James Lovelock, father of Gaia theory and previous forecaster of humanity’s doom by global warming, now says he was an alarmist who extrapolated too far in making his predictions. More after the click.
Here is the article. Note that Lovelock still thinks that global warming is taking place, and that its effects are a reason to be concerned about it. However, he says frankly that he was wrong in the past, regards Al Gore as an alarmist as well, and now takes a more humble approach to the subject.
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,” Lovelock said.
The whole article is worth a read, but any ID proponent or ID sympathetic person should enjoy seeing this line in particular.
As “an independent and a loner,” he said he did not mind saying “All right, I made a mistake.” He claimed a university or government scientist might fear an admission of a mistake would lead to the loss of funding.
Man, there’s a lot to ponder in that quote, even if it’s just from one (prominent) scientist. Scientists being unwilling to cop to mistakes because of funding concerns? I mean, we all know that’s going on – but it’s nice to see a scientist of note admit it. And notice that part of Lovelock’s willingness to do so is (or so he indicates) due precisely to his not being connected to the money faucets.
One could easily add another reason a scientist may be unwilling to admit to having made a mistake: fear that doing so will detract from a pet cause or issue being advocated, or support another perspective they find distasteful.
Either way, give the article a read to see a man who once forecast doomsday for the planet now take a more mild stance.