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The Sky Is Not Falling In 1997 Nathan Zohner, while a 14 year old student, won a science fair with his survey about DHMO. He cited the dangers such as death due to accidental inhalation, even in small quantities, prolong exposure to solid DHMO causing severe tissue damage and that DHMO is a component in acid rain (all his statements are true). After he cited the potential negatives, 43 out of 50 people he asked thought the compound should be banned. If you think this is silly, this past March, the City Council of Aliso Viejo, CA scheduled a vote on banning Styrofoam cups at city events because the dangerous compound dihydrogen monoxide (DHMO) is used in their manufacture. The ruckus was blamed on the environmentalist who were accused of having engendered a sky-is-falling mentality across our nation. Our ignorance in science is close to home! The politics of the global warming phenomenon is an example of where scientific ignorance is being used as a political agenda to our detriment. The truth will be explained in a future Don Quixote episode. Believe me, our politicians are causing us to tilt at windmills -- and it is costing us dearly. The original notice about DHMO was posted to demonstrate that scientific jargon does not equal fact. This is a simple and obvious example. Later will come an explanation of an equally fallacious but less obvious example on our Global Warming concerns. I ask: "How did science illiteracy become socially acceptable?" |