Guest:  Dr. Benny Peiser; Topics: Science, global warming, the quality of the scientific debate, commercial space, satellites, and more.  Please direct all comments and questions regarding specific Space Show programs & guest(s) to the Space Show blog which is part of archived program on our website, www.thespaceshow.com.  Comments and questions should be relevant to the specific Space Show program. Written Transcripts of Space Show programs are a violation of our copyright and are not permitted without prior written consent, even if for your own use. We do not permit the commercial use of Space Show programs or any part thereof, nor do we permit editing, YouTube clips, or clips placed on other private channels & websites. Space Show programs can be quoted, but the quote must be cited or referenced using the proper citation format. Contact The Space Show for further information. In addition, please remember that your Amazon purchases can help support The Space Show/OGLF. See www.onegiantleapfoundation.org/amazon.htm.

We welcomed back Dr. Benny Peiser from the UK for this 69 minute one segment discussion on climate change issues, the use of space assets to study the climate, & the quality of scientific debate and openness in today's environment  Near the end of our program, we talked about UK and European commercial space activities plus the potential economic development through space commerce for the northern part of the UK.  Dr. Peiser started our discussion with some corrections to his out of date bio that I was using,  plus he discussed his organization and its purpose, the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF) which is in London.  Please check out their website and subscribe to their free newsletter.  Visit www.thegwpf.org for more information and to subscribe to their newsletter.  You can also reach Dr. Peiser through the GWPF website.

After the introduction to GWPF, I asked Dr. Peiser about recent Space Show programs addressing new space assets (satellites) to examine human introduction of CO2 in the atmosphere.  While Dr. Peiser confirmed the quality of the satellite information, he took issue with the conclusions offered by global warming alarmists.  This was both a detailed and extensive discussion so don't miss it as it underscores the position taken by what are typically called "skeptics" as compared to those promoting human caused global warming.  Let us know what you think by posting your comments about Dr. Peiser' s comments on TSS blog.

Dr. Peiser discussed the concept of an acceleration in the warming trend and why he was not in agreement with conclusions and action plans based on the assumptions being used to promote warming trends.  He said much more quality data was needed and repeated several times during the discussion that satellites and space resources provided the highest quality data for studying climate change issues.  

After spending a good portion of our 69 minute discussion on this subject, Dr. Peiser then focused on the lack of a factual and open scientific debate on the subject.  He addressed agendas, extremist intimidation and strategies not based on solid assumptions or realistic economics.  When I asked Dr. Peiser what his strategy would be for dealing with warming, he said he would pay attention to economics and until better data was available confirming alarmist warming trend views, he would focus on adaptation rather than carbon mitigation programs and regulation that often caused unnecessary expenses for people around the world in affording electricity and other basics needed for a modern society.

Several listeners asked email questions.  Larry from Boston wanted Benny's take on reports of manipulated data to help validate alarmist positions.  Don't miss Benny's response to Larry.  He was also asked about the recent statement by U.S. Attorney General Lynch on the possible investigation of those that are climate skeptics.  They helped support what Benny was saying about a decline in open scientific debate and the rise of political agendas and various forms of intimidation. 

Dr. Doug sent in an email inquiring about the correlation between global surface temperatures and solar cycle length.  As the program was ending, he got another question in just under the wire saying that in his opinion "when CO2 levels go up to half the 20th century rise (i.e. 50 parts-per-million) and if surface temperatures stay flat or even goes down, doesn't this seem like a reasonable point where the CO2 theory of global warming should be rejected?  By my calculation, at the current rate, this point would be met in about five years."  Absolutely do not miss what Dr. Peiser said in response to this final question.  Our guest did mention that we might be finding out, with better data, that the solar wind and cosmic rays play a larger role in Earth's climate and temperatures than the solar cycle.  At one point our guest said that it might take an additional 20-30 years to collect sufficient data to better understand our climate for effective policy management.

Kim called from Mexico with questions about warming tends.  Benny mentioned other warming trends throughout world history and said it was extremely to hard to determine a natural caused warming trend from a human caused warming trend and that was part of the problem with the assumption making and policy formation going on today.  Another listener asked about big gaps in data.  Dr. Peiser said ocean temperatures were the subject of the biggest gap in the data. 

I asked our guest why not act conservatively to protect the climate "just in case" the draconian predictions materialize.  Why would that not be the best course of action to take to protect the planet.  His reply compared this question to the risk of being hit by an incoming asteroid.  He took us through both the risk analysis and economics for planetary defense strategies.  In the end, he said the best policy was for now to develop adaptation strategies.  Don't miss all of what he had to say on this subject. 

Near the end of our discussion, I switched the topic to commercial space development in the UK and Europe.  Benny saw commercial space with private sector investment and entrepreneurs as the way forward for developing space.  He was not keen on government space programs taking us into the future.  I also asked about the economic development of the Northern UK per our recent Space Show on that subject.

Please post your comments/questions on TSS blog which is part of this archived show on our website.  You can reach Dr. Peiser through his website or me at drspace@thespaceshow.com.