Gaia guru backs off climate alarmism, according to articles in MSNBC 21 April 2012 and The Guardian 15 June 2012. James Lovelock, the promoter of the Gaia theory, has admitted that his predictions about global warming were wrong. In 2006 Lovelock had predicted “before this century is over billions of us will die and the few breeding pairs of people that survive will be in the Arctic where the climate remains tolerable”. (Independent 16 Jan 2006). This year, in an interview with MSNBC he said, “The problem is we don’t know what the climate is doing. We thought we knew 20 years ago. That led to some alarmist books – mine included – because it looked clear-cut, but it hasn’t happened”. He went on to say: “The climate is doing its usual tricks. There’s nothing much really happening yet. We were supposed to be halfway toward a frying world now”. He also admitted: “The world has not warmed up very much since the millennium. Twelve years is a reasonable time… it (the temperature) has stayed almost constant, whereas it should have been rising — carbon dioxide is rising, no question about that”. In an interview with The Guardian he commented about environmental science in general: “One thing being a scientist has taught me is that you can never be certain about anything. You never know the truth. You can only approach it and hope you get a bit nearer to it each time. You iterate towards the truth. You don’t know it. It’s just the way the humans go that if there’s a cause of some sort, a religion starts forming around it. It just so happens that the green religion is now taking over from the Christian religion. I don’t think people have noticed that, but it’s got all the sort of terms that religions use”.
Editorial Comment: Keep Lovelock’s words in mind next time a politician or environmental activist claims “the science is settled” on global warming. Lovelock is correct about science – it is not to be worshipped as a god. It is a useful tool to help us find the truth, but because it is carried out by fallible people it can never be infallible. The only One who knows all truth is the One the global warming alarmists have ignored – the Creator God who is still in charge of the climate, and has control over the things we will never be able to control, such as the sun, the clouds and the oceans. We should use science to study the environment, so we can wisely use the things we can control, live with the things we can’t, and be humble enough to admit we are dependent on the Creator who “has not left himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.” (Acts 14:17) (Ref. philosophy, world view, politics)
Evidence News 5 July 2012