Nature, Not Human Activity, Rules the Climate - Science ...

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Nature, Not Human Activity,Rules the ClimateSummary for Policymakers of the Report of theNongovernmental International Panel on Climate ChangeEdited by S. Fred SingerContributorsWarren AndersonUnited StatesFred GoldbergSwedenOlavi KärnerEstoniaTom SegalstadNorwayDennis AveryUnited StatesVincent GrayNew ZealandMadhav KhandekarCanadaS. Fred SingerUnited StatesFranco BattagliaItalyKenneth HaapalaUnited StatesWilliam KininmonthAustraliaGeorge TaylorUnited StatesRobert CarterAustraliaKlaus HeissAustriaHans LabohmNetherlandsDick ThoenesNetherlandsRichard CourtneyUnited KingdomCraig IdsoUnited StatesChristopher MoncktonUnited KingdomAnton UriarteSpainJoseph D’AleoUnited StatesZbigniew JaworowskiPolandLubos MotlCzech RepublicGerd WeberGermanyPublished for the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Changeby
ForewordIn his speech at the United Nations’ climateconference on September 24, 2007, Dr. VaclavKlaus, president of the Czech Republic, said itwould most help the debate on climate change if thecurrent monopoly and one-sidedness of thescientific debate over climate change by theIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)were eliminated. He reiterated his proposal that theUN organize a parallel panel and publish twocompeting reports.The present report of the NongovernmentalInternational Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC)does exactly that. It is an independent examinationof the evidence available in the published,peer-reviewed literature – examined without biasand selectivity. It includes many research papersignored by the IPCC, plus additional scientificresults that became available after the IPCCdeadline of May 2006.The IPCC is pre-programmed to produce reportsto support the hypotheses of anthropogenic warmingand the control of greenhouse gases, as envisionedin the Global Climate Treaty. The 1990 IPCCSummary completely ignored satellite data, sincethey showed no warming. The 1995 IPCC reportwas notorious for the significant alterations made tothe text after it was approved by the scientists – inorder to convey the impression of a humaninfluence. The 2001 IPCC report claimed thetwentieth century showed ‘unusual warming’ basedon the now-discredited hockey-stick graph. Thelatest IPCC report, published in 2007, completelydevaluates the climate contributions from changesin solar activity, which are likely to dominate anyhuman influence.The foundation for NIPCC was laid five yearsago when a small group of scientists from theUnited States and Europe met in Milan during oneof the frequent UN climate conferences. But it gotgoing only after a workshop held in Vienna in April2007, with many more scientists, including somefrom the Southern Hemisphere.The NIPCC project was conceived and directedby Dr. S. Fred Singer, professor emeritus ofenvironmental sciences at the University ofVirginia. He should be credited with assembling asuperb group of scientists who helped put thisvolume together.Singer is one of the most distinguishedscientists in the U.S. In the 1960s, he establishedand served as the first director of the U.S. WeatherSatellite Service, now part of the NationalOceanographic and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA), and earned a U.S. Department ofCommerce Gold Medal Award for his technicalleadership. In the 1980s, Singer served for fiveyears as vice chairman of the National AdvisoryCommittee for Oceans and Atmosphere (NACOA)and became more directly involved in globalenvironmental issues.Since retiring from the University of Virginiaand from his last federal position as chief scientistof the Department of Transportation, Singerfounded and directed the nonprofit Science andEnvironmental Policy Project, an organization I ampleased to serve as chair. SEPP’s major concern hasbeen the use of sound science rather thanexaggerated fears in formulating environmentalpolicies.Our concern about the environment, going backsome 40 years, has taught us important lessons. It isone thing to impose drastic measures and harsheconomic penalties when an environmental problemis clear-cut and severe. It is foolish to do so whenthe problem is largely hypothetical and notsubstantiated by observations. As NIPCC shows byoffering an independent, non-governmental ‘secondopinion’ on the ‘global warming’ issue, we do notcurrently have any convincing evidence orobservations of significant climate change fromother than natural causes.Frederick SeitzPresident Emeritus, Rockefeller UniversityPast President, National Academy of SciencesPast President, American Physical SocietyChairman, Science and Environmental PolicyProjectFebruary 2008Dr. Seitz passed away on March 2, 2008 at the ageof 96. He will be greatly missed by all of us whoknew and admired him.iii
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