Just how phony has the Nobel Prize become?

Question

A british high court has ruled that schools in England MUST have study guides to prevent "political indoctrination" when showing Al Gores' comedy "an Inconvenient truth" to school students. An Australian Think Tank has found so many outright lies in the film that they started a petition to have him stripped of his Oscar and likend it to an Olympic athlete getting caught with Steroids. National geographic just published an article about how Mars is warming at the exact same rate as Earth, CLEARLY defining any "Global warming" issue as Solar Activity" and having nothing to do with man. (Unless you still think Mars is populated) So shouldn't Big Al give back his Nobel? Hasn't the Nobel lost all credibility now, or did that happen when they gave one to the worst president in the history of the world, Jimmy Carter?

Answer 1

Yeah, It's like the "Liberal Man of the Year" award.

Al Gore is in good company though...

Like Jimmy Carter. What a joke!

and Yasar Arafat... A well known terrorist!!

Hoo-ray for worthless medals and awards!!

Answer 2

Not very, I don't think. I agree that Gore shouldn't have been awarded half of the prize (I definitely think the IPCC should have won their half, if not the whole thing) on the grounds that he tried to sex up the science behind global warming theory to make a political statement. But since, unlike the others, the Peace Prize is, fundamentally, a political, not a scientific, prize, I don't see any reason who he shouldn't have been allowed to win.

Of course, the "lies" your Australian Think Tank (this title alone should be throwing up enormous red flags for anyone who reads it) aren't actually lies. There are some inaccuracies and misrepresentations of the science in the film (and so I agree with the British Court's ruling in this case), but, as the Judge in the British ruling said, the overall science of the film is basically correct.

Also, National Geographic hasn't published any article about the sun being responsible for global warming since February, certainly not recent by any standards. You seem also to forget that they published a follow up story (see below in the sources) a couple months later, detailing how the warming on Mars and Earth where completely unrelated, and that changes in the sun very probably weren't the cause of the recent warming trend.

So to answer your final question, no, the Nobel Foundation has not lost its credibility. The Nobel Prizes for medicine, chemistry, and physics are still the most prestigious awards any scientist can receive in those fields of research, and the Peace Prize is, and remains, a political, not scientific, award.

Answer 3

Al Gore shares the award with the scientists who created the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) reports.

The Nobel Committee did recognize the very solid scientific work of the IPCC panel.

Yes, I agree that it was not appropriate for Al Gore to share in the award. By allowing Al Gore to share the award Al Gore has overshadowed the very good work of those scientists.

Unfortunately Al Gore engaged in the tactic of distorting some very good scientific work to create a startling story. That detracts from the very good scientific work of the IPCC.

Answer 4

"Insofar as global warming is likely to cause major problems and exacerbate or create conflicts over where people live and water supplies in particular, doing something to prevent that from happening is worthy of a peace prize," says John Shepherd, deputy director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research.

He adds that the move "represents a shift in the way peace is viewed by the Nobel committee, to a view that it is not just about reducing conflict but about creating the conditions for people to live peacefully together."

"In last years that there have been quite clear efforts to draw links between climate change and conflict, to show that climate change can exacerbate conflict by changing access to resources such as water, by promoting famine," Kirsty Hamilton, a sustainable energy expert at Chatham House, a foreign-policy think tank based in London, UK.

The Sun's energy output has not increased since direct measurements began in 1978. If increased solar output really was responsible, perhaps we should be seeing warming on all the planets and their moons, not just Mars and Pluto.

Our solar system has eight planets, three dwarf planets and quite a few moons with at least a rudimentary atmosphere, and thus a climate of sorts. Their climates will be affected by local factors such as orbital variations, changes in reflectance (albedo) and even volcanic eruptions, so it would not be surprising if several planets and moons turn out to be warming at any one time.

Answer 5

The judge said the film was correct. He rejected the plaintiffs request that the film be banned.

"I have no doubt that Dr Stott is right "Al Gore's presentation of the causes and likely effects of climate change in the film was broadly accurate."

"It is clear that the Defendant understandably formed the view that AIT was an outstanding film"

There were some relatively minor points the judge found inadequate proof for (not that they were wrong), and so he ordered that an appropriate statement be made. That's all.

Scientists agree.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2006-06-27-gore-science-truth_x.htm

Mars is warming for different reasons:

http://environment.newscientist.com/channel/earth/climate-change/dn11642

Note that Gore shares the Nobel with the IPCC. Together they deserve it, the IPCC for proving that global warming is real, and Gore for making that known to the world.

Great website for unbiased scientific information on global warming:

http://profend.com/global-warming/

Answer 6

When the Nobel prize was awarded to Soviet era dissidents, many people in the Soviet Union hated the award and felt it was phony, just as you do now.

1975 PEACE

Andrei Dmitreivich Sakharov, campaigner for human rights
Born: 1921 Died: 1989
Residence: USSR
Profession: Soviet nuclear physicist


1970 LITERATURE

Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsy ""for the ethical force with which he has pursued the indispensable traditions of Russian literature"
Born: 1918, Kislovodsk, Russia
Residence: USSR
Profession: Russian novelist and historian

.

Answer 7

Here's a suggestion.

Whether Al Gore wins a prize of not, whatever a Judge says or doesn't say, whatever an Australian think tank does or doesn't do makes no difference whatsoever to the science of global warming. Are skeptics so incapable of finding fault with the science that they're left with no option but to round on extraneous matters instead.

My suggestion - learn about your subject matter before passing comment on it and then you won't have to desperately go clutching at straws.

Answer 8

Al Gore loves Barney Frank

Answer 9

Craig; from your one way thoughts your opinions are a
little tinted.I think you should read more from both the right and the left and form opinions that You thought out not
qoute other peoples spin

Answer 10

It was only phony when Kissinger won the award.