Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?

by Steve Whisler

Scientists at the University of Chicago moved the Doomsday Clock two minutes ahead to five minutes to midnight on January 16, 2007. This particular clock has been managed by America’s so-called brightest minds since 1947 and their goal is to gauge how close humans are to destroying the Earth with nuclear weapons.

When asked why the world now sits just five minutes away from total destruction, scientists cited the perils of 27,000 nuclear weapons, 2000 of them ready to launch within minutes, and the effects of global warming. “The dangers posed by climate change are nearly as dire as those posed by nuclear weapons,” the report claimed.

Really ... climate change is just as dire as nuclear weapons? Global warming warrants adjusting the Doomsday Clock for just the 17th time in 60 years?

I wonder if scientists at the University of Chicago are scrambling to justify their existence now that the threat of nuclear war among those who possess these weapons is at an all-time low. There is truly a threat of nuclear weapons falling into the hands of terrorists, but this was one of the reasons why scientists moved the clock closer to midnight in 2002.

Perhaps the Chicago scientists should rely on research to justify moving the clock ahead. These scientists obviously have no insight into historic climactic data and glaciation cycles.

Scientific data and computer models suggest that the Earth’s average temperature was 6°F cooler than today when it came out of the last Ice Age around 8500 BC. Just 1000 years later (7500 BC), the average temperature on the planet was just 1°F warmer than it is today. However, the temperature fell again by nearly 2° F over the next 1,000 years, settling at an average of 1° F cooler than the current climate.

Computer models also predict a 0.5° F increase in temperature over the next 1000 years. There is no doubt that global warming is real; however, this phenomenon reflects a normal cycle in nature and it is very unlikely that humans had anything to do with the change. The Earth’s temperature has risen 1° F in 1,000 years – long before onset of the Industrial Age and the multitude of environmental-friendly restrictions that have cost consumers trillions of dollars.

Politicians should think twice before increasing auto emission standards. Current legislation before the Maryland General Assembly will simply increase gasoline and automobile prices, and place even greater burdens on businesses that fuel economic growth in our state.

Feel-good legislation will merely cost consumers more and do very little, if anything, to offset the anticipated 0.5° F increase in temperatures. One only hopes that legislators rely on facts, scientific data, and common sense instead of the propaganda of a former vice president who hopes to revive his political career.

Both the former vice president and scientists in Chicago fail to consider all the evidence – they all appear out of touch with time.

Steve Whisler, a Catonsville resident, is a director of the non-profit Coalition for the Preservation of SW Baltimore County. He can be reached at aswhisler@comcast.net.