Recently, Cardinal George Pell delivered a speech at Westminster's Cathedral Hall which was reproduced in full by ABC Religion. I've just published a response to Cardinal Pell's speech on the ABC Religion website: Cardinal Pell needs to practise what he preaches on climate change. A short excerpt:
In a much publicised recent speech, Cardinal George Pell strongly endorsed the importance of evidence in public debate. He argues that "the debates about anthropogenic global warming can only be conducted by the accurate recognition and interpretation of scientific evidence."
It would be hard to find anyone who would disagree with his sentiment - a proper understanding of climate must be built on a foundation of empirical observations. There's just one problem: Cardinal Pell fails to practise what he preaches.
In order accurately to recognize and interpret scientific evidence, one must consider the full body of evidence. Pell's arguments make it painfully clear that he is unaware of the many lines of evidence that form our understanding of human-caused global warming.
Decades of scientific research have examined global warming from the front, back, sideways and every other conceivable angle. The same climate myths we hear echoing in the blogosphere, Australian parliament and even in Westminster's Cathedral Hall - thanks to Cardinal Pell - were scrutinized and discounted by climate scientists years ago, and, in some cases, decades ago.
By ignoring the long history of scientific debate in the peer-reviewed literature, climate skeptics are doomed to repeat the errors of the past.
Posted by John Cook on Wednesday, 16 November, 2011
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