Apparently It Isn't All Cut and Dried

Poster's Opinions: I'm of the opinion that the climate is probably warming
and has been since the end of the Little Ice Age. I'm of the opinion that
no one on the planet has any real idea how much human activity is
contributing to that warming. I'm also fairly certain that serious
researchers haven't even identified all the factors that contribute to the
climate, much less quantified the known factors.

Poster's Observations: If all these people have been bought off by Big Oil,
Big Business,(whatever), then the Big Boys sure seem impressed with people
with the title of "Doctor".

I'm fairly certain that the future climate is not subject to the vote of any
human political body.

If this "letter" turns out to be a hoax, it's a damn good one.

"Opinions are like assholes. Everyone has one, and everyone else's stinks."
Variation on a theme..


http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/financialpost/story.html?id=3711460e-bd5a-475d-a6be-4db87559d605

Published: Thursday, April 06, 2006
An open letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper:

Dear Prime Minister:
As accredited experts in climate and related scientific disciplines, we are
writing to propose that balanced, comprehensive public-consultation sessions
be held so as to examine the scientific foundation of the federal
government's climate-change plans. This would be entirely consistent with
your recent commitment to conduct a review of the Kyoto Protocol. Although
many of us made the same suggestion to then-prime ministers Martin and
Chretien, neither responded, and, to date, no formal, independent
climate-science review has been conducted in Canada. Much of the billions of
dollars earmarked for implementation of the protocol in Canada will be
squandered without a proper assessment of recent developments in climate
science.

Observational evidence does not support today's computer climate models, so
there is little reason to trust model predictions of the future. Yet this is
precisely what the United Nations did in creating and promoting Kyoto and
still does in the alarmist forecasts on which Canada's climate policies are
based. Even if the climate models were realistic, the environmental impact
of Canada delaying implementation of Kyoto or other greenhouse-gas reduction
schemes, pending completion of consultations, would be insignificant.
Directing your government to convene balanced, open hearings as soon as
possible would be a most prudent and responsible course of action.

While the confident pronouncements of scientifically unqualified
environmental groups may provide for sensational
headlines, they are no basis for mature policy formulation. The study of
global climate change is, as you have said, an "emerging science," one that
is perhaps the most complex ever tackled. It may be many years yet before we
properly understand the Earth's climate system. Nevertheless, significant
advances have been made since the protocol was created, many of which are
taking us away from a concern about increasing greenhouse gases. If, back in
the mid-1990s, we knew what we know today about climate, Kyoto would almost
certainly not exist, because we would have concluded it was not necessary.

We appreciate the difficulty any government has formulating sensible
science-based policy when the loudest voices always seem to be pushing in
the opposite direction. However, by convening open, unbiased consultations,
Canadians will be permitted to hear from experts on both sides of the debate
in the climate-science community. When the public comes to understand that
there is no "consensus" among climate scientists about the relative
importance of the various causes of global climate change, the government
will be in a far better position to develop plans that reflect reality and
so benefit both the environment and the economy.

"Climate change is real" is a meaningless phrase used repeatedly by
activists to convince the public that a climate catastrophe is looming and
humanity is the cause. Neither of these fears is justified. Global climate
changes all the time due to natural causes and the human impact still
remains impossible to distinguish from this natural "noise." The new
Canadian government's commitment to reducing air, land and water pollution
is commendable, but allocating funds to "stopping climate change" would be
irrational. We need to continue intensive research into the real causes of
climate change and help our most vulnerable citizens adapt to whatever
nature throws at us next.
We believe the Canadian public and government decision-makers need and
deserve to hear the whole story concerning this very complex issue. It was
only 30 years ago that many of today's global-warming alarmists were telling
us that the world was in the midst of a global-cooling catastrophe. But the
science continued to evolve, and still does, even though so many choose to
ignore it when it does not fit with predetermined political agendas.

We hope that you will examine our proposal carefully and we stand willing
and able to furnish you with more information on this crucially important
topic.

