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Re: [Phys-l] Glaciers, An Inconvenient Truth



Art Hobson (2006), in his PHYSOC message of 2 Jul 2006 14:02:13-0500 titled "Glaciers, An Inconvenient Truth" wrote [bracketed by lines "HHHHHH. . .":

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There is a good gallery of "repeat photos" (one photo taken decades ago, another photo today) of glaciers, at
<http://nrmsc.usgs.gov/repeatphoto/index.htm>. And there is a gallery of repeat photos of Alaskan glaciers at
<http://nsidc.org/data/glacier_photo/special_collection.html>.
Don't forget to see "An Inconvenient Truth." It opened, quietly, in my town a couple of weeks ago. It's getting good scientific reviews. I haven't actually seen it yet, but will soon.
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I saw "An Inconvenient Truth" a few days ago at a nearly empty theater. I heartily second Art's recommendation to attend Gore's movie. Gore includes shots of dramatically diminishing glaciers.

I thought Gore's presentation was very potent, but, sadly, it will probably be viewed by relatively few Americans, most of whom appear to be more interested in the blockbuster "Superman."

But what can you expect from a nation of science/math illiterates? This thanks in part to the abysmal failure of our great research universities to properly educate prospective K-12 teachers [Hake (2000)].

An excellent review of "An Inconvenient Truth" by Eric Stieg (with many comments by his climate science colleagues) is online at
<http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2006/05/al-gores-movie/#more299>, or more compactly <http://tinyurl.com/juyg7>.

Stieg is an isotope geochemist at the University of Washington whose primary research interest is use of ice core records to document climate variability in the past. He is a frequent contributor to "RealClimate": "Climate Science from climate scientists" <http://www.realclimate.org/>.

Leigh Palmer, in a Phys-L post of 15 Jun 2006 11:11:07-0700 titled "climate change and climate scientists - editorial," cautions "Why would one go to an advocacy group [realclimate.org] to find a balanced review?"

I have yet to meet a scientist who was not an advocate for some issue. I think we can get at least a rough idea of the validity of scientists' views in fields in which we ourselves are not expert, by examining their scientific credentials, rather than than their advocacy. For the credentials of Eric Stieg and his RealClimate colleagues go to <http://www.realclimate.org/index.php?cat=10>.
Stieg wrote:

"Along with various Seattle business and community leaders, city planners and politicians, a large group of scientists from the University of Washington got a chance to preview the new film, "An Inconvenient Truth," last week. The film is about Al Gore's efforts to educate the public about global warming, with the goal of creating the political will necessary for the United States to take the lead in efforts to lower global carbon emissions. It is an inspiring film, and is decidedly non-partisan in its outlook (though there are a few subtle references to the Bush administration's lack of leadership on this and other environmental issues).
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How well does the film handle the science? Admirably, I thought. It is remarkably up to date, with reference to some of the very latest research. Discussion of recent changes in Antarctica and Greenland are expertly laid out. He also does a very good job in talking about the relationship between sea surface temperature and hurricane intensity. As one might expect, he uses the Katrina disaster to underscore the point that climate change may have serious impacts on society, but he doesn't highlight the connection any more than is appropriate.. . . . I'll admit that I have been a bit of a skeptic about our ability to take any substantive action, especially here in the U.S. Gore's aim is to change that viewpoint, and the colleagues I saw the movie with all seem to agree that he is successful. In short: this film is worth seeing."

I thank the irascible professor Mark Shapiro
<http://www.irascibleprofessor.com/ professor> for alerting me to Stieg's review in Mark's Phys-L post of 14 Jun 2006 10:24:03-0700 titled
"climate change and climate scientists - editorial."

Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
24245 Hatteras Street, Woodland Hills, CA 91367
<rrhake@earthlink.net>
<http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake>
<http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~sdi>

REFERENCES
Hake, R.R. 2000. "The General Population's Ignorance of Science Related Societal Issues: A Challenge for the University," AAPT Announcer 30(2): 105; online as ref. 11 at <http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake> or download directly by clicking on
<http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake/GuelphSocietyG.pdf> (2.1MB). Based on an earlier libretto with the leitmotiv: "The road to U.S. science literacy begins with effective university science courses for pre-college teachers." The opera dramatizes the fact that the failure of universities throughout the universe to properly educate pre-college teachers is responsible for our failure to observe any signs of either terrestrial or extraterrestrial intelligence.

Hobson, A. 2006. "Glaciers, An Inconvenient Truth," PHYSOC post of 2 Jul 2006 14:02:13 -0500; online at <http://listserv.uark.edu/scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind0607&L=physoc&T=0&X=6A8D6641271E4B1C44&Y=rrhake%40earthlink.net&P=51, or more compactly at <http://tinyurl.com/gco8d>.