Lorne Gunter: Global warming numbers get a little help from their friends - Full Comment

The problem isn’t that this mistake occurred, but rather that no one at Goddard seemed to think a one-month temperature jump of nearly a full degree worldwide warranted a double-check. The keepers of one of the U.N.’s four primary temperature records are sure the globe is warming dangerously, so sure it never even occurred to them to check why or how October’s figures were so anomalous.

It took bloggers using little more than desktop PCs and Internet connections only a few hours to find the errors. The difference is, they were prepared to look. Their minds were not so clouded by bias in favour of the warming theory that they have stopped asking obvious questions.

Scientists and activists who support the warming theory often insist the science is settled and this incident proves it is settled – in their own minds. For too many, scientific inquiry has ceased.

An Appeal To Reason - Forbes.com

Regarding actions we might take, Lawson reminds readers that we need to avoid the kind of panic that could lead to disastrous policies. Indeed, he makes plain that there "is something inherently absurd about the conceit that we can have any useful idea of what the world will look like in a hundred years time," not to mention the other projected calamities expected to occur over 1,000 years from now. If this is doubted, ask yourself how many times weather forecasts meant to predict the next day have proven to be massively incorrect.

At least we can agree that trace amounts of CO2 may kill our grandchildren?

Attending the meeting will be Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., Obama's choice for White House chief of staff, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a close friend of McCain.

Graham said the meeting has no set agenda. McCain wants to learn how Obama plans to proceed and "where we can fit in," Graham said, noting that climate change is a potential area of common ground.