IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - December 2017 - 23

OPINION

Joseph Carvalko

Appointment of
the Planet's Policy
Custodian

.S. President Donald
Trump's decision to
abandon the Paris
Agreement on cli-
mate may prove un-
wise, but this should not have come
as a surprise, since months earlier,
he appointed Scott Pruitt to run the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agen-
cy.1 Pruitt, by all accounts, believes
that global warming doesn't in -
volve human activity, such as coal
burning, driving, or deforestation.
Should we admire these men for
their skepticism? After all, for centu-
ries scientists have proposed count-
less theories, widely accepted at the
time, that were later proven false.
Perhaps they are privy to newly dis-
covered facts or explanations that
would lead to a plausible theory that
humankind isn't the driving force
behind global warming.
In a nutshell, global warming
theory begins with the observa-
tion that Earth has a natural sup-
ply of "greenhouse gases." These
capture heat, keeping the planet
warm, while allowing sunlight (rela-
tive shortwave energy) to reach
Earth unimpeded. But heat from the
planet also attempts to re-radiate
back into space through multiple
atmospheric layers. As radiation

PHOTO BY JEAN-BAPTISTE GURLIAT/MAIRIE DE PARIS.
U.S. GOVERNMENT/U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE - PUBLIC DOMAIN.

The Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France, is illuminated in green to celebrate the entry into
force of the Paris Agreement on November 4, 2016.
moves through the atmosphere on
its journey into space, molecules
in each layer absorb some portion.
Thus, extra molecules of rising carbon
dioxide (in our case caused by fossil
fuels and deforestation), captures a
bit of radiated energy as it bounces
around in one or more of the layers.
The more molecules we add and over-
heat, the less heat that escapes into
space, further warming the planet.2

The Senate confirmed Scott Pruitt ... to run
the Environmental Protection Agency, putting a
seasoned legal opponent of the agency at the
helm of President Trump's efforts to dismantle
major regulations on climate change and clean
water - and to cut the size and authority of the
government's environmental enforcer. Senators
voted 52 to 46 to confirm Mr. Pruitt, the Okla-
homa attorney general who has built a career
out of suing to block the E.P.A.'s major environ-
mental rules and has called for the dissolution
of much of the agency's authority [1].

Climatologists will have to evaluate the August 2017 weather patterns, which brought flooding through large
swaths of the world, to determine if they are a consequence of global warmings, but depending on their find-
ings, August may prove to be the tipping point when global warming imbeds itself into the consciousness of
the world community. More than 1,200 people were feared to have died, and 47 million were estimated to
having been affected by flooding in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Nigeria, and the United States. At least
21 people died when a building collapsed in Mumbai, in the midst of the heaviest rainfall in over 15 years. In
the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, more than 100 died, 3,097 villages were submerged, and almost 3 million
villagers adversely affected by floods. In the port city of Karachi, Pakistan, where streets were inundated, at
least 14 people died. Over 100,000 people fled their homes because of major flooding in the state of Benue
in Nigeria. When Hurricane Harvey bore down on the Texas coast, more than forty people died, 40,000 people
were displaced, and 100,000 homes were inundated, in what's been described as a 1000 year flood.

Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MTS.2017.2763444
Date of publication: 5 December 2017

DECEMBER 2017

Nearly every scientific discip-
line has been viewed at one time
or another with varying degrees of
skepticism. And why not? Science
isn't infallible. Reservation, skepti-
cism, and conjecture constitute the
heart of any system that advances
knowledge. In science this plays out
in self-critical assessments or peer
reviewed claims. Both are essential in
sustaining science's credibility and

∕

IEEE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY MAGAZINE

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - December 2017