[asa] Hansen's Former NASA Supervisor Says Climate Fears "Embarrassed NASA"

Item of interest to some.
Lynn
*BREAKING: Hansen's Form**er NASA Supervisor Declares Himself a Skeptic -
Says Climate Fears "Embarrassed NASA"
Wednesday, January 28, 2009* Weblink to
Report<http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Minority.Blogs&ContentRecord_id=1a5e6e32-802a-23ad-40ed-ecd53cd3d320>

James Hansen's Former NASA Supervisor Declares Himself a Skeptic

Says Hansen "Embarrassed NASA" & "Was Never Muzzled" Gore Faces Scientific
Blowback

[ See: Senator Inhofe?s YouTube Clip on Hansen?s former
supervisor<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAgN3jYgX4w>]

*Washington DC:* NASA warming scientist James Hansen, one of former Vice
President Al Gore?s closest allies in the promotion of man-made global
warming fears, is being publicly rebuked by his former supervisor at NASA.

Retired senior NASA atmospheric scientist Dr. John S. Theon, the former
supervisor of James Hansen, NASA?s vocal man-made global warming fears
soothsayer, has now publicly declared himself a skeptic and declared that
Hansen ?embarrassed NASA? with his alarming climate claims and said Hansen
was ?was never muzzled.? ..

?I appreciate the opportunity to add my name to those who disagree that
global warming is man-made,? Theon wrote to the Minority Office at the
Environment and Public Works Committee on January 15, 2009. ?I was, in
effect, Hansen's supervisor because I had to justify his funding, allocate
his resources, and evaluate his results. I did not have the authority to
give him his annual performance evaluation,? *Theon, the former Chief of the
Climate Processes Research Program at NASA Headquarters and former Chief of
the Atmospheric Dynamics & Radiation Branch
explained<http://ams.allenpress.com/perlserv/?request=get-abstract&doi=10.1175%2F0065-9401(2003)029%3C0175%3ACMVOTE%3E2.0.CO%3B2&ct=1>
*. *[Note: Theon's complete written correspondence to EPW reprinted at the
end of this report] *

?Hansen was never muzzled even though he violated NASA's official agency
position on climate forecasting (i.e., we did not know enough to forecast
climate change or mankind's effect on it). Hansen thus embarrassed NASA by
coming out with his claims of global warming in 1988 in his testimony before
Congress,? Theon wrote. [*Note: NASA scientist James Hansen who runs NASA's
Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) has created worldwide media
frenzy with his dire climate warnings, his call for trials against those who
dissent against man-made global warming fear, and his claims that he was
allegedly muzzled by the Bush administration despite doing 1,400 on-the-job
media interviews<http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Minority.Blogs&ContentRecord_id=B6A8BAA3-802A-23AD-4650-CB6A01303A65>
.*

Theon declared ?climate models are useless.? ?My own belief concerning
anthropogenic climate change is that the models do not realistically
simulate the climate system because there are many very important sub-grid
scale processes that the models either replicate poorly or completely omit,?
Theon explained. ?Furthermore, some scientists have manipulated the observed
data to justify their model results. In doing so, they neither explain what
they have modified in the observations, nor explain how they did it. They
have resisted making their work transparent so that it can be replicated
independently by other scientists. This is clearly contrary to how science
should be done. Thus there is no rational justification for using climate
model forecasts to determine public policy,? he added.

?As Chief of several of NASA Headquarters? programs (1982-94), an SES
position, I was responsible for all weather and climate research in the
entire agency, including the research work by James Hansen, Roy Spencer,
Joanne Simpson, and several hundred other scientists at NASA field centers,
in academia, and in the private sector who worked on climate research,?
Theon wrote of his career. ?This required a thorough understanding of the
state of the science. I have kept up with climate science since retiring by
reading books and journal articles,? Theon added.
(*LINK<http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn204432>
*) Theon also co-authored the book *Advances in Remote Sensing Retrieval
Methods<http://www.amazon.com/Rsrm-Eighty-Seven-Retrieval-Geophysical/dp/0937194131/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233093287&sr=1-3>
.<http://www.amazon.com/Rsrm-Eighty-Seven-Retrieval-Geophysical/dp/0937194131/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233093287&sr=1-3>
*

*Hansen 'is a political activist who spreads fear'*

Award-winning NASA Astronaut and *Physicist Walter Cunningham of NASA?s
Apollo 7 also recently chastised
Hansen<http://launchmagonline.com/walt-cunninghams-viewpoint/64-in-science-ignorance-is-not-bliss>
*. ?Hansen is a political activist who spreads fear even when NASA?s own
data contradict him,? Cunningham wrote in an essay in the July/August 2008
issue of Launch Magazine. ?NASA should be at the forefront in the collection
of scientific evidence and debunking the current hysteria over human-caused,
or Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW). Unfortunately, it is becoming just
another agency caught up in the politics of global warming, or worse,
politicized science,? Cunningham wrote.

