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Science doesn't care

Regarding the June 13 letter “Climate Change” by Connie Fleeger of Franklin Township.

Consensus in science is not important. Consensus in politics is everything. Science requires only one investigator who happens to be right, which means that he or she has results that are verifiable by reference to the real world.

In science, consensus is irrelevant. What is important are experiments with reproducible results. The greatest scientists in history were great because they broke away from consensus.

Consensus is not science. Much of the “consensus” on global climate change is by “scientists” who are not experts on climate. These arguments from “consensus” are always political and have little to do with science. Scientists never have “consensus” on science facts — how far away is the sun? What is the speed of light? What are the nucleotide base pairs in DNA?

One should always keep in mind that a scientific consensus determines and limits the questions researchers ask. And to what degree do supporters of any given scientific consensus succumb to confirmation bias? (The Emperor’s New Clothes syndrome.) In any case, the credibility of scientific research is not ultimately determined by how many researchers agree with it or how often it is cited by like-minded colleagues or how often it is reported in the news, but whether or not it conforms to reality. (Water vapor is actually the most important “greenhouse gas.” In fact, 75 percent of the “greenhouse effect” is due to water vapor directly or in clouds.)

Yet it’s the myths, not the facts that endure. Why? The answer is endless repetition. CNN, MSNBC, etc. etc. etc. repeat these myths and people believe them. They pass them on as if they are true. And they do it for the politics. They do it for the power that it gives them. In scientific circles, many dogmas persist but students, scientists, physicians and others are in fear of losing their prestige or funding if they would start telling what the scientific evidence truly revealed.

Global warming may or may not be true. It may or may not be caused by human activity. There are tens of thousands of scientists that do not believe it is caused by humans or that humans can do anything about it. (www.petitionproject.org)

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