Is 60 scientists enough for you, Salvatore?
More scientists call for reexamination of Kyoto:
Open Kyoto to debate
Sixty scientists call on Harper to revisit the science of global
warming
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Font: * * * * Special to the Financial Post
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.
© National Post 2006
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