 Gore faces a much different scientific climate in 2009 than the one he
faced in 2006 when his film* An Inconvenient Truth* was released. According
to satellite data, the *Earth has cooled
since<http://www.drroyspencer.com/latest-global-temperatures/>
* Gore?s film was released, Antarctic sea ice extent has grown to record
levels, sea level rise has slowed, ocean temperatures have failed to warm,
and more and more scientists have publicly declared their dissent from
man-made climate fears as peer-reviewed studies continue to man-made counter
warming fears.* [See: Peer-Reviewed Study challenges 'notion that human
emissions are responsible for global
warming'<http://www.spacedaily.com/2006/090112183735.ojdq7esu.html>
* & *New Peer-Reviewed Scientific Studies Chill Global Warming
Fears<http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Minority.Blogs&ContentRecord_id=84E9E44A-802A-23AD-493A-B35D0842FED8>
* ]
[...]

Theon's complete written correspondence to EPW reprinted below:

-----Original Message-----
From: Jtheon [mailto:jtheon@XXXXXXX <jtheon@XXXXXXX>]
Sent: Thursday, January 15, 2009 10:05 PM
To: Morano, Marc (EPW)

Subject: Climate models are useless

Marc, First, I sent several e-mails to you with an error in the address and
they have been returned to me. So I'm resending them in one combined
e-mail.

Yes, one could say that I was, in effect, Hansen?s supervisor because I had
to justify his funding, allocate his resources, and evaluate his results. I
did not have the authority to give him his annual performance evaluation. He
was never muzzled even though he violated NASA?s official agency position on
climate forecasting (i.e., we did not know enough to forecast climate change
or mankind's effect on it). He thus embarrassed NASA by coming out with his
claims of global warming in 1988 in his testimony before Congress.

My own belief concerning anthropogenic climate change is that the models do
not realistically simulate the climate system because there are many very
important sub-grid scale processes that the models either replicate poorly
or completely omit. Furthermore, some scientists have manipulated the
observed data to justify their model results. In doing so, they neither
explain what they have modified in the observations, nor explain how they
did it. They have resisted making their work transparent so that it can be
replicated independently by other scientists. This is clearly contrary to
how science should be done. Thus there is no rational justification for
using climate model forecasts to determine public policy.

With best wishes, John

# #

From: Jtheon [mailto:jtheon@XXXXXX <jtheon@XXXXXX>]
Sent: Tuesday, January 13, 2009 12:50 PM
To: Morano, Marc (EPW)

Subject: Re: Nice seeing you

Marc, Indeed, it was a pleasure to see you again. I appreciate the
opportunity to add my name to those who disagree that Global Warming is man
made. A brief bio follows. Use as much or as little of it as you wish.

John S. Theon Education: B.S. Aero. Engr. (1953-57); Aerodynamicist, Douglas
Aircraft Co. (1957-58); As USAF Reserve Officer (1958-60),B.S. Meteorology
(1959); Served as Weather Officer 1959-60; M.S, Meteorology (1960-62); NASA
Research Scientist, Goddard Space Flight Ctr. (1962-74); Head Meteorology
Branch, GSFC (1974-76); Asst. Chief, Lab. for Atmos. Sciences, GSFC
(1977-78); Program Scientist, NASA Global Weather Research Program, NASA
Hq. (1978-82); Chief, Atmospheric Dynamics & Radiation Branch NASA Hq.,
(1982-91); Ph.D., Engr. Science & Mech.: course of study and dissertation
in atmos. science (1983-85); Chief, Atmospheric Dynamics, Radiation, &
Hydrology Branch, NASA Hq. (1991-93); Chief, Climate Processes Research
Program, NASA Hq. (1993-94); Senior Scientist, Mission to Planet Earth
Office, NASA Hq. (1994-95); Science Consultant, Institute for Global
Environmental Strategies (1995-99); Science Consultant Orbital Sciences
Corp. (1996-97) and NASA Jet Propulsion Lab., (1997-99).

As Chief of several NASA Hq. Programs (1982-94), an SES position, I was
responsible for all weather and climate research in the entire agency,
including the research work by James Hansen, Roy Spencer, Joanne Simpson,
and several hundred other scientists at NASA field centers, in academia, and
in the private sector who worked on climate research. This required a
thorough understanding of the state of the science. I have kept up with
climate science since retiring by reading books and journal articles. I
hope that this is helpful.

Best wishes, John

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Received on Wed Jan 28 11:29:48 2009