1 - About the decline of natural sciences in the land of poets and thinkers - UW

Link: https://klimanachrichten.de/2023/12/20/vom-niedergang-dernaturwissenschaften-im-land-der-dichter-und-denker/ Please see link above for source text.

About the decline of natural sciences in the land of poets and thinkers December 20, 2023 by Climate News Editor On the decline of natural sciences in the land of poets and thinkers: An open letter to the German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina

by Uli Weber Prologue: It has been increasingly strange to me for some time now that the media and politicians lament page after page about their self-made division in our society, while personalities and institutions with the necessary socio-political reputation and reach for clear public demands to cease and desist in this regard remain in deep silence or even actively 1

promote such a division transport. And when you read or hear somewhere in the so-called quality media that “researchers recommend” or “researchers demand”, then I spontaneously think of well-fed opportunity frogs who, in return for public recognition and economic security, missionary support any socio-political goal, even to the point of drying up a long known swamp through consistent expansion of it. One could also think of highly moral planning science, honestly paid for with compulsory contributions and tax money, which brings Orwellian new thinking to the public with arguments like, “It’s getting warmer because it’s getting colder.”

Leopoldina coat of arms above entrance door (detail) Author: Barnos, License: CC Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International Is this still science or can it go away?

With the National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, founded in 1652, our country has the oldest continuously existing scientific and medical academy in the world, which counts members such as Marie Curie, Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Alexander von Humboldt, Justus von Liebig and Max Planck can be called upon. The Leopoldina and its members accompanied our country through the phase of the 2

Enlightenment with its scientific and socio-political development towards a modern state structure.

Nothing could therefore be more obvious than to demand a public sociopolitical commitment from the venerable Leopoldina Academy to adhere to the democratic and scientific rules of the game in socio-political discourse with those who think differently. I had implicitly put such a demand into three questions, the history of which I believe I have adequately described there, and sent it as an email to the press and public relations department of the German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina e.V. - National Academy of Sciences on November 14th, 2023 had, cc. to the affected departments of the Leopoldina and bcc. to two scientists who were personally attacked by the UBA. I had initially noted a month as the target date for an answer, but I said I was open to any reasonable appointment.

Well, what can I say, on December 15th, 2023 I had neither an answer nor an alternative date suggested by the Leopoldina. I therefore take the liberty of publishing the slightly summarized text of my email from November 14th, 2023 with a current addendum as an open letter to the German Academy of Natural Sciences Leopoldina: Open letter To the German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina – National Academy of Sciences Ladies and Gentlemen Allow me to briefly introduce myself, I am a geoscientist and science writer and am currently researching a book project with the working title “The Decline of Natural Sciences in the Land of Poets and Thinkers”.

It was only through the commendable educational work during the Corona pandemic that I found out that the Leopoldina had been named the National Academy of Sciences in Germany in 2008. I later read with interest from your mission statement, quote: “The Leopoldina advocates the freedom and appreciation of science. It contributes to a scientifically enlightened society and the responsible 3

application of scientific knowledge for the benefit of people and nature.”

The Leopoldina is an absolute heavyweight in the German scientific landscape and is not only heard by the public, but also sets the trend for the formation of public opinion in our country.

With reference to your mission statement, I formulated three questions for the experts in your specialist sections/standing committee: 1. Department of Philosophy of Science: Very strange ideas about the natural sciences have been spread in media communication for some time now. For example, there is a type of consensus science in which only deniers and swearers would step out of line and have to be silenced.

Even state institutions are making a deeper effort to support this fairy tale spread by the media and to position it against critical scientists. For example, in a publication entitled “And it's warming up,” the Federal Environment Agency not only emphasized a “consensus” in climate research (p. 97), but, to single out just two personalities critical of consensus, Prof. Dr. Vahrenholt and Dr. habil. Lüning is described as a “climate change skeptic” and an individual who is not an expert (p.111). But if we now look at which courses the German Climate Consortium recommends as climate courses, then among the 14 courses you will also find chemistry (Vahrenholt) and geology (Lüning). The history of science also provides many examples of how the so-called consensus of a scientific mainstream can block the further development of this discipline for decades; Semmelweis (medical hygiene), Fuhlrott (Neanderthals) and Wegener (continental drift) should be remembered here.