CC: The Honourable Rona Ambrose, Minister of the Environment, and the
Honourable Gary Lunn, Minister of Natural Resources
- - -
Sincerely,
Dr. Ian D. Clark, professor, isotope hydrogeology and paleoclimatology,
Dept. of Earth Sciences, University of Ottawa
Dr. Tad Murty, former senior research scientist, Dept. of Fisheries and
Oceans, former director of Australia's National Tidal Facility and professor
of earth sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide; currently adjunct
professor, Departments of Civil Engineering and Earth Sciences, University
of Ottawa
Dr. R. Timothy Patterson, professor, Dept. of Earth Sciences
(paleoclimatology), Carleton University, Ottawa
Dr. Fred Michel, director, Institute of Environmental Science and associate
professor, Dept. of Earth Sciences, Carleton University, Ottawa
Dr. Madhav Khandekar, former research scientist, Environment Canada. Member
of editorial board of Climate Research and Natural Hazards
Dr. Paul Copper, FRSC, professor emeritus, Dept. of Earth Sciences,
Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ont.
Dr. Ross McKitrick, associate professor, Dept. of Economics, University of
Guelph, Ont.
Dr. Tim Ball, former professor of climatology, University of Winnipeg;
environmental consultant
Dr. Andreas Prokoph, adjunct professor of earth sciences, University of
Ottawa; consultant in statistics and geology
Mr. David Nowell, M.Sc. (Meteorology), fellow of the Royal Meteorological
Society, Canadian member and past chairman of the NATO Meteorological Group,
Ottawa
Dr. Christopher Essex, professor of applied mathematics and associate
director of the Program in Theoretical Physics, University of Western
Ontario, London, Ont.
Dr. Gordon E. Swaters, professor of applied mathematics, Dept. of
Mathematical Sciences, and member, Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Research
Group, University of Alberta
Dr. L. Graham Smith, associate professor, Dept. of Geography, University of
Western Ontario, London, Ont.
Dr. G. Cornelis van Kooten, professor and Canada Research Chair in
environmental studies and climate change, Dept. of Economics, University of
Victoria
Dr. Petr Chylek, adjunct professor, Dept. of Physics and Atmospheric
Science, Dalhousie University, Halifax
Dr./Cdr. M. R. Morgan, FRMS, climate consultant, former meteorology advisor
to the World Meteorological Organization. Previously research scientist in
climatology at University of Exeter, U.K.
Dr. Keith D. Hage, climate consultant and professor emeritus of Meteorology,
University of Alberta
Dr. David E. Wojick, P.Eng., energy consultant, Star Tannery, Va., and Sioux
Lookout, Ont.
Rob Scagel, M.Sc., forest microclimate specialist, principal consultant,
Pacific Phytometric Consultants, Surrey, B.C.
Dr. Douglas Leahey, meteorologist and air-quality consultant, Calgary
Paavo Siitam, M.Sc., agronomist, chemist, Cobourg, Ont.
Dr. Chris de Freitas, climate scientist, associate professor, The University
of Auckland, N.Z.
Dr. Richard S. Lindzen, Alfred P. Sloan professor of meteorology, Dept. of
Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of
Technology
Dr. Freeman J. Dyson, emeritus professor of physics, Institute for Advanced
Studies, Princeton, N.J.
Mr. George Taylor, Dept. of Meteorology, Oregon State University; Oregon
State climatologist; past president, American Association of State
Climatologists
Dr. Ian Plimer, professor of geology, School of Earth and Environmental
Sciences, University of Adelaide; emeritus professor of earth sciences,
University of Melbourne, Australia
Dr. R.M. Carter, professor, Marine Geophysical Laboratory, James Cook
University, Townsville, Australia
Mr. William Kininmonth, Australasian Climate Research, former Head National
Climate Centre, Australian Bureau of Meteorology; former Australian delegate
to World Meteorological Organization Commission for Climatology, Scientific
and Technical Review
Dr. Hendrik Tennekes, former director of research, Royal Netherlands
Meteorological Institute
Dr. Gerrit J. van der Lingen, geologist/paleoclimatologist, Climate Change
Consultant, Geoscience Research and Investigations, New Zealand
Dr. Patrick J. Michaels, professor of environmental sciences, University of
