Friday, December 21, 2007
'Consensus Busters' Bust Global Warming
Claims that there is a consensus among scientists on man-made global warming have been denied by over 400 prominent members of the scientific community and published in a report issued by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee under Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla.
This new “consensus busters” report, Inhofe’s office says, “ is poised to redefine the debate.”
Many of the scientists questioning the consensus are from the very U.N. panel making the claims.
The report states, “The voices of many of these hundreds of scientists serve as a direct challenge to the often media-hyped ‘consensus’ that the debate is settled.”
The report comes on the heels of U.N. IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) Chairman Rajendra Pachauri's implication that there were only “about a dozen" skeptical scientists left in the world, echoing former Vice President Al Gore who has claimed that scientists skeptical of climate change are akin to “flat-Earth-society members” and similar in number to those who “believe the moon landing was actually staged in a movie lot in Arizona.”
Among others insisting that there is a consensus and that few skeptics exist and who are now discredited by the report:
CNN’s Miles O’Brien (July 23, 2007): "The scientific debate is over. We're done." O’Brien also declared on CNN on Feb. 9, 2006 that scientific skeptics of man-made catastrophic global warming “are bought and paid for by the fossil fuel industry, usually.”
On July 27, 2006, Associated Press reporter Seth Borenstein described a scientist as “one of the few remaining scientists skeptical of the global warming harm caused by industries that burn fossil fuels.”
Andrew Dessler in the eco-publication Grist Magazine (Nov. 21, 2007): “While some people claim there are lots of skeptical climate scientists out there, if you actually try to find one, you keep turning up the same two dozen or so (e.g., Singer, Lindzen, Michaels, Christy, etc.). These skeptics are endlessly recycled by the denial machine, so someone not paying close attention might think there are lots of them out there — but that's not the case.
The Washington Post asserted on May 23, 2006 that there were only “a handful of skeptics” of man-made climate fears.
UN special climate envoy Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland on May 10, 2007 declared the climate debate "over" and added “it's completely immoral, even, to question” the U.N.’s scientific “consensus."
ABC News Global Warming Reporter Bill Blakemore reported on Aug. 30, 2006: “After extensive searches, ABC News has found no such [scientific] debate” on global warming.
The distinguished scientists featured in this new report are described as experts in diverse fields, including climatology, oceanography, geology, biology, glaciology, and paleoclimatology.
Moreover, some of those profiled have won Nobel Prizes for their outstanding contribution to their field of expertise and many shared a portion of the U.N. IPCC Nobel Peace Prize with Gore.
Additionally, these scientists come from prestigious institutions worldwide, including Harvard University, NASA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the UN IPCC, and the University of London.
The report lists the scientists by name, country of residence, and their academic/institutional affiliations. It also features their own words, biographies, and Web links to their peer reviewed studies and original source materials as gathered from public statements, various news outlets, and Web sites in 2007.
The report notes that skepticism is also beginning to be seen in the usually pro-IPCC media, citing an October story in the Washington Post by Staff Writer Juliet Eilperin who wrote that climate skeptics "appear to be expanding rather than shrinking."
Moreover, the report says, many scientists from around the world have dubbed 2007 as the year man-made global warming fears “bite the dust.” The scientists cited consistently stated that numerous colleagues shared their views, but they will not speak out publicly for fear of retribution.
Atmospheric scientist Dr. Nathan Paldor, professor of dynamical meteorology and physical oceanography at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, author of almost 70 peer-reviewed studies, explained how many of his fellow scientists have been intimidated: “Many of my colleagues with whom I spoke share these views and report on their inability to publish their skepticism in the scientific or public media."
The report gives a voice to the rank-and-file scientists who were shut out of the process, along with teams of international scientists dissenting from the U.N. IPCC’s view of climate science, citing such nations as Germany, Brazil, the Netherlands, Russia and France, nations where scientists banded together in 2007 to oppose climate alarmism. In addition, the report notes, over 100 prominent international scientists sent an open letter in December 2007 to the U.N. stating attempts to control climate were “futile.”
The report reveals that paleoclimatologist Dr. Tim Patterson, professor in the department of earth sciences at Carleton University in Ottawa, was recently converted from a believer in man-made climate change to a skeptic. Patterson is quoted as saying that the notion of a “consensus” of scientists aligned with the U.N. IPCC or former Vice President Al Gore is false.
“I was at the Geological Society of America meeting in Philadelphia in the fall and I would say that people with my opinion were probably in the majority,” Patterson said.
The Report notes that the over 400 skeptical scientists featured outnumber by nearly eight times the number of scientists (52) who participated in the 2007 U.N. IPCC Summary for Policymakers.
It charges that the notion of "hundreds" or "thousands" of U.N. scientists agreeing to a scientific statement does not hold up to scrutiny and cites recent research by Australian climate data analyst Dr. John McLean who revealed that the IPCC’s peer-review process for the Summary for Policymakers leaves much to be desired.
The report takes issue with those proponents of man-made global warming who it says “like to note how the National Academy of Sciences and the American Meteorological Society have issued statements endorsing the so-called ‘consensus’ view that man is driving global warming."
It points out, however, that but both the NAS and AMS never allowed member scientists to directly vote on these climate statements. Essentially, only two dozen or so members on the governing boards of these institutions produced the "consensus" statements.
The report concludes, “The most recent attempt to imply there was an overwhelming scientific ‘consensus’ in favor of man-made global warming fears came in December 2007 during the UN climate conference in Bali. A letter signed by only 215 scientists urged the U.N. to mandate deep cuts in carbon dioxide emissions by 2050. But absent from the letter were the signatures of these alleged 'thousands' of scientists.”
