Winnipeg – “Scienti?c theories are never proven by a show of hands anyways, no matter how scienti?cally esteemed those expressing their views are. If it were otherwise, the Earth would still be considered ?at and space travel impossible. It is indeed those who go against the ?ow—independent, original thinkers—who are usually responsible for our most meaningful advances in science. But, most reporters, politicians and the public understand little of the scienti?c method and even less about the exceptionally complex ?eld of climate change science. Consequently, they often look for an indication of ‘consensus’ when trying to decide which science should form the basis of important public policies decisions,” states Tom Harris, executive director of the International Climate Science Coalition.
“The debate is over”. That message has been repeated often enough when talking about climate change. Yet the number of people who remain doubtful of the science of climate change, or man-made climate change continues to grow.
The Winnipeg based Frontier Centre for Public Policy has released Getting off the Climate Change Bandwagon.
In the debate on issues, one of the goals should be exploring the issue fully, and never shutting down debate. Think of it, both sides of the debate over creationism or evolution are still discussing the topic. Why Climate Change as a subject should be any different is one that likely raises doubts in the minds of skeptics.
This policy study provides an analysis of the current state of research concerning the global warming phenomenon that has been observed in recent decades. Contrary to the claims of certain activists, politicians and members of the media, there are thousands of experts who do not find convincing support in the existing scientific evidence for the hypothesis that human emissions of carbon dioxide are causing or are likely to cause dangerous global warming.
In this study, Tom Harris argues that the evidence for catastrophic manmade global warming is far from conclusive, and that claims of an immediate climate crisis are not based on a solid evidentiary base. Harris argues for a new, inclusive approach to the scientific debate in this area – expanding the tent of climate skepticism through non-partisan science communication.
Findings: Harris provides 14 examples of open letters and other declarations opposing the manmade climate crisis hypothesis that have, in total, been signed by thousands of scientifically qualified individuals. By providing some details about these declarations and links to their contents and lists of signatories, Harris shows that the science is far from settled in this area and that there are many qualified experts who dispute the notion that manmade climate change constitutes a serious danger to the well-being of humanity.
Examples presented by Harris include:
- 2010: SPPI letter to the U.S. EPA—signed by 35 climate and related experts.
- 2009: Copenhagen Climate Challenge which currently lists 166 experts well qualified in climate science plus some in ‘other related disciplines’.2009: Open Letter to the Council of the American Physical Society—signed by 61 experts.
- 2009: Climate Change Reconsidered: 2009 Report of the Nongovernmental Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), Craig Idso and S. Fred Singer, eds.; 36 contributors listed. Easily read summary may be seen here.
- 2008: Manhattan Declaration on Climate Change, 1,497 endorsers, over half of them well qualified in science and technology and 206 of them climate science specialists or scientists in very closely related fields.
- 2007*: Open Letter to the Secretary- General of the United Nations (the “2007Bali open letter”), 100 scientist signers.
- 2006: Open Kyoto to Debate—An open letter to Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada, from 60 climate experts.
- 2003: Protocol lacks ‘credible science’—Open letter to Canadian PM Paul Martin,46 leading scientists endorsed this.
- 2002: Open letter to Canadian PM Jean Chretien, 30 scientist signers.
- 1997: Global Warming Petition Project—organized through the Oregon Institute
- of Science and Medicine, starting in 1997. That document now claims some 31,486
- U.S. scientists and technically qualified signers, 9,029 with PhDs—see breakdown.
“Public uncertainty about the science backing the global warming scare is higher now than at any time in the past 20 years,” says Harris. “New, more effective strategies need to be developed to help average citizens understand that their skepticism is well founded- many professional scientists, highly qualified in the field, also do not support forecasts of human-caused climate disaster.”
Download a copy of the Getting Society Off the Climate Change Bandwagon here.