Neil DeGrasse Tyson Patiently Explains How Science Works To GOP Businessman

[pokerfan]

by Josh Feldman | 11:13 pm, March 2nd, 2012

Neil DeGrasse Tyson is an astrophysicist and director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History. He is the go-to scientist for many late night hosts, including Stephen Colbert and Bill Maher. He is going to be hosting the reboot of the late Carl Sagan‘s popular TV series Cosmos. These and many other reasons are why you’d want to listen to Tyson when he starts talking about science. And during tonight’s episode of Real Time, he patiently tried to explain the science behind global warming.

Maher brought up the subject to panelist and former GM vice president Bob Lutz, bringing up Lutz’s previous comments insisting global warming is a “total crock of sh*t.” He argued tonight that abnormal weather patterns have been “a fact of life” all throughout human history. Maher challenged Lutz on this by citing the “overwhelming consensus” in the scientific community on global warming. Lutz denied such a consensus existed, and Maher responded by saying that Lutz was “in the bubble.”

Now, at this point in the segment, I was practically yelling at the TV, “There’s a scientist right next to you! Let him speak, damn it!” And right on cue, Maher turned to Tyson to let him explain global warming science. Tyson explained that throughout history, human beings have slowly but surely come to accept certain scientific principles as truth after first denying them, then claiming they are in opposition to religious doctrine. Maher suggested the United States has gone backwards from the Republican party acknowledging its existence but merely having a difference of opinion on how to solve it to flat-out denial.

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/scientist-neil-degrasse-tyson-patiently-explains-how-science-works-to-republican-businessman-on-real-time/

[crimsonblue]

1. screw Neil DeGrasse Tyson!!!

He took Pluto away from us!


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[crimsonblue]

4. When Eris has its own Disney character

then it can be a fuckin planet too!

[Warren DeMontague]

8. And that's kind of funny

except people wanting to live in a 2 dimensional cartoon reality so they don't have to think about the complex world we actually do live in, is a real problem.



http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v2/n2/mything-the-boat

[starroute]

12. H.P. Lovecraft thought the discovery of Pluto was a sign that Cthulu was about to take over

Or something like that. At any rate, there's a line in one of his stories something like, "Now that this ninth planet has been so curiously discovered..."

So if the downgrading of Pluto keeps Cthulhu at bay, I'm all for it.

[pokerfan]

5. When you get right down to it's just taxonomy

And I'm sure that as we learn more about other planetary systems we will find lots of examples that will defy our preconceptions of the planet/minor-planet categorization. It's the same way life doesn't organize itself into neat hierarchies (kingdom/phylum/class/order/family/genus/species) like it's some kind of OSI Network model. But it's kind of cool that astronomers have something to argue over just like the biologists.

[pokerfan]

10. Which is my point

We have a definition that has been tweaked jury rigged for our system. I expect that other systems will challenge our preconceptions because the fact remains that it's not in nature's nature to align itself into neat little hierarchies. Those are purely human constructs. It really is not much different than biologists arguing over whether a population of animals constitutes a genus or a separate species or even a sub-species. Which is why biology is abandoning the hierarchical model and moving towards cladistics.

[mucifer]

15. I think Crimsonblue was making a joke.

Sometimes it's a little hard to tell on the internet.

[DCKit]

16. Yeppers, but the long-winded arguments made it even funnier.

"OMG, somebody is wrong on the Internets!"

Thanks folks!

[Gruntled Old Man]

27. Eris and Makemake SHOULD be planets!

Sedna's too small.

[Rod Mollise]

19. Pluto was never there...

Every time more has been learned about Pluto, the less he's looked like the other planets of the Solar System. He went from being comparable to Earth in size, to far smaller. Then there was the indiscretion of his orbit. It's more eccentric than that of any of the other planets. More like the orbit of a comet...

I teach astronomy, and every semester this tends to come up. Questioning my students, I find they are generally upset about Pluto's "demotion" for two reasons:

1. They have fond memories of learning "the nine" in elementary school. You know: "Mercury...Venus..."

2. They tend to conflate this hellish little world with Disney's friendly cartoon dog.

Dr. Tyson is right about Pluto, and he's been right all along. Me? I'd be OK with grandfathering Pluto to major planet status so I won't have to hear about his plight anymore.

[Gruntled Old Man]

30. Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the IAU?

Degrade us, debase us, deny us, but Pluto will rise again!

[Motown_Johnny]

20. Pluto was never a planet to begin with

don't blame NDT for correcting the mistake

[Speck Tater]

2. You don't "explain" anything to a Republican.

You open your mouth and logical words come out, and you could swear you're making sense, but it doesn't "explain" a thing to the Republican who refuses to listen. If they won't hear what you're saying you can't explain jack shit to them.

[pokerfan]

6. AKA The Bubble

[JDPriestly]

9. Bill Maher means great show. Always, always, always. Thanks for posting.

[Johonny]

13. 50 year from now Republicans will blame Democrats for doing nothing to stop global warming

they would have acted but liberal scientist kept muddying the waters and could never reach a consensus.