The full report can be read at http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Minority.SenateReport.
Claims that there is a consensus among scientists on man-made global warming have been denied by over 400 prominent members of the scientific community and published in a report issued by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee under Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla.
This new “consensus busters” report, Inhofe’s office says, “ is poised to redefine the debate.”
Many of the scientists questioning the consensus are from the very U.N. panel making the claims.
The report states, “The voices of many of these hundreds of scientists serve as a direct challenge to the often media-hyped ‘consensus’ that the debate is settled.”
The report comes on the heels of U.N. IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) Chairman Rajendra Pachauri's implication that there were only “about a dozen" skeptical scientists left in the world, echoing former Vice President Al Gore who has claimed that scientists skeptical of climate change are akin to “flat-Earth-society members” and similar in number to those who “believe the moon landing was actually staged in a movie lot in Arizona.”
Among others insisting that there is a consensus and that few skeptics exist and who are now discredited by the report:
CNN’s Miles O’Brien (July 23, 2007): "The scientific debate is over. We're done." O’Brien also declared on CNN on Feb. 9, 2006 that scientific skeptics of man-made catastrophic global warming “are bought and paid for by the fossil fuel industry, usually.”
On July 27, 2006, Associated Press reporter Seth Borenstein described a scientist as “one of the few remaining scientists skeptical of the global warming harm caused by industries that burn fossil fuels.”
Andrew Dessler in the eco-publication Grist Magazine (Nov. 21, 2007): “While some people claim there are lots of skeptical climate scientists out there, if you actually try to find one, you keep turning up the same two dozen or so (e.g., Singer, Lindzen, Michaels, Christy, etc.). These skeptics are endlessly recycled by the denial machine, so someone not paying close attention might think there are lots of them out there — but that's not the case.
The Washington Post asserted on May 23, 2006 that there were only “a handful of skeptics” of man-made climate fears.
UN special climate envoy Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland on May 10, 2007 declared the climate debate "over" and added “it's completely immoral, even, to question” the U.N.’s scientific “consensus."
ABC News Global Warming Reporter Bill Blakemore reported on Aug. 30, 2006: “After extensive searches, ABC News has found no such [scientific] debate” on global warming.
The distinguished scientists featured in this new report are described as experts in diverse fields, including climatology, oceanography, geology, biology, glaciology, and paleoclimatology.
Moreover, some of those profiled have won Nobel Prizes for their outstanding contribution to their field of expertise and many shared a portion of the U.N. IPCC Nobel Peace Prize with Gore.
Additionally, these scientists come from prestigious institutions worldwide, including Harvard University, NASA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the UN IPCC, and the University of London.
The report lists the scientists by name, country of residence, and their academic/institutional affiliations. It also features their own words, biographies, and Web links to their peer reviewed studies and original source materials as gathered from public statements, various news outlets, and Web sites in 2007.
The report notes that skepticism is also beginning to be seen in the usually pro-IPCC media, citing an October story in the Washington Post by Staff Writer Juliet Eilperin who wrote that climate skeptics "appear to be expanding rather than shrinking."
Moreover, the report says, many scientists from around the world have dubbed 2007 as the year man-made global warming fears “bite the dust.” The scientists cited consistently stated that numerous colleagues shared their views, but they will not speak out publicly for fear of retribution.
Atmospheric scientist Dr. Nathan Paldor, professor of dynamical meteorology and physical oceanography at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, author of almost 70 peer-reviewed studies, explained how many of his fellow scientists have been intimidated: “Many of my colleagues with whom I spoke share these views and report on their inability to publish their skepticism in the scientific or public media."
The report gives a voice to the rank-and-file scientists who were shut out of the process, along with teams of international scientists dissenting from the U.N. IPCC’s view of climate science, citing such nations as Germany, Brazil, the Netherlands, Russia and France, nations where scientists banded together in 2007 to oppose climate alarmism. In addition, the report notes, over 100 prominent international scientists sent an open letter in December 2007 to the U.N. stating attempts to control climate were “futile.”
The report reveals that paleoclimatologist Dr. Tim Patterson, professor in the department of earth sciences at Carleton University in Ottawa, was recently converted from a believer in man-made climate change to a skeptic. Patterson is quoted as saying that the notion of a “consensus” of scientists aligned with the U.N. IPCC or former Vice President Al Gore is false.
“I was at the Geological Society of America meeting in Philadelphia in the fall and I would say that people with my opinion were probably in the majority,” Patterson said.
The Report notes that the over 400 skeptical scientists featured outnumber by nearly eight times the number of scientists (52) who participated in the 2007 U.N. IPCC Summary for Policymakers.
It charges that the notion of "hundreds" or "thousands" of U.N. scientists agreeing to a scientific statement does not hold up to scrutiny and cites recent research by Australian climate data analyst Dr. John McLean who revealed that the IPCC’s peer-review process for the Summary for Policymakers leaves much to be desired.
The report takes issue with those proponents of man-made global warming who it says “like to note how the National Academy of Sciences and the American Meteorological Society have issued statements endorsing the so-called ‘consensus’ view that man is driving global warming."
It points out, however, that but both the NAS and AMS never allowed member scientists to directly vote on these climate statements. Essentially, only two dozen or so members on the governing boards of these institutions produced the "consensus" statements.
The report concludes, “The most recent attempt to imply there was an overwhelming scientific ‘consensus’ in favor of man-made global warming fears came in December 2007 during the UN climate conference in Bali. A letter signed by only 215 scientists urged the U.N. to mandate deep cuts in carbon dioxide emissions by 2050. But absent from the letter were the signatures of these alleged 'thousands' of scientists.”
The full report can be read at http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Minority.SenateReport.
