 4) or that global warming is already upon us? It leaves them publishing nonscience by press release and hoping that the taxpayers will not notice the truth.
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Vol. 22, No. 8
Newsletter: Access to Energy Newsletter Archive Volume: Issues Issue/No.: Vol. 22, No. 8 Date: April 01, 1995 04:04 PM Title: Science, Technology, and Defense
Copyright © 2004 - Access to Energy Newsletter Archive
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