Tuesday, August 07, 2007

Take the Global Warming Challenge

Junkscience.com (ht Newsbusters) has offered a $100,000 prize for proof that Global Warming is both man-made and on balance harmful.

$100,000 will be awarded to the first person to prove, in a scientific manner, that humans are causing harmful global warming. The winning entry will specifically reject both of the following two hypotheses:

UGWC Hypothesis 1

Manmade emissions of greenhouse gases do not discernibly, significantly and predictably cause increases in global surface and tropospheric temperatures along with associated stratospheric cooling.

UGWC Hypothesis 2

The benefits equal or exceed the costs of any increases in global temperature caused by manmade greenhouse gas emissions between the present time and the year 2100, when all global social, economic and environmental effects are considered.

The grammatical structure of the two hypotheses a little unwieldy is ;-P, but basically one has to disprove two statements. That places the burden of proof where it belongs, on the one trying to advance the science. Though I don't speak for the contest judges, the goals might be restated:
  1. Human greenhouse gas emissions are clearly causing worldwide temperature increases up to the ozone layer and temperature decreases higher up.
  2. All relevant factors considered, the cost of man-made global warming between now and 2100 will be greater than the benefits.
If I were a contest judge, that last one would be a tough sell. I'll take warm over cold, any day.


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