Research Fellow H. Sterling Burnett (for the National Center for Policy Analysis) interviews Jim Steele, ecologist, director emeritus of the Sierra Nevada field campus of San Francisco State University
______________________________________________
Mr. Jim Steele: "And we trust the scientific theory because its been fairly tested by others - the theory must out perform all alternate explanations, eliminate confounding factors plus lively debate. But, what I was finding was the scientific process was being defiled when scientists refused to debate in public. ... and any attempt to prevent that debate, in our schools, in the media, in peer reviewed science, it's only denigrating the scientific process. ... And I think those public debates would help create real climate literacy …"
Well then Mr. Steele, let's have our Great Global Warming Science Debate. I will accept these responses from your Heartland Institute podcast as your opening round. I'll offer my rebuttals, evidence and questions. I agree to post your thoughtful responses unaltered. (Though it is looking like you're going to do your best to hide and ignore these critiques of your self-certain claims. Your silence will serve to expose your hypocrisy and inability to defend your statements on an even playing field.)
In this sixth installment I'll debate your 'moose' claims which offers some insights into how you jump around to select and censor the information you share with your public. Along with that I'll look at your unfounded hostility towards the National Wildlife Federation and how you misrepresent what they say.
______________________________________
"How should society contend with those who knowingly disseminate misinformation about climate science?" Lawrence Torcello
______________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
Heartland Burnett: Let me ask you this: What first brought you to my attention was your discussion of the Moose decline. Marketing material by the National Wildlife Federation and the Audubon Society were linking global warming to declining moose populations particularly in Northern Minnesota - What did you find that undermined those claims?~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Notice not for a moment is Burnett curious about how global warming might be linked to declining moose. The issue is nothing more than another word game to win, couldn't care less about what's actually happening out there in the backcountry.
The Deepening Mystery of Moose Decline
Biologists are having a hard time pinning down the cause of a moose decline that imperils the species’ survival in several states
09-29-2014 // By John Carey
"To some researchers, however, one cause looms largest—Parelaphostrongylus tenuis, or brain worm. "
Historically, deep winter snow kept deer out of moose country, so the animals didn’t mix much. But a series of warm winters, like those the Northeast and Midwest have experienced recently, can allow deer—and brain worms—to move north into the boreal forest. It has happened before, Lankester believes, causing moose populations to crash in the 1940s and 1950s in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Minnesota ...
The leading threat in New Hampshire, where the moose population has declined as much as 40 percent in some areas during the past three years, seems to be the winter tick. ...
It could get even sadder. Both the brain worm and the tick problems are expected to get worse as global climate continues to warm. Milder winters with less snow cover enable more deer to move into moose habitat. And little or no snow in spring, when engorged adult ticks fall off moose to lay eggs, boosts tick survival. ...
Giving Moose a Boost
Wildlife managers also have other levers to pull to give moose a boost. They can reduce the white-tailed deer population in some areas or create more browse and prime moose habitat by cutting openings in the forest. In the late 1970s, for instance, the spruce budworm, a native species that experiences periodic outbreaks as part of a natural cycle, cut a devastating swath through Maine’s forest, and timber companies stepped up logging to salvage the timber. “That created moose nirvana,” Pekins says. “A population explosion of moose swept out of Maine into New Hampshire, Vermont and even a little bit of Massachusetts.” It could happen again. Another spruce budworm infestation is knocking on Maine’s northern door. “Maybe this is how we will grow more moose again.”
And so the mystery of the disappearing moose will not come to a simple conclusion. The moose’s prospects depend on complex and interacting ecological factors and relationships, and the animal’s numbers will rise and fall as those factors evolve. With climate change bringing increasingly mild winters, the species could disappear in some regions, wiped out by a triple whammy of parasites, pests and predators. But this massive symbol of the North Woods likely will continue to survive, even thrive, in other regions—and the new research will lay the groundwork for making that happen.
___________________________________Steele: Well every ecologist,
