The Sad State of the Debate
According to some people, only a “climatologist” can be a credible scientific voice in the climate debate. Why do we spend so much time trying to disqualify people – rather than addressing their ideas?
Is the IPCC a Scrutiny-Free Zone?
A senior author thinks the IPCC should take a stand by declaring Freedom of Information requests a form of harassment.
The Silent Treatment
Should AGW proponents acknowledge critics? Or should they avert their eyes and block their ears?
Is a Meteorologist a Drought Expert?
Why does the media keep interviewing a meteorologist about droughts & floods instead of those with genuine expertise?
IPCC Errors: in the Eye of the Beholder
Opinions regarding how the IPCC deals with errors are diverse. They can also be provocative. One IPCC official thinks public scrutiny of its reports should be discouraged.
Does Global Warming Look Like Australia?
In early 2009 the Los Angeles Times said hot, dry Australia was a warning to us all – and that things would only get worse. The very next year, dry areas were flooded and snow fell during the summer.
If You Don’t Believe in Global Warming, the Terrorists Win
A writer fabricates imaginary Osama bin Laden opinions. Then he fabricates imaginary climate skeptic opinions. The fact that they’re identical, he says, proves that skeptics are morally reprehensible “deniers” who should be ignored.
232 Opinions Concerning the IPCC
An important collection of documents has entered the public domain. These are the comments 232 individuals submitted to the committee that investigated the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) earlier this year.
Baby, It’s Cold Outside
It isn’t your imagination. We were advised that global warming would mean milder winters. The record-breaking cold temperatures & unusual snowfalls in recent years are odds with the claim that global warming is happening faster than predicted.
The IPCC’s 12 Days of Christmas
On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me a climate bible with integrity.
Missing Documents, Unfulfilled Promises
The InterAcademy Council has been promising since August to release documents associated with an investigation of the IPCC’s policies and procedures. There’s still no sign of them.
If the Science is So Persuasive, Why the Theatrics?
If climate change science is so convincing, why did Timothy Wirth schedule James Hansen’s historic 1988 testimony during the hottest time of the year? And why did he sneak into the hearing room the night before & open the windows so there’d be no air conditioning?
A Powerful New Research Tool
A hyperlinked and annotated version of the 2007 climate bible gives us new ways of viewing this document. Produced by two dedicated volunteers, it’s a gift to the public as well as the research community.
New York Times Reporter Spanks the UN
Andrew Revkin has identified a mistake in a UN climate negotiations document. This same “small error” has also appeared in the headlines of two UN press releases.
Speaking of Holiday Cheer…
Please consider supporting this blog and my book-in-progress. Via a PayPal donation button, you can buy me a holiday cocktail, so to speak.
Why I’m Giving ‘The Hockey Stick Illusion’ for Christmas
It’s difficult to read Andrew Montford’s Hockey Stick Illusion book and not conclude that something is terribly amiss – in the world of science, in scientific publishing, and within the bowels of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Should UN Employees Be IPCC Lead Authors?
Koko Warner is a UN employee whose research has been funded and brazenly promoted by the UN in order to advance the UN’s climate change agenda. Now she is a lead author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report.
Still Clueless in Australia
Journalist Margot O’Neill has just completed an Oxford University sabbatical on climate change reporting, but her views aren’t much altered from a year ago – when she accused IPCC critics of embracing conspiracies.
Message to Young Journalists: Connect the Dots
Invited to speak to journalism students, here are a few ideas I’ll try to communicate: First, large increases in heating bills are the result of green energy policies. Second, these policies are the result of our belief that carbon dioxide emissions are harmful. Third, that belief is the result of reports written by the IPCC. Fourth, much of what we’ve been told about the IPCC and how it works is not true.
An Even Younger Senior Author
If climate change is the biggest challenge facing humanity, why have kids filled senior IPCC roles for the past 15 years?
Meet the IPCC’s Youngest Lead Author
At the age of 25, Richard Klein became an IPCC lead author. He held a Masters degree, and had spent a year working for Greenpeace.
More Grad Student Expertise
15 years prior to receiving her PhD, Sari Kovats began serving as an IPCC contributing author – followed by two stints as a lead author.
This means governments have been relying on the expertise of graduate students when making multi-billion-dollar climate change decisions.
Lead Author Lacked a Master’s Degree
When Laurens Bouwer served as a lead author for the 2001 climate bible he had not yet earned his Masters.
The IPCC surely needs to explain how research assistants and those-working-on-their-masters qualify as the world’s best experts and top scientists.
The Non-Stop IPCC Spin Machine
A new IPCC press release says “thousands of scientists” contribute to the climate bible. But a list of authors selected to take part in the upcoming edition contains only 831 names.
Among these is Lisa Alexander. She began writing IPCC reports a decade before she’d even earned her PhD.
Rub Asbestos on Your Face, Why Don’t Cha
The man in charge of one of the world’s most influential organizations thinks his critics should rub asbestos on their faces. Those who disagree with him, he says, are arrogant, have suspect motives, and practice “voodoo science.”
