Somehow this came across my feed, Senate Testimony before the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Hazardous Wastes and Toxic Substances, chaired by Minnesota Republican David Durenberger, and held on December 10, 1985.
Hard to remember that there was a sane Republican Party at one time.
Anyway, among the Witnesses was was Carl Sagan, and I’ll post that at the bottom of this.
What’s interesting here that I had not seen before is the testimony of Syukuro Manabe, one of the true pioneers of atmospheric modeling, who won a Nobel for his contributions to that science.
While it is frustrating for those of us deeply involved in these matters to hear voices from 40 years ago sounding such a clear and urgent warning, it is important that new generations be continually reminded of the long-term nature of the climate denial enterprise, and, as is so clear from watching the tenor and tone of the hearing in total, how toxic the war on science and fact has been on the world’s greatest deliberative bodies.
Underlining that, at the very beginning of this hearing, Republican Durenberger offered time to his newly elected Democratic colleague, Al Gore, who had already established a lengthy record of statements, concern, and legislative hearings on this issue. The contrast with today’s accepted behavior is sobering.
See Mr Gore’s remarks below.
David Ferdinand Durenberger (August 19, 1934 – January 31, 2023) was an American politician and attorney. Durenberger represented Minnesota in the United States Senate as a Republican from 1978 to 1995. He left the Republican Party in 2005 and became a critic of it, endorsing Democratic presidential nominees Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden in 2016 and 2020, respectively.[1][2]
Syukuro “Suki” Manabe (真鍋 淑郎, Manabe Shukurō, born 21 September 1931)is a Japanese-American meteorologist and climatologist who pioneered the use of computers to simulate global climate change and natural climate variations. He was awarded the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physics jointly with Klaus Hasselmann and Giorgio Parisi, for his contributions to the physical modeling of earth’s climate, quantifying its variability, and predictions of climate change.
Below,, from Zeke Hausfather, a comparison of the various computer model projections of climate warming, including Manabe’s, dating from the 1970s, with actual observations in the bold black line.
Clear evidence of the overwhelming, uncanny accuracy of climate models and the deep understanding scientists have had for half a century.
Below, Senator Gore’s testimony.
and in case anyone was wondering, here is Carl Sagan in the same hearing.
Wow! A US senator speaking civilly to a scientist followed by a scientist being allowed to speak without interruption. We were living in a golden age back then but did not know it.