Last week, 49 former NASA employees wrote a letter to administrator Charles Bolden slamming the agency for taking a stand on climate change. NASA's research points to man-made carbon dioxide as a contributing factor to global warming, but the letter's writers disagree. There isn't proof, they say, adding that the space agency is sullying its good reputation by making such claims. Climate change is, of course, not a new issue. So what's the deal with this letter? Is the space agency presenting false information or are 49 former employees nothing but climate change deniers?NASA has been engaged in climate research since the 1980s. Under this umbrella, the agency is investigating a host of factors contributing to our current climate situation: the effects of natural and manmade aerosols (sub-microscopic particles suspended in the air); clouds and their role in maintaining the Earth's climate system; rainfall and the movement of water; solar radiation as a driving force behind atmospheric and ocean circulations; and surface properties of the Earth that reflect light and radiation to heat the planet.The agency uses its information determine the history of climate cycles on Earth and anticipate trends where prediction is impossible. It also creates theoretical models of climate change based on natural factors like cloud movement. To gather all this data, NASA relies on orbital satellites.NASA's first-hand climate research has revealed cycles of change; in the last 650,000 years Earth has seen seven major cycles of glacial advance and retreat. Small variations in the Earth's orbit and inclination, the amount of radiation that reaches the planet, and natural occurrences like volcanic eruptions have all played a roll in these cycles.But the regular trend ended abruptly about 7,000 years ago, right around the time when the modern climate era began and modern civilization made its debut. In the last 100 years, the planet has warmed at an alarming rate, a trend that began right around the time of the industrial revolution. It's pretty clear that we are a big part of the changing climate.Forty-nine former employees call shenanigans. "We believe the claims by NASA… that man-made carbon dioxide is having a catastrophic impact on global climate change are not substantiated, especially when considering thousands of years of empirical data," the letter says. "We request that NASA refrain from including unproven and unsupported remarks in its future releases and websites on this subject." In other words, not only is carbon dioxide not a problem, NASA's research is wrong and its claims unfounded. That's no small allegation.NASA chief scientist Waleed Abdalati responded diplomatically saying that the agency has never taken a political stance on the issue and encouraging the 49 writers to join in the debate surrounding climate change and possible solutions. It's true the agency itself remains apolitical, but individuals are more open to expressing their opinions. Many within NASA advocate action on climate change such as Jim Hansen, head of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies where the bulk of climate change research is centered. Hansen recently described climate change as a significant moral issue on par with slavery.The letter was organized and orchestrated by Leighton Steward, chairman of the non-profit Plants Need CO2 that has ties to the coal industry. The organization preaches terrifying falsehoods about climate change with slogans like "Climate Change is the Norm" and "Warmer is Better than Colder." The website proclaims that more CO2 means more plant growth, which leads to more food production and ultimately more robust habitats and ecosystems worldwide. "CO2 is Earth's greatest airborne fertilizer. Without it – no life on Earth!" Yes, we need carbon dioxide, but a quick look at Venus scorching temperatures show us why too much is deadly. On NASA's climate research, Steward said recently that the agency could not only damage its own reputation but the "reputation of science itself."It's not hard to see Steward's agenda or his distance from climate change research. Keith Cowing, editor of the website NASA Watch, noted that all 49 letter writers share the same distance from environmental science. Most are engineers and spent their tenures at NASA working almost exclusively at the Johnson Space Centre in Houston. The facility, which is NASA's principle center for design, development and testing of spacecraft and the associated systems for manned spaceflight, is almost entirely removed from NASA's climate change arm at the Goddard Institute. "They do mission operations and human spaceflight design, period," said Cowing.Perhaps the biggest surprise among the 49 writers is Harrison "Jack" Schmitt, Apollo 17 Lunar Module Pilot and the only trained scientist to walk on the Moon with a PhD in geology. He is also a known climate change denier who previously called global warning "a political tool to increase government control over American lives, incomes, and decision making." Schmitt was recently appointed to run New Mexico's Department of Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources where he will make decisions related to the state's contribution to climate change. This is where theThe letter and the publicity it has received is certain to be a boon to the climate change sceptic community. But it might also make the public more aware of the issue, calling into question the judgement of the 49 writers. Particularly those who saw the Earth from the Moon as a fragile oasis in space.Apollo 15 Lunar Module Pilot might have had the best reflection on the Earth's fragility: “As we got further, Earth diminished in size. Finally, it shrank to the size of a marble, the most beautiful you can imagine. That warm, living object looked so fragile, so delicate, that if you touched it with a finger it would crumble. Seeing this has to change a man.” It's a viewpoint worth keeping in mind in discussions of climate change, for both the believers and the deniers.
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NASA’s AQUA spacecraft tracks environmental changes in real-time.
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