My first question to the Leopoldina experts was: What has the National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina done to counteract the incorrectly conveyed impression among the German public that there can ever be a long-term, stable consensus on any scientific doctrine in the natural sciences?

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2. Geosciences Department on the topic of climate research: In your fact sheet on climate change it says on page 6 under the graphic “CO ₂ content of the atmosphere over the last 800,000 years”, quote: “In the last 800,000 years, the proportion of CO₂ has never been as high as it is today.”

Under the heading “The atmospheric concentration of CO2 is higher today than at any time in the last 800,000 years,” the first bullet says, quote: “The CO2 content of the atmosphere (and thus the climate) has changed significantly over the course of Earth’s history.”

My second question to the Leopoldina experts was: What concrete, verifiable scientific findings does the National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina have available to establish such a direct connection between the CO2 content of the atmosphere and the paleoclimate?

3. The Standing Committee of the National Academy of Sciences: The terms of reference of the Standing Committee state, quote: “Since its appointment as the National Academy of Sciences on July 14, 2008, the Leopoldina has increasingly taken on the task of science-based social and political advice. She works closely with the German Academy of Engineering Sciences acatech and the Union of German Academies of Sciences. For this cooperation, the Leopoldina has set up a standing committee chaired by its president.”

The fact sheet on climate change already mentioned under point 2 represents highly alarmist positions on so-called “man-made climate change” and mainly refers to third-party quotations. The German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina, founded in 1652, is the oldest continuously existing scientific and medical academy in the world and counts members such as Marie Curie, Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Alexander von Humboldt, Justus von Liebig and Max Planck.The Leopoldina has supported our country through the 5

phase of the Enlightenment with its development towards a scientific and democratic world view. And today the same venerable Leopoldina uses the shrill colors of the media climate alarm, instead of using her own experts to provide a serious scientific basis for a controlled transition into one to create a new resource-saving age?

My third question to the Leopoldina Standing Committee was: Which valid climate models has the Leopoldina developed/supported in order to provide scientific advice on the politically planned conversion of national/global energy production to solar radiation and wind energy, i.e. the generation of energy from our earth's natural climate drive, and to safely avoid a resulting man-made climate catastrophe?

I had intended to quote your experts' answers in my above-mentioned book project and/or in a popular science article.

Unfortunately, I did not receive a response from Leopoldina experts to my request from November 14, 2023. Even a venerable scientific academy, with its high socio-political and scientific standards, apparently feels more committed to the political-ideological “climate emergency” than to its independent scientific principles or to communication with climate science heretics. The division in our society is caused by the failure of its scientific institutions and the question arises as to what level of social appreciation such institutions intend to acquire from a historical perspective.

The freedom of science and teaching is an idealized wish that more or less collides with lived reality and has to be achieved again and again. On the Leopoldina's website you can find out how extensively this freedom is shaped by the tension between the civil courage of the respective scientific establishment and the will of those in political power. With this in mind, perhaps the Leopoldina should be sincere enough not to publicly refer to members such as Marie Curie, Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Alexander von Humboldt, Justus von Liebig and Max Planck as long as they are not is willing or able to emancipate itself from being captured by the climate policy mainstream. Because the scientists you choose to rely on were not insignificant followers of the 6

consensus, but rather opened doors to completely new scientific findings for the world through their own efforts.

I wish the members of the Leopoldina and all readers a blessed Christmas - and the independent internet blogs much reach and economic success in the new year!

Hamburg in December 2023 With a Merry Christmas! signed Ulrich O.Weber Graduate geophysicist

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