Freeman Dyson

Unfortunately, my Dad and I had to be in Seattle for an appointment but Freeman Dyson swung through Bellingham yesterday and delivered a wonderful talk at the local University. The Bellingham Herald has the report:

Science can fix climate woes, author contends
Freeman Dyson tells students a wet Sahara once supported livestock herds

After branding himself a heretic, mathematician and physicist Freeman Dyson told a Fairhaven College audience that fears of global warming are overblown.

Dyson acknowledged that human activity is adding carbon dioxide to the Earth�s atmosphere, and that could raise its temperature. But he said he finds scientists� climate models unconvincing.

He also expressed confidence that the negative effects of global warming, if any, could be overcome, while some areas of the Earth would likely benefit from the change.

Six thousand years ago, Dyson said, glaciers in the Alps were much smaller than they are today, and the Sahara was wet enough to support herds of livestock.

�Increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will help to bring it (the Sahara) back,� Dyson said. �I�m not saying that particular heresy is true. I�m just saying it won�t do us any harm to think about it.�

He also cautioned that people may be kidding themselves if they imagine it is possible to stabilize the Earth�s climate.

�The biosphere was constantly changing in the past and it will be constantly changing in the future,� Dyson said. �The idea that we can put a stop to change is a dangerous illusion.�

He also contended that with proper management, the United States alone could create enough �biomass� � mainly carbon dioxide-absorbing plants � to absorb all the troublesome gas generated worldwide.

That might require the use of genetically engineered plants, Dyson said, acknowledging that his enthusiasm for genetic engineering would also be considered heretical among �naturalists.� He defined naturalists as those who believe that nature knows best, and natural processes such as plant genetics should be left alone.

He described himself as a humanist � one who believes that humans �have the right and the duty to reconstruct nature� for their own benefit and that of other species.

Just as computers transformed human existence in once-unimaginable ways, biotechnology could one day solve seemingly impossible problems.

�New species of termites could be engineered to chew up derelict cars instead of houses,� he said.

Much of the energy focused on global warming ought to be redirected to focus on what Dyson contended is humankind�s greatest challenge: poverty. Technology, including biotechnology, is the most likely strategy for lifting billions of people out of misery, he said.

A questioner asked him if his optimistic outlook accounted for the problem of human greed.

�The whole point of technology is, it gives more for people to share,� Dyson replied. �They can afford to be a little more generous.�

Another asked Dyson if he would be interested in debating Al Gore, the former vice president who has become the most prominent advocate of drastic action on global climate change.

�That would be fun,� Dyson replied.

The 82-year-old Dyson also admonished his mostly collegeage audience of about 200 to assume the challenge of advancing human progress, including the obligation to do heretical thinking.

�All our fashionable worries and all our prevailing dogmas will probably be obsolete in 50 years,� Dyson said.

Older heretics are limited in their effectiveness, Dyson said, because people often react with, �He�s lost his marbles.�

I had written about both Freeman and his son -- Bellingham resident and Kayak builder George here, here and here.