Good news for the environment

[GeorgiaDon 385]

Almost all measurements in science involve proxies. I have never seen (and will never see) a DNA molecule with my eyes alone, yet I can sequence whole genomes using technologies that measure light released as nucleotides are incorporated into the cDNA strand. I cannot see the position of atoms in a protein crystal, yet I can deduce the location of those atoms because of the way they diffract X-ray beams. Actually I can't see the X-rays either, I have to use another proxy (previously X-ray film, nowadays X-ray sensitive CCDs).

The planets Uranus and Neptune were discovered using a proxy, the effect of their gravitation on the motion of Jupiter and Saturn. Their location in space could be calculated with great accuracy based on the perturbation of Jupiter and Saturn's orbits, so Herschel knew exactly where to point his telescope.

Foraminiferans are great proxies for sea surface temperature in two ways. First, they are coiled, and the direction of coiling is sensitive to temperature, so in a large enough sample the relative proportions of left- and right-coiling individuals accurately reflects relative temperature. Secondly, the incorporation of oxygen isotopes into the shell is temperature dependent.

It's pretty fucking disingenuous of you to suggest that using "proxy data" is tantamount to "We'll manufacture some".

Don

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Tolerance is the cost we must pay for our adventure in liberty. (Dworkin, 1996)
“Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire.” (Yeats)

[billvon 3,132]

>Why do so many climate scientists view "I don't have observational data" and
>"Awesome! We'll manufacture some?"

Same way doctors can "manufacture" data about your heart's recent health by taking blood samples.

[turtlespeed 226]

billvon

>Why do so many climate scientists view "I don't have observational data" and
>"Awesome! We'll manufacture some?"

Same way doctors can "manufacture" data about your heart's recent health by taking blood samples.

So where is the ice age we are supposed to have?

I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama
BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun