Global Warming Conference - Skeptics Not Skeptical

Michael Crichton of Jurassic Park fame was one of the speakers in this weekend's Global Warming Conference. He began his talk by calling on Skeptics (the conference was part of the annual meeting of the Skeptics Society) to be more skeptical. And that would certainly be part of what I took away from the weekend.

I applaud Michael Shermer, founder and chairman of the Skeptics Society, for his excellent choices in speakers. Not only were they talented and esteemed in their profession, but they offered a broad range of opinion. However, one could sense a circling of the wagons among the "academy" as one after another, the skeptics are "flipping" to the hysteric global warming position.

For anyone who is interested in the global warming issue, the intersection of faith and science, or the isolation of the academic elites, come back often over the next few days. There is so much to report on the happenings of this conference that I am certain I could fill a book.

Here is a teaser: Everyone agrees that the earth has warmed 1 degree F over the past 100 years or so. A solid majority of the speakers at this conference and the community of scientists that study this area, agree that the warming will continue into the next century. Most folks agree that man may be contributing to the warming. But the debate revolves around the percent of man's contribution, the future of that contribution and its effects. And, within my limited scope of understanding, it all seems to come down to one greenhouse gas, CO2. More later.