The IPCC’s Confused Chairman
Delegates to a four-day Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change meeting chose not to replace chairman Rajendra Pachauri with someone more credible and professional. Journalists beware: nothing this man says should be taken at face value.
Extinction Fiction
Two earlier blog posts on the IPCC’s dubious species extinction claim have now been combined into a single 9-page PDF essay available here.
Another IPCC Train Wreck: Species Extinction (Part 2)
When five out of ten lead authors of an IPCC chapter have documented links to the World Wildlife Fund their findings aren’t credible.
Another IPCC Train Wreck: Species Extinction (Part 1)
The IPCC’s chairman tells us constantly that 20-30% of the planet’s species are at risk of extinction due to global warming. But experts in that field say the research on which the IPCC bases its conclusions is rubbish.
Politicians Dressed in Lab Coats
When a forensic pathologist testifies at a murder trial he describes bruises, lacerations & bullet holes. He does not decide whether the accused is guilty. Nor does he opine to the media about how such murders might be prevented.
So why do climate scientists think it’s their business to prescribe solutions – rather than telling us about their data and only about their data?
The New Graduate Who Served as IPCC Lead Author
A recent medical graduate with no relevant publications was a lead author of the IPCC’s first health chapter. That report was supposed to have been written by the world’s top experts.
The Book the IPCC Plagiarized
Entire passages in the IPCC’s 1995 report were lifted from a 1993 book authored by Anthony McMichael – the IPCC person in charge of the health chapter.
Pachauri Defrocked
A report released this week blows smoking holes through just about everything the IPCC’s chairman, Rajendra Pachauri, has been telling us.
Conflict-of-Interest at the IPCC
The review committee examining the IPCC process has recommended that “rigorous conflict of interest” policies be adopted. Hallelujah.
IPCC Author Profile: Alistair Woodward
In June the IPCC put Alistair Woodward in charge of the climate bible’s health chapter. He thinks doctors should “educate and encourage” their patients in “climate change action.”
See You in Mid-August
Includes links to submissions various informed individuals made to the body examining the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The uncritical coverage by the mainstream media notwithstanding, the IPCC is a profoundly flawed organization.
IPCC Says Climate Prediction Impossible
In its 2001 report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change admitted that long-term climate prediction is not possible. So why are we telling kids the world won’t be habitable by the time they grow up?
Climate Bible’s New Authors Announced
831 people will help write the next edition of the climate bible. We’re being told their names and countries of residence but not much more. How do we know if they really are the world’s top experts?
Cross Examining the IPCC
A law professor cross-examines an “expert witness” – the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s climate bible. Although this document is supposed to be objective and even-handed, he says its authors frequently ignore, minimize & conceal scientific evidence that doesn’t fit the carbon-dioxide-is-the-culprit narrative.
Forget Genocide & Malnutrition – Sudan Fights Climate Change for the IPCC
Sudan is a troubled, impoverished nation with a questionable human rights record. Why is a representative of that country occupying one of the most senior positions with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change? Is the fight against climate change to be led by the violent & unsavoury?
We Trusted Too Completely
Close examination of the climate bible leaves one dumbfounded. Almost nothing we’ve been told about it seems remotely true. Almost nothing the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s chairman, Rajendra Pachauri, has said – or continues to say – about that document seems connected to reality.
More IPCC Mischief
According to the chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the 2007 climate bible “was based on scientific studies completed before January 2006.” So how could a paper that wasn’t accepted for publication in a scientific journal until May 2008 (29 months later) be cited multiple times?
IPCC Cites an Unpublished Journal 39 Times
Climate bible authors referenced numerous yet-to-be published scientific papers in order to make their case. This raises troubling questions about the role of certain editors of certain scientific journals.
Cutoff Dates, What Cutoff Dates?
When the IPCC flouts its own rules outrageously – yet insists it has followed them religiously – its credibility evaporates.
Citizen Audit Report is Now a PDF
If the IPCC can’t be trusted to describe its own report accurately, why should we believe anything else it says?
IPCC Snowed by Snowmobile Lobby
We’ve been told the climate bible meets the highest standards. Guess that’s why the section dealing with global warming and North American tourism uses a number taken from a snowmobile lobby group press release.
Press Release Masquerade – Part 2
The climate bible relies on a news article that is actually an abridged press release to backup certain claims. Even worse, this news article doesn’t talk about the issues the IPCC is discussing. Not even close.
IPCC Falls for Press Release Masquerade
The climate bible bases its argument on a news article that’s really a press release in disguise.
What the IPCC Learned from Press Releases
The UN’s Nobel-winning, allegedly gold-standard climate bible bases factual assertions on dodgy source material like press releases.
The Stern Review Scandal – IPCC Breaks 3 of Its Own Rules
Ten months after the official cutoff date, and well after the expert reviewers were out of the picture, climate bible authors inserted references to the Stern Review into 12 different chapters.
Dr. Pachauri, Call Your Office
The chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has repeatedly declared that the climate bible relies solely on peer-reviewed source material. This claim is false. Rajendra Pachauri should resign.
