In an Op-ed in the July 9 issue of Space News former astronaut Walter Cunningham (Apollo 7) claimed that "realists" are making progress in debunking scientific findings that Earth's climate is changing as a result of human activity.
UPDATE: The letter was published in the July 16 issue of Space News.
To the Editor, SPACE NEWS
Upon reading Walter Cunningham's article (Space News, July 9, 2012), my
observation is that he comes across as a skeptic, not a realist. As a
purported realist, it would be helpful to know what kind of realist:
naive? direct? representative? critical? epistemological? objective?
hyper-transcendental? Platonic? scientific? There are so many kinds of
realists. I observe also that a letter to the NASA Administrator from
fifty former NASA employees ought not to carry any more weight than
fifty letters from farmers, builders or clam diggers, though it seems to
be intended to carry extra weight. So hard to get across is that large
scale release of sequestered carbon is a major event, and major events
always have major consequences. Were Cunningham on the beach facing a
tsunami, he would probably run like hell. A slow tsunami? Well hold on
now. Maybe it's not a real tsunami. As someone who had the extreme
privilege of observing this fragile planet from space, it is puzzling
that Walter Cunningham has sided with those who choose to remain both
uninformed and unconvinced.
Sincerely,
Ed Hujsak
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