By Anthony L. Hall

I am stupefied by the certainty with which otherwise rational people cite forecasts about global warming. Indeed, the irony seems completely lost on them that their belief in predictions about the looming catastrophes of global warming is no more sound than the faith Christians have in prophecies about the looming Armageddon of Judgment Day, which incidentally has been looming for over 2,000 years!

Anthony L. Hall is a descendant of the Turks & Caicos Islands, international lawyer and political consultant - headquartered in Washington DC - who publishes his own weblog, The iPINIONS Journal, at http://ipjn.com offering commentaries on current events from a Caribbean perspective

Nevertheless, just as I am loath to disabuse Christians of their faith, I have no interest in disabusing global-warming fundamentalists of their belief. But after a letter from one of them, a Mr Swain, was published here yesterday, I thought it presented an appropriate occasion for me to not only respond to his challenge to my academic bona fides, but also acknowledge the many judgmental letters I’ve received from global-warming critics - in which they damn my mind to perpetual ignorance in language that is eerily similar to that which religious zealots have used to damn my soul to eternal hell.

That said, I appreciate the confusion Mr Swain admits he suffered before conducting his own research crusade, which, I gather, solidified his belief in the gospel of global warming. Based on the content of his letter, however, it seems his tarrying in this respect has only calcified his confusion. And, here’s why:

Mr Swain proclaims his belief by citing - with the zeal of the newly-converted – the clarion mantra that "virtually the entire scientific community confirms the Global Warming Phenomenon". But his citation is more revealing (and instructive) than I suspect he realizes. Because it contains the inconvenient truth that the consensus he alleges in this respect is, in fact, merely virtual; a fact I exposed in this recent article as follows:

“But here’s a little of what Professor Paul Reiter, of the Pasteur Institute in Paris, had to say about that UN report [on global warming]:

'It was a sham. This list of more than 2,000 of the world’s leading scientists who allegedly endorsed the report included the names of scientists who disagreed with its findings... That is how they make it seem that all the top scientists are agreed....It's not true.’

In fact Professor Reiter claims that he had to threaten legal action against the UN to have his name removed from the report."

Evidently, Mr Swain’s conviction is predicated on specious research. But this at least has the benefit of being consistent with his specious reading of My final word on global warming! However, I see no merit in correcting his distortions of my word. Instead I shall suffice to highlight one glaring flaw with the list of authorities Mr Swain cites to challenge my view; a list on which meteorological associations figure prominently:

Anyone who reads my article will note my reference to Dr William Gray – the man the Washington Post hailed as “the World’s most respected Hurricane Expert”. Yet it was Dr Gray who dismissed Al Gore and other prophets of global-warming doom as “gross alarmists”.

Finally, Mr Swain ends his letter by positing the following question to me: “...do you honestly believe you understand how the Earth works better than all these people [i.e., scientists who give global-warming theories the patina of credibility]? But to this I respectfully submit that I believe I "understand how the Earth works better" than only one scientist, namely, Al Gore - who just plays one in his movie and on TV.

NOTE: I appreciate our Editor’s decision to publish the letter below from Mr Jay Rhizor. Because it not only conveys the intellectual duplicity of many letters that whine about my global-warming anecdotes but shun the unassailable data I cite; it also betrays the religious bigotry of others that proffer the fatuous notion that that data is undermined by my allusions to the Bible.

Ironically, I suspect that most people who read Mr Rhizor’s letter will conclude that what little he has to contribute to this debate on global warming is undermined by the following declaration he makes, which is as patently inaccurate as it is wantonly insulting:

“The Bible is a collection of stories written by cave-men when writing was in its infancy.”

Related Article:
My final word on global warming