Virginia
Dr. Nils-Axel Morner, emeritus professor of paleogeophysics & geodynamics,
Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
Dr. Gary D. Sharp, Center for Climate/Ocean Resources Study, Salinas, Calif.
Dr. Roy W. Spencer, principal research scientist, Earth System Science
Center, The University of Alabama, Huntsville
Dr. Al Pekarek, associate professor of geology, Earth and Atmospheric
Sciences Dept., St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, Minn.
Dr. Marcel Leroux, professor emeritus of climatology, University of Lyon,
France; former director of Laboratory of Climatology, Risks and Environment,
CNRS
Dr. Paul Reiter, professor, Institut Pasteur, Unit of Insects and Infectious
Diseases, Paris, France. Expert reviewer, IPCC Working group II, chapter 8
(human health)
Dr. Zbigniew Jaworowski, physicist and chairman, Scientific Council of
Central Laboratory for Radiological Protection, Warsaw, Poland
Dr. Sonja Boehmer-Christiansen, reader, Dept. of Geography, University of
Hull, U.K.; editor, Energy & Environment
Dr. Hans H.J. Labohm, former advisor to the executive board, Clingendael
Institute (The Netherlands Institute of International Relations) and an
economist who has focused on climate change
Dr. Lee C. Gerhard, senior scientist emeritus, University of Kansas, past
director and state geologist, Kansas Geological Survey
Dr. Asmunn Moene, past head of the Forecasting Centre, Meteorological
Institute, Norway
Dr. August H. Auer, past professor of atmospheric science, University of
Wyoming; previously chief meteorologist, Meteorological Service (MetService)
of New Zealand
Dr. Vincent Gray, expert reviewer for the IPCC and author of The Greenhouse
Delusion: A Critique of 'Climate Change 2001,' Wellington, N.Z.
Dr. Howard Hayden, emeritus professor of physics, University of Connecticut
Dr Benny Peiser, professor of social anthropology, Faculty of Science,
Liverpool John Moores University, U.K.
Dr. Jack Barrett, chemist and spectroscopist, formerly with Imperial College
London, U.K.
Dr. William J.R. Alexander, professor emeritus, Dept. of Civil and
Biosystems Engineering, University of Pretoria, South Africa. Member, United
Nations Scientific and Technical Committee on Natural Disasters, 1994-2000
Dr. S. Fred Singer, professor emeritus of environmental sciences, University
of Virginia; former director, U.S. Weather Satellite Service
Dr. Harry N.A. Priem, emeritus professor of planetary geology and isotope
geophysics, Utrecht University; former director of the Netherlands Institute
for Isotope Geosciences; past president of the Royal Netherlands Geological
& Mining Society
Dr. Robert H. Essenhigh, E.G. Bailey professor of energy conversion, Dept.
of Mechanical Engineering, The Ohio State University
Dr. Sallie Baliunas, astrophysicist and climate researcher, Boston, Mass.
Douglas Hoyt, senior scientist at Raytheon (retired) and co-author of the
book The Role of the Sun in Climate Change; previously with NCAR, NOAA, and
the World Radiation Center, Davos, Switzerland
Dipl.-Ing. Peter Dietze, independent energy advisor and scientific climate
and carbon modeller, official IPCC reviewer, Bavaria, Germany
Dr. Boris Winterhalter, senior marine researcher (retired), Geological
Survey of Finland, former professor in marine geology, University of
Helsinki, Finland
Dr. Wibjorn Karlen, emeritus professor, Dept. of Physical Geography and
Quaternary Geology, Stockholm University, Sweden
Dr. Hugh W. Ellsaesser, physicist/meteorologist, previously with the
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Calif.; atmospheric consultant.
Dr. Art Robinson, founder, Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine, Cave
Junction, Ore.
Dr. Arthur Rorsch, emeritus professor of molecular genetics, Leiden
University, The Netherlands; past board member, Netherlands organization for
applied research (TNO) in environmental, food and public health
Dr. Alister McFarquhar, Downing College, Cambridge, U.K.; international
economist
Dr. Richard S. Courtney, climate and atmospheric science consultant, IPCC
expert reviewer, U.K.


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