The media, politicians, billionaires and now some Royals are telling us that the science is settled. Their narrative is that there is a consensus among 97% of scientist that manmade CO2 is heating the planet up too fast. But who did the research on all of this and how did they come to this conclusion.
First and foremost “consensus” is not a word used in science. Consensus is a political term. The scientific method has, since Galileo, been founded on skepticism. A hypothesis or theory is put forward and other scientist consider it and try to disprove it.
Over the coming weeks we will attempt to “draw back the curtain” on behind the scenes activity and planning which has brought us to where we are now. And to
Professor Richard Linden Nobel Laureate and lead author of IPCC’s Chapter 7, “Physical Climate Processes and Feedbacks,” 2005 Assessment Report said:
“ Those who say the science is settled, have stepped outside the science”
German Physicist and meteorologist Klaus-Eckart Plus said in May 2012
“ Ten years ago I simply parroted what the IPCC told us. One day I started checking the facts and data; first I started with a sense of doubt, but then I became outraged when I discovered that much of what the IPCC and the media were telling us was sheer nonsense and was not even supported by any scientific facts and measurements. To this day I feel shame that as a scientist I made presentations of their science without first checking it. …. scientifically it is sheer absurdity to think we can get a nice climate by turning a CO2 adjustment knob.”
So we are told that there is a consensus between 97 percent of scientists that global warming/climate change is created by man made release of CO2. This figure was arrived at through selective statistics and subjective assessment of science papers and surveys of academic organisations.
To summarise:
The 97 percent picked up by Al Gore, was based on a University of Illinois survey sent to 10,000 people in 2009. They received 3,146 replies. Of those who identified as meteorologists/climate experts (77 people) 75 felt that “human activity was a significant factor in temperature increase since 1850. 75 divided by 77 is 97 percent. So they took 97 percent of 2 percent of the respondents.
A further review in 2013 done by John Cook of Monash University in Australia, claimed to have reviewed 12,000 papers on climate and that 97 percent endorsed the consensus. In fact 66 percent had no view at all on the consensus. The university said 33 percent of the 34 percent agreed with the consensus. So 33/34 equals 97 percent. Barrack Obama’s Tweet referred to this claim.
There is much more history that could be covered in a longer article, however the above may cause you to look at mainstream media stories with a level of skepticism. Science is not politics and politics is not science, although some may think it is. Group think has been orchestrated by clever band of bureaucrats with agendas unrelated to global warming and climate. The science methods of the past 300 plus years should not be abused by people with interests outside the seeking of the truth.
Next in the Science is Settled series?: How the IPCC was created and its methods structured?
By Climate Realist.
Image amended from here.
