Samuel's Blog

Dodgy science at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

June 4th, 2009 at 02:42pm

Dr Willem de Lange, IPCC author and senior lecturer in Waikato University’s Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, describes some of the dodgy science at the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and explains why he believes that global warming and cooling is not caused by humans.

In 1996 the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) Second Assessment Report was released, and I was listed as one of approximately 3000 “scientists” who agreed that there was a discernable human influence on climate.

I was an invited reviewer for a chapter dealing with the economic impact of sea level rise on small island nations… I was not asked if I supported the view expressed in my name, and my understanding at the time was that no evidence of a discernable human influence on global climate existed.

The chapter I reviewed dealt primarily with the economic consequences of an assumed sea level rise of 1 m causing extensive inundation… I disagreed with the initial assumptions, particularly the assumed sea level rise in the stated time period.

Further, there was good evidence at the time that sea level rise would not necessarily result in flooding of small island nations… Subsequent research has demonstrated that coral atolls and associated islands are likely to increase in elevation as sea level rises. Hence, the assumptions were invalid, and I was convinced that IPCC projections were unrealistic and exaggerated the problem…

What has sea level actually done so far this century? There have been large regional variations, but the global rate has slowed and is currently negative, consistent with measured ocean cooling. Claims to the contrary are exaggerations and not realistic…

Trying to stop or control climate change is akin to stopping ocean tides…. As the latest IPCC report notes, there is no convincing evidence of the impact of CO2 (or any other human influence on climate) at a continental scale…

So, I am a climate realist because the available evidence indicates that climate change is predominantly, if not entirely, natural. It occurs mostly in response to variations in solar heating of the oceans, and the consequences this has for the rest of the Earth’s climate system. There is no evidence to support the hypothesis runaway catastrophic climate change due to human activities.

Courtesy of Andrew Bolt.

Samuel

Entry Filed under: Global Warming

 Print This Post