A Seasoned Veteran’s View of the IPCC
“Over the years, the IPCC has changed from a scientific institution that tries to be policy relevant to a political institution that pretends to be scientific” – so says Richard Tol (an economist who has participated in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change process since the early 1990s).
IPCC Reliance on Grey Literature 30 Times Greater than UK Threshold
The British government says 99% of the sources on which the climate bible bases its arguments should be peer-reviewed. But only 70% are.
What’s Left if We Disregard Non-Peer-Reviewed Claims?
The chairman of the IPCC has said that non-peer-reviewed research is so undeserving of the IPCC’s attention it should be thrown “into the dustbin.” Yet on one page of the climate bible, only 17% of the text is backed-up by peer-reviewed research.
The Water Cannon of the Climate Debate
The climate bible is the ultimate weapon in the global warming debate. Skeptics are told the experts have spoken and that carbon dioxide is the Great Satan.
Climate Bible Gets 21 ‘F’s on Report Card
Forty citizen auditors from 12 countries examined 18,531 sources cited in the latest version of the climate bible – finding 5,587 to be not peer-reviewed. 21 of 44 chapters in the United Nations’ Nobel-winning report had so few peer-reviewed references they earned an F on our report card.
Poll: How Many Non-Peer-Reviewed References?
A poll was held prior to the release of our citizen audit findings. That project tallied up the number of climate bible references which involve peer-reviewed sources. (The public has long been told all references are to such material, yet we discovered 1/3 are not.)
Does the IPCC Prefer Grey Literature to Peer-Reviewed?
Economist Richard Tol has written a series of blog posts regarding, among other concerns, the IPCC’s apparent use of non-peer-reviewed literature to neutralize peer-reviewed research findings.
Who’s Concerned About the Climate Report?
Within hours of calling for volunteers to help examine the references in the climate bible, I was contacted by 19 strangers on four continents. These diverse, well-educated people are now taking a close look at the climate bible for themselves.
Help Audit the UN Climate Report – Crowdsourcing Project
In this blog post, I invited people to help me examine the references relied upon by the climate bible. Five weeks later, we delivered a report card in which 21 of 44 chapters of the climate bible received an ‘F’.
The Great Peer-Review Fairy Tale
The chairman of the IPCC has repeatedly told the world the climate bible relies solely on peer-reviewed scientific literature. He is wrong.
Is This Politics or Science?
For those of us who think science is about being open to new ideas and perspectives, Michael “hockey stick” Mann isn’t the kind of scientist we’d want our kids to grow up to be.
The Climate Bible and the Home Inspector
If I pay for an inspection prior to purchasing a house and later discover the report contained significant errors, it will do the inspector no good to argue that 95 percent of what he wrote is still true. Nor will my confidence be restored when he blusters: “Hey, what’s a few typos?”
Scientists’ Opinions Are Sometimes Irrelevant
When a dish is being prepared in the kitchen of a four-star restaurant, the chef’s opinion is important. But the minute the meal is set in front of a paying customer the chef’s views become irrelevant. If a customer decides the meal is less-than-acceptable a signed statement from 55 other chefs extolling the design of the kitchen changes nothing.
Yes Virginia, the Climate Bible Relies on Newspaper Clippings
When newspaper clippings are cited as evidence in the climate bible, when there’s a discrepancy between what an article says and what the IPCC claims it says – neither the process nor the end result is anything like what we’ve been told.
What She Said About the Climate Bible 3 Months Ago
If the climate bible includes significant mistakes, if it uses newspaper & magazine articles to make its case, if it relies on literature generated by activist organizations – then it is rather a different animal from the uber-respectable paragon of virtue so many journalists have described. Bamboozled by the PR machine that is the IPCC, they’ve passed along bad information to the public.
Weekend Roundup: Climate Boss Pachauri
Two UK newspapers call for the resignation of Rajendra Pachauri, the chairman of the IPCC. A third alleges that while he urges others to reduce their carbon footprint, he himself travels to work (one mile from his home) in a chauffeur-driven car rather than walking, cycling, or driving himself in an eco-friendly vehicle.
More Dodgy Citations in the Nobel-Winning Climate Report
The climate bible cites numerous documents written by the World Wildlife Fund to back up its arguments. But this document is supposed to be a rigorous, wholly scientific assessment.
Al Gore: Not This Thinking Woman’s Thinking Man
The media call Al Gore an “eco prophet” and the “thinking man’s thinking man.” So why did Gore repeatedly tell Slate magazine that “the most recent [climategate e-mail] is more than 10 years old” when, in fact, it was less than a month old?
Aerospace Pioneer Dismisses Global Warming
Burt Rutan designed SpaceShipOne, the first privately-funded craft to enter space & return. Having examined the arguments supporting the global warming hypothesis, this exceptional engineer is less than impressed.
He says the Earth’s climate has always changed & always will. He also accuses the IPCC of weighting one group of data 390 times more than another in order to transform falling temperatures into rising ones.
Global Warming and ‘My Cousin Vinny’
My Cousin Vinny isn’t just a great comic film. It does a stellar job of demonstrating the danger of listening to only one point-of-view, of jumping to conclusions before all sides have been heard.