What does it prove? That a bunch of egghead ******' scientists can be wrong and HAVE been wrong. It also proves that idiots that believe this bullshit being pimped by Al Gore and the other jackasses are exactly that, idiots who'll buy into the first lame-brained idea that comes their way so long as it trashes success.
A bunch of egghead scientists? Any credentials or degrees held by the people quoted are not listed, so we have no way of knowing their standing, if any, in the scientific community. In some cases, the person being quoted isn't named. Most of the quotes are partial quotes and all of the quotes seem to be taken out of context.
"By 1985... air pollution will have reduced the amount of sunlight reaching the earth by one half." - Life magazine, January 1970Life magazine?
Life magazine is not a scientific publication. The quote is useless.
“...civilization will end within 15 or 30 years unless immediate action is taken against problems facing mankind," biologist George Wald, Harvard University, April 19, 1970.Okay. George Wald... a real scientist. Why not provide the full text of what Wald said? It can't have been that long.
By 1995, "...somewhere between 75 and 85 percent of all the species of living animals will be extinct." - Sen. Gaylord Nelson, quoting Dr. S. Dillon Ripley, Look magazine, April 1970.This is funny. The quote is not only incomplete but secondhand as well. Why not quote Dr. Ripley completely and directly?
Because of increased dust, cloud cover and water vapor... "the planet will cool, the water vapor will fall and freeze, and a new Ice Age will be born." - Newsweek magazine, January 26, 1970.Newsweek magazine?
Newsweek magazine is not a scientific publication. The quote is useless.
The world will be "...eleven degrees colder in the year 2000. This is about twice what it would take to put us into an ice age," Kenneth Watt, speaking at Swarthmore University, April 19, 1970.Another partial quote. What Kenneth Watt actually said...
"The world has been chilling sharply for about twenty years. If present trends continue, the world will be about four degrees colder for the global mean temperature in 1990, but eleven degrees colder in the year 2000. This is about twice what it would take to put us into an ice age." - Kenneth Watt, speaking at Swarthmore University, April 19, 1970. As anyone can see, Mr. Watt did not say that the cooling trend would continue. What he said was that
if the cooling trend continues, the world will enter an ice age.
"We are in an environmental crisis which threatens the survival of this nation, and of the world as a suitable place of human habitation." - Biologist Barry Commoner, University of Washington, writing in the journal Environment, April 1970.The quote is complete but what is the quote about? Disease? Climate change? Famine? Pollution? Nuclear testing? We don't know. Anyway, I'll accept the quote as a legitimate example of scientific doomsaying since the quote is the first complete one.
"Man must stop pollution and conserve his resources, not merely to enhance existence but to save the race from the intolerable deteriorations and possible extinction." - The New York Times editorial, April 20, 1970.Who is the author of the editorial and what are that person's scientific credentials? We don't know. The quote is useless.
"Population will inevitably and completely outstrip whatever small increases in food supplies we make." - Paul Ehrlich, interview in Mademoiselle magazine, April 1970.The quote doesn't indicate when population will outstrip the food supply, so I'm hesitant to categorize it as doomsaying proven wrong.
"It is already too late to avoid mass starvation." - Earth Day organizer Denis Hayes, The Living Wilderness, Spring 1970.Denis Hayes is not a scientist. Enough said.
"By the year 2000... the entire world, with the exception of Western Europe, North America and Australia, will be in famine." - Peter Gunter, North Texas State University, The Living Wilderness, Spring 1970.Peter Gunter is a professor of Philosophy.
"Far out man." - Posted by DonWard at April 22, 2008 08:52 AMFar out indeed. Idiot.
So, what do we have here? We have, if we include one partial quote and one secondhand quote, 4 examples of 4 scientists engaging in what seems to be doomsaying. A pretty weak compilation.
