Studying the Effects of Global Warming

An Interview with Dr. Tony Haymet, Director of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography

LA JOLLA, Calif.—Dr. Tony Haymet is the director of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, as well as the Vice Chancellor for Marine Sciences, and the Dean of the Graduate School of Marine Sciences at UC San Diego. On Monday, June 15, Dr. Haymet shared his insights with The Epoch Times about global warming and some of the institution's current research.

Established more than 100 years ago, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography is one of the oldest and largest centers for marine science research. With approximately 1,300 scientists working on various aspects of Earth science, Scripps focuses a large percentage of its research on global warming and changes in the ocean and atmosphere.

"The discovery of CO2 increase was done by Dave Keeling here starting in 1958. Since that time we've been collecting data on climate change, and trying to explain to the international community and to politicians what that means for the planet Earth," said Haymet. "Of course, 46 years of that time has been pretty tough, but in the last two years things have gotten a bit easier."

Scripps is currently conducting several international research projects, including a study of changes in ocean temperature and research to determine the Earth's climate history, among others.

One project in particular is the international Indian Ocean Experiment, analyzing the climatic effects of aerosols produced in the Asian and Indian Subcontinent. The $25 million project has shown that aerosols are responsible for a three-fold reduction of sunlight reaching the surface of the Earth. "One of our professors has discovered that it's probably masking some of the true extent of global warming, as it's actually reflecting some of the heat back out into outer space," said Haymet.

Scripps is focusing its studies on three main areas. The first is documenting what the problems are. The second area of research is to see what can be done to stop pollution, including working on alternative fuels and energy sources. The third is educating the public and government officials in hopes of effecting change.

Haymet said, "We want to bring the science right up to the policy makers. Speak with people throughout the community and with politicians, and try to present what the current science is, so that they can be prepared for these issues."

Aside from the current research now being conducted, Haymet also spoke about some of the future projects he sees Scripps working on. One of them is a study of land borne ice sheets at risk of slipping into the ocean. Another will be researching the rising acidity of the ocean and its effects.

"I think that the ocean acidity is my personal worry. It's so simple, with chemistry that's just CO2 dissolving in water, but it has the potential to affect every living organism in the ocean," said Haymet. "I think we need to work out what the effect will be, then convince people that we shouldn't go there, and that we should stop emitting CO2 well before we would get anywhere near that point."

Haymet explained why he feels so little has been done to stop global warming. "There are places where the science community could have done better to de-politicize the issue. It's difficult because it's an issue that sort of strikes right at our developed economy. But thanks to people like Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Coalition of Western Governors, it's now become more of a bi-partisan issue."

According to Haymet, "CO2 has been this almost invisible villain. We'd all like for our economy to expand, we all like having warm homes or cool homes, but it's an inadvertent consequence of our developing such control over our environment."