It is not so many years ago that Professor Ian Lowe published a book* explaining, “there is a great scientific tradition of scepticism, generally a good thing because it keeps us honest and forces us to justify our conclusions.” But then he went on to claim that climate skeptics try to win their arguments, sometimes by actually lying, but more often by making statements that are factually correct but misleading. He also claimed global warming skeptics actually only number perhaps 5 while about 10,000 scientists “support the accepted view”.
Al Gore in his award winning documentary ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ conceded there were probably more than 5 global warming skeptics but he said they were all in the pay of big oil.
This much maligned group, of which I am often accused of being a member, is increasingly fightening back claiming their membership is not only respectable but also large and growing. There was Professor Bob Carter who compiled the list of 100 or so signatures for a letter to the Canadian Prime Minister a year or so ago, then very recently Tom Harris collected signatures for a letter to the United Nations Secretary General in Bali. Now, the very hard working Marc Morano has a list with over 400 signatures and it is getting some coverage in the mainstream media.
Following is the original US Senate Report with the signatures:
U.S. Senate Report: Over 400 Prominent Scientists Disputed Man-Made Global Warming Claims in 2007
Over 400 prominent scientists from more than two dozen countries recently voiced significant objections to major aspects of the so-called “consensus” on man-made global warming. These scientists, many of whom are current and former participants in the UN IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), criticized the climate claims made by the UN IPCC and former Vice President Al Gore. The new report issued by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee’s office of the GOP Ranking Member details the views of the scientists, the overwhelming majority of whom spoke out in 2007. Read more here: http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Minority.Blogs&ContentRecord_id=f80a6386-802a-23ad-40c8-3c63dc2d02cb
Following is some of the media and commentary that has followed:
Hundreds of scientists reject global warming, Basing policy on carbon dioxide levels ‘potentially disastrous economic folly’ By Bob Unruh, WorldNetDaily.com
A new U.S. Senate report documents hundreds of prominent scientists – experts in dozens of fields of study worldwide – who say global warming and cooling is a cycle of nature and cannot legitimately be connected to man’s activities. “Of course I believe in global warming, and in global cooling – all part of the natural climate changes that the Earth has experienced for billions of years, caused primarily by the cyclical variations in solar output,” said research physicist John W. Brosnahan, who develops remote-sensing instruments for atmospheric science for clients including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA.
Read more here: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59319
Report challenges global warming claims, WASHINGTON, Dec. 21 (UPI) — A report released by the ranking Republican member of a U.S. Senate environment committee refutes claims by Nobel laureate Al Gore on man-made climate change. In the report, more than 400 scientists expressed doubt over the claims made by Gore, a former U.S. vice president, and the United Nations that man-made climate change endangers the planet, The Washington Times reported Read more here: http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2007/12/21/report_challenges_global_warming_claims/7759/
“Many scientists from around the world have dubbed 2007 as the year man-made global warming fears “bite the dust”’, the introduction said. And there probably would be many more scientists making such statements, were it not for the fear of retaliation from those aboard the global-warming-is-caused-by-SUVs bandwagon, the report said. And it details some of this intimidation. Looks like man-made global warming theory is melting away faster than you can say Al Gore. A lot of reputations are now going to disappear along with it: all those who were part of the famous ‘consensus’ (not). Those people should never be taken seriously again. It’s over, guys. Reason, truth and real science are fighting back. Read more here http://www.spectator.co.uk/melaniephillips/413976/good-news-earth-not-flat.thtml
400 Prominent Scientists Dispute Global Warming – Bunk, Climate change denial lives – though not nearly to the extent that Swiftboater Marc Morano would have you believe in his latest overstatement about “prominent scientists” who dispute man-made global warming. Morano’s list of “over 400” alleged climate quibblers includes the usual deniers … There is also a group of second-order “scientists,” who are not scientists at all… Finally, Morano includes a group of legitimate scientists … Read more here: http://www.desmogblog.com/400-prominent-scientists-dispute-global-warming-bunk
Scientists doubt climate change, By S.A. Miller – More than 400 scientists challenge claims by former Vice President Al Gore and the United Nations about the threat of man-made global warming, a new Senate minority report says.
The scientists — many of whom are current or former members of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that shares the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with Mr. Gore for publicizing a climate crisis — cast doubt on the “scientific consensus” that man-made global warming imperils the planet. “I protest vigorously the idea that the climate reacts like a home heating system to a changed setting of the thermostat: just turn the dial, and the desired temperature will soon be reached,” Mr. Tennekes said in the report. Read more here: http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071221/NATION/844993096/1001
Comments in the report include:
• “Even if the concentration of ‘greenhouse gases’ double, man would not perceive the temperature impact.”
Oleg Sorochtin of the Institute of Oceanology at the Russian Academy of Sciences
• “I find the Doomsday picture Al Gore is painting — a six-meter sea level rise, 15 times the [U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] number — entirely without merit. … I protest vigorously the idea that the climate reacts like a home heating system to a changed setting of the thermostat: just turn the dial, and the desired temperature will soon be reached.”
Atmospheric scientist Hendrik Tennekes, former research director at the Netherlands’ Royal National Meteorological Institute
• “The hypothesis that solar variability and not human activity is warming the oceans goes a long way to explain the puzzling idea that the Earth’s surface may be warming while the atmosphere is not. The [greenhouse-gas] hypothesis does not do this. … The public is not well served by this constant drumbeat of false alarms fed by computer models manipulated by advocates.”
David Wojick, expert reviewer for U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
• “The media is promoting an unprecedented hyping related to global warming. The media and many scientists are ignoring very important facts that point to a natural variation in the climate system as the cause of the recent global warming.”
Chief Meteorologist Eugenio Hackbart of the MetSul Meteorologia Weather Center in Sao Leopoldo-Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
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* A big fix – Radical solutions for Australia’s environmental crisis, Black Inc, 2005.
UPDATE 27th December 2007
The list has been updated, you can read Part 2 here: https://jennifermarohasy.com.dev.internet-thinking.com.au/blog/archives/002642.html
Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD has worked in industry and government. She is currently researching a novel technique for long-range weather forecasting funded by the B. Macfie Family Foundation.