NASA Grants UMass Lowell $600k for Climate-Change Studies

October 17, 2010 by PaulM Posted in Culture, Education, History, Lowell, Science 2 Comments

in the SUN yesterday, Jennifer Myers reported that UMass Lowell received a $614,691 NASA grant to promote the study of climate change. The grant was announced by US Rep. Niki Tsongas at a climate-change forum on campus Friday. Read the article here, and subscribe to the SUN if you appreciate the reporting.

2 Responses to NASA Grants UMass Lowell $600k for Climate-Change Studies

  2. Andrew says:

    Wow, Shawn, I had noticed the headlines, but I had realized just how unbelievably insane Harold Lewis is. It’s like he’s living in an alternate reality.

    First, the man doesn’t have a background in climate science. At this point, about 97% of American climate scientists accept that humans are driving climate change/global warming. Second, absolutely nowhere does he make an argument from scientific evidence. He cites Montford’s book of all things. A book. Are you kidding me? Where are the journal articles? Oh, there are none. No climate change deniers have performed research that meets the elementary standards to get published in the most obscure journals imaginable. They’re just like creationists.

    Then he starts talking about “Climategate.” Also shows that he has absolutely no idea what’s going on, as what? 5 independent investigations have shown that there was no wrongdoing. And the data in question had to do with tree rings! Tree rings! As in, has nothing whatsoever to do with proving the effects of carbon dioxide, something we’ve understood for a century but, like evolution, the American public seems unwilling to accept.

    And then the money thing? The man is crazy. Scientists are terrified to actually speak up because they know they will lose their money if they upset Republicans. Look at what happened to Michael Mann; the Attorney General of Virginia has set up an inquisition to try to silence him (and has been shut down by federal judges for having no legal grounds for his actions).

    I have no idea what sparked Professor Lewis’ resignation, but he obviously has no idea what he’s talking about and, more importantly, he has made exactly zero scientific arguments to refute the consensus based on decades of research. If he can’t get his work on climate published, then he’s irrelevant as a scientist. It means his standards of rigor are below that of graduate students. Hell, I know an undergraduate who was able to publish a simple observational paper in a journal.