The war of words in the global warming debate gets fierce (and even a bit morbid) in a Denver Post article in which Colorado State University hurricane expert William Gray calls global warming “a big scam.” That’s not the morbid part.

The retort from James Hansen at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies: “Some of this noise won’t stop until some of these scientists are dead.”

Interesting concept. Science can trudge ahead with skeptics in tow, but when the skeptics die, a new consensus forms. I don’t I buy that. Science is better than that, and both the supporters and detractors of any given view are more genuine about their disagreements. Yes, this is a highly politicized war of words, but there are also real disagreements over the data and the conclusions.

The Post article is here.

Gray is, as noted, a hurricane expert. He is not known for studying global warming, but he is one of the most vocal critics of studies that indicate humans are largely to blame for the planet’s temperature rise in recent decades. Gray has few serious scientists on his side, but you can bet that if he dies anytime soon, others will vocalize his controversial position.

Hansen, on the other hand, is well-known for studying global warming. This week he and colleagues said temps are dangerously close to the highest they’ve been in a million years. You might remember Hansen as the man who said NASA tried to shut him up.

When Hansen dies, there will be legions of scientists to fill his research shoes, adding to the growing body of evidence that humans are contributing to global warming. It’s not clear if any will speak so frankly, however.