A good Republican believes all these things at the same time
1)there is no consensus on global warming
2)there is a consensus but science isn't done by consensus
3)global warming is real but also a natural cycle
4)global warming is real and man made
5)global warming is real, man made but a good thing
6)global warming is too costly to do anything about
7)global warming isn't too costly to do anything about, but is too far away to spend money today on
8)global warming is a hoax to keep climate scientists rich
9)global warming is a crock of shit
10)future Republicans will just blame current democrats and scientist for the polluted world future generations will live in so fuck it oil companies keep them bribes flowing in.

A good Republican can work at least 7 of these concepts in the same incoherent global warming denial statement.

[Sanity Claws]

17. 50 years from now the Republicans won't exist

They will join the Whigs in the dustbin of history.

I sincerely doubt they will be around 15 years from now. Make that 16 years -- another 4 presidential election cycles.

[randome]

18. Look how quickly the USSR fell, catching everyone off guard.

We're working on Internet time now! The speed of their demise will surprise us all!

[joshcryer]

14. Tuning into this full show just for Tyson. He's been quiet on Twitter lately.

[muriel_volestrangler]

21. I tihnk the way to get through to Republican businessmen is to point them at reinsurers

The businesses whose whole existence depends on accurately forecasting future rates of extreme weather events.

According to present knowledge of physical processes in the climate system there is no known factor other than rising greenhouse gas concentrations which quantitatively explains the observed warming of recent decades.

All known natural factors influencing climate either act on longer time-scales (eg orbital parameters which cause ice age cycles on tens of thousands of years) or have not changed significantly over the last few decades (solar irradiance, cosmic ray flux, volcanic activity). There is no known natural factor whose recent evolution could explain the recent warming.

Current climate models are able to reproduce the climate of the past, but can only simulate the recent warming if the effect of anthropogenic greenhouse gases is taken into account. Natural factors alone would lead to a slight global cooling over the last decades.

In short then, the climate is warming at a rate and with specific effects which cannot be explained by purely natural means. Add the effects of man-made emissions based on solid physical knowledge and the explanation is powerful and convincing for the majority of climate scientists as represented by the IPCC.

http://www.swissre.com/rethinking/climate/climate_sceptics.html

From Munich Re's perspective, this year's world climate summit in Durban yielded disappointing results that fail to reflect the world climate's dramatic situation. "Durban has had the effect of postponing efficient climate protection even further. Another nine years will pass before binding reduction targets might come into force, and even then it is still very unclear how the reduction targets will finally turn out", says Prof. Peter Höppe, Head of Geo Risks Research at Munich Re. This was the outcome in spite of resolute negotiating efforts on the part of Germany and the European Union - efforts without which the summit would probably have yielded no results at all.

In order to limit global warming to a two-degree increase – the level at which it is thought to be still manageable, greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced from 2020 onward. Yet the Durban resolution fails to provide for a binding international climate agreement prior to 2020. And it is not certain how strict the agreement will be. Moreover, the compromise of extending the Kyoto Protocol is in Munich Re's assessment a step backward as Canada, Russia and Japan have already withdrawn from the protocol, so that it now covers only about 15% of global emissions. "Neither for the targets from 2020 onward nor for the second period of the Kyoto Protocol are there any commitments regarding CO2 reductions", says Prof. Höppe. CO2 emissions have been rising for years anyway, and global warming is tending to worsen the hazards of weather extremes. Munich Re is convinced that, along with other factors, climate change is already contributing to increasing losses due to weather catastrophes.

Even though in the run up to Durban the chances of achieving a binding agreement on global climate protection were believed to be virtually nil, it was still considered definitely possible to achieve progress at least in the secondary negotiations on the provision of adaptation aid to the countries hardest hit by climate change. Prof. Höppe continues: "That no substantial progress was made in developing specific adaptation projects is very disappointing". "Increasingly severe weather extremes resulting from climate change are having an especially negative impact on developing countries, which are unable to protect themselves adequately, but have done hardly anything to contribute to global warming."

http://www.munichre.com/en/media_relations/company_news/2011/2011-12-12_company_news.aspx

These are multi-billion dollar companies that have to get the best possible idea of future climate just to remain in business. They have no doubt that the science is conclusive - global warming and climate change are real, significant, and cause largely by humans.

Another way may be to point at what the Pentagon thinks - it's produced a series of reports about climate change, and they all acknowledge the strength of the science. But for someone who puts himself forward as a businessman, like Lutz, I think the opinions of the businesses most involved would be the most persuasive.

Having said that, Lutz came across as a dogmatist unwilling to listen to reason, so maybe it would do no good.

[renate]

26. that is a VERY interesting tactic

And a very good idea! Especially the part about business (since now that a Democrat is running the Department of Defense, climate-change deniers would probably just say that the Pentagon's projections are written by godless pinko commies.)

[pipi_k]

22. I just love him...

Admitted, in another thread, to having a crush on him.

[rusty fender]

23. Me too!

I lourve him!

[LongTomH]

24. Neil DeGrasse Tyson has inherited the late Carl Sagan's mantle as "Ambassador of Science."

A role he's filling admirably, along with Derrick Pitts of the Franklin Institute.

[Odin2005]

25. Tyson is awesome!

And people are still pissed about the demotion of Pluto?

[raouldukelives]

28. The denial is so overwhelming

And even when they do accept it is happening they still don't change anything they do that causes the most damage like investing in 401k's or