I was not surprised to see Duane Mooring criticize John Weaver (letters, May 21). Duane Mooring is an opinionist — by definition, one fond of his own notions, or unduly attached to his own opinions. Is Mr. Mooring a scientist? While I am not aware of his education or expertise, I don’t think he should dictate who writes opinion columns. (New York Times, anyone?)
John Weaver is a scientist. He is a physicist with advanced degrees in physics and mathematics from Carnegie Institute of Technology (now known as Carnegie-Mellon University.)
Physics is a branch of science concerned with the nature and properties of matter and energy.
John is an expert in, or student of, physics. He is one of those experts Mr. Mooring admires so much!
John Weaver noted other experts that could be referenced. A lot of the discussions about climate change are based on opinion, because there are a lot of unknowns, and he gave several examples of models that have not yielded the predicted results.
To quote Professor Judith Curry, the former chair of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology, “It is inappropriate to dismiss the arguments of the so-called contrarians since their disagreement with the consensus reflects conflicts of values and a preference for the empirical (i.e. what has been observed) verses the hypothetical (i.e. what is projected from climate models).
These disagreements are at the heart of the public debate on climate change, and these issues should be debated, not dismissed.
The debate goes on in spite of Duane Mooring and his insults!
Dave Lusian
Stevenson Ranch
