Redwood Reader

160. Science and the End Times
Today as Rita churns across the Gulf we are counting on the accuracy of our science in the guise of meteorology to warn us about the looming threat. We can all see the pictures on NWS websites or TV. I often make my own weather predictions based on TV weather. We all see the pattern but the actual paths are guesswork, based on most likely outcomes. When it comes to life and death, or leaving everything behind to evacuate, it really becomes necessary to have full authority of science backing up legal concerns, because you are putting a lot of people and property at risk.
Governments set their agendas to scarce funding resources. Government officials who got their jobs because groups of people contributed funds owe allegiance to those who put them there. The people in power then act in ways compatible with their backers, which may or may not be in the general publics interest. Since the public is concerned with growing the economy, it is up to the government to find and set limits by funding and recognizing the contributions of science, the only way to predict and interpret results of our activities. So the people are counting on the government to protect them from themselves, knowing the species will maintain constant pressure on any resource found useful, legally or not.
Two years ago federal agencies were blasted for not sharing information or recognizing each others work. This was only a small example of what has been occurring over the last five years. A steady stream of poor studies erodes previous scientific evidence that was generally accepted. We have no problem with science changing as new information comes to light- this is the scientific process. It fails when it authors jump to conclusions radically different from the common knowledge based on poorly planned studies, peer reviewers are discounted, is tested against economic means, or is politically distasteful.
This debate is seen in today’s papers in a commentary article in the LA Times today titled Bush And The Mad Scientists by Chris Mooney of Seed magazine writing about the Plan B contraception failing to gain over the counter status, the new market based fisheries policy, the failure to recognize natural disasters as a large a threat as terrorism, the debate over carbon emissions and environmental change, control over the supply of food seed and its quality, relaxing the roadless rule and federal failure to continue to protect clean air and clean water or people in known risk areas. The current administration has challenged the scientific community in all of these areas, mostly on an economic basis. “Perfectly safe, absolutely harmless” for their products and concerns; unproven, too costly or wrong in the eyes of God in anything standing in the way. But they are counting on science to lead them back to the moon “on a shoestring.”
When I was growing up, the background threat of nuclear war was an important part of thinking. Science could make the world slightly better or very much worse. Science was out to prove itself with space exploration and cures for many of the infectious diseases in the world. Sometime in the sixties serious threat of nuclear war seemed to dissipate, and recognition of dwindling resources for a booming population came into view. Since we no longer feared devastation from a single source like a Soviet ICBM attack, we started being interested in life issues again, and the environment became an important focus of study.
Memories of air armada campaigns meant civil defense was an important component of readiness, and I remember the public announcements saying the yellow and black air raid shelter signs on many buildings with basements meant they were available for many kinds of disasters. I often wonder what became of civil defense. It might be a good idea to restore local networks of volunteers ready to react in any emergency, to do the things relief and emergency groups need time to organize. I would include planned shelter or distribution points so folks know where to go.
In the book Celtic Wisdom an old poet is questioned about the end times. The description is much scarier than Revelations could ever be, because it tells us we are the cause of the end times, and not the victims, and ego is a big part of the problem. The description is of every person having an equal voice, reason and insanity inseparable; fools, cynics and satirists are equal to statesmen and leaders, all utterances bear equal weight and the ability to discriminate lost. That’s enough to set the stage for any number of catastrophic events.
So it is I find myself with a possibly important discovery that lies outside the accepted norm. I only know about it from peer reviewed science published as articles in the popular press, but it ties together a lot of previously published information into an explanation of what I was seeing on the ground. Last week I wrote about the problems with the Soil Organic Carbon studies in England and Wales pointing out the loss as soil carbon due to glomalin destruction caused by machinery. CO2 Science magazine pointed out its failures in other ways. Similarly, the Scientific American article on forest soil carbon sequestration totally ignores glomalin deposition as a product of tree productivity, and is also ripped by CO2 Science for other weaknesses in the setup and the study. So I continue to concur with CO2 Science despite the fact they seem to be taking a long time recognizing the importance of glomalin in forest productivity studies. It must be included at the outset.
Somehow the country must be convinced science is not malleable to the wishes of industry or the economy or even the citizens. We cannot say science is absolute because it is based on a continuing inquiry that is in constant state of rediscovery. Nevertheless, it is possible to make an argument seem like good science when it fits the stated needs, and takes other scientists to poke holes in it. Throwing out good science because it contradicts our preplanned position is not in the best interests of our country, its resources or its people.