Chris Walcek Interview
Shane McFalls
Issue date: 5/5/07 Section: Climate change
So people were predicting that ice-age stuff until the temperatures started changing and beginning to go up again. So now we've got a situation where the global average temperatures are rising a little bit and the Co2 is going up, and everybody is looking at those two together saying they must be related. And this has only happened in the past 20 years, that's why I think there has been so much excitement about it.
There has been a lot of controversy over the documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" starring Al Gore. Have you seen it?
Yes, I've seen it. I gave a talk at Genesee Community College providing a rebuttal after they showed the movie. I believe Al Gore has done his homework very well, but he has exaggerated a few things. A lot of the imagery like hurricanes and tornados. And as far as tornados go, there is no evidence at all that tornados are affected. And a recent committee of scientists concluded that there isn't a strong correlation between climate change and hurricane intensity. A lot of people are saying we're going to see more Katrina's and there's just not much evidence of that. We have had strong hurricanes throughout the last hundred years and we're probably going to have strong hurricanes once in a while.
Theoretically speaking and assuming global warming does exist, what are some things, at a national level that this country needs to adapt to or change in regards to combatting the problem?
You really can't do anything about global warming. All of the things that are being proposed; increased car standards, use of florescent bulbs, switching to wind and solar, all of those things, look at how much carbon dioxide they save, it's very very small compared to what we need to do. What we need to do to stop global warming is to stop burning fossil fuels. Literally stop, you can't turn on a light switch anymore, you can't drive a car anymore, you can't fly a plane anymore, you can't heat your home anymore. All of those things cause global warming, and nobody is going to make that sacrifice. Is Al Gore willing to give that up? That to me is the really big problem. The little things are all good things to do, but they don't stop global warming.
Are there visible signs of climate change exhibited here in Albany?
We tend to see huge amounts of fluctuations here in Albany, even though over the last fifty years the average temperature in Albany has gotten a little bit warmer. The amount of warming is very small compared to the year to year changes. What's interesting is that the number of hot days are going down, the hottest days in August are actually getting cooler in Albany.
Global warming here in Albany has warmer winters on average, the coldest Januarys are getting warmer. When a lot of people think about global warming, they think of the sweltering afternoons in Augusts, and those afternoons are going away here. It is the night time minimums that are getting warmer. At night the outside temperatures are getting warmer at night.
There has been a lot of controversy over the documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" starring Al Gore. Have you seen it?
Yes, I've seen it. I gave a talk at Genesee Community College providing a rebuttal after they showed the movie. I believe Al Gore has done his homework very well, but he has exaggerated a few things. A lot of the imagery like hurricanes and tornados. And as far as tornados go, there is no evidence at all that tornados are affected. And a recent committee of scientists concluded that there isn't a strong correlation between climate change and hurricane intensity. A lot of people are saying we're going to see more Katrina's and there's just not much evidence of that. We have had strong hurricanes throughout the last hundred years and we're probably going to have strong hurricanes once in a while.
Theoretically speaking and assuming global warming does exist, what are some things, at a national level that this country needs to adapt to or change in regards to combatting the problem?
You really can't do anything about global warming. All of the things that are being proposed; increased car standards, use of florescent bulbs, switching to wind and solar, all of those things, look at how much carbon dioxide they save, it's very very small compared to what we need to do. What we need to do to stop global warming is to stop burning fossil fuels. Literally stop, you can't turn on a light switch anymore, you can't drive a car anymore, you can't fly a plane anymore, you can't heat your home anymore. All of those things cause global warming, and nobody is going to make that sacrifice. Is Al Gore willing to give that up? That to me is the really big problem. The little things are all good things to do, but they don't stop global warming.
Are there visible signs of climate change exhibited here in Albany?
We tend to see huge amounts of fluctuations here in Albany, even though over the last fifty years the average temperature in Albany has gotten a little bit warmer. The amount of warming is very small compared to the year to year changes. What's interesting is that the number of hot days are going down, the hottest days in August are actually getting cooler in Albany.
Global warming here in Albany has warmer winters on average, the coldest Januarys are getting warmer. When a lot of people think about global warming, they think of the sweltering afternoons in Augusts, and those afternoons are going away here. It is the night time minimums that are getting warmer. At night the outside temperatures are getting warmer at night.