Dec. 13, 2007
His Excellency Ban Ki-Moon
Secretary-General, United
Nations
New York, N.Y.
Dear Mr.
Secretary-General,
Re: UN climate conference
taking the World in entirely the wrong direction
It is not possible to stop
climate change, a natural phenomenon that has affected humanity
through the ages. Geological, archaeological, oral and written
histories all attest to the dramatic challenges posed to past
societies from unanticipated changes in temperature,
precipitation, winds and other climatic variables. We therefore
need to equip nations to become resilient to the full range of
these natural phenomena by promoting economic growth and wealth
generation.
The United Nations
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has issued
increasingly alarming conclusions about the climatic influences
of human-produced carbon dioxide (CO2), a non-polluting gas that
is essential to plant photosynthesis. While we understand the
evidence that has led them to view CO2 emissions as harmful, the
IPCC's conclusions are quite inadequate as justification for
implementing policies that will markedly diminish future
prosperity. In particular, it is not established that it is
possible to significantly alter global climate through cuts in
human greenhouse gas emissions. On top of which, because
attempts to cut emissions will slow development, the current UN
approach of CO2 reduction is likely to increase human suffering
from future climate change rather than to decrease it.
The IPCC Summaries for
Policy Makers are the most widely read IPCC reports amongst
politicians and non-scientists and are the basis for most
climate change policy formulation. Yet these Summaries are
prepared by a relatively small core writing team with the final
drafts approved line-by-line by government representatives. The
great majority of IPCC contributors and reviewers, and the tens
of thousands of other scientists who are qualified to comment on
these matters, are not involved in the preparation of these
documents. The summaries therefore cannot properly be
represented as a consensus view among experts.
Contrary to the impression
left by the IPCC Summary reports:
Recent observations of
phenomena such as glacial retreats, sea-level rise and the
migration of temperature-sensitive species are not evidence for
abnormal climate change, for none of these changes has been
shown to lie outside the bounds of known natural variability.
The average rate of
warming of 0.1 to 0. 2 degrees Celsius per decade recorded by
satellites during the late 20th century falls within known
natural rates of warming and cooling over the last 10,000 years.
Leading scientists,
including some senior IPCC representatives, acknowledge that
today's computer models cannot predict climate. Consistent with
this, and despite computer projections of temperature rises,
there has been no net global warming since 1998. That the
current temperature plateau follows a late 20th-century period
of warming is consistent with the continuation today of natural
multi-decadal or millennial climate cycling.
In stark contrast to the
often repeated assertion that the science of climate change is
"settled," significant new peer-reviewed research has cast even
more doubt on the hypothesis of dangerous human-caused global
warming. But because IPCC working groups were generally
instructed (see
http://ipcc-wg1.ucar.edu/wg1/docs/wg1_timetable_2006-08-14.pdf)
to consider work published only through May, 2005, these
important findings are not included in their reports; i.e., the
IPCC assessment reports are already materially outdated.
The UN climate conference
in Bali has been planned to take the world along a path of
severe CO2 restrictions, ignoring the lessons apparent from the
failure of the Kyoto Protocol, the chaotic nature of the
European CO2 trading market, and the ineffectiveness of other
costly initiatives to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Balanced
cost/benefit analyses provide no support for the introduction of
global measures to cap and reduce energy consumption for the
purpose of restricting CO2 emissions. Furthermore, it is
irrational to apply the "precautionary principle" because many
scientists recognize that both climatic coolings and warmings
are realistic possibilities over the medium-term future.
The current UN focus on
"fighting climate change," as illustrated in the Nov. 27 UN
Development Programme's Human Development Report, is distracting
governments from adapting to the threat of inevitable natural
climate changes, whatever forms they may take. National and
international planning for such changes is needed, with a focus
on helping our most vulnerable citizens adapt to conditions that
lie ahead. Attempts to prevent global climate change from
occurring are ultimately futile, and constitute a tragic
misallocation of resources that would be better spent on
humanity's real and pressing problems.
Yours faithfully,
The following are
signatories to the Dec. 13th letter to the Ban Ki-moon,
Secretary-General of the United Nations on the UN Climate
conference in Bali:
Don Aitkin, PhD,
Professor, social scientist, retired vice-chancellor and
president, University of Canberra, Australia
William J.R. Alexander,
PhD, Professor Emeritus, Dept. of Civil and Biosystems
Engineering, University of Pretoria, South Africa; Member, UN
Scientific and Technical Committee on Natural Disasters,
1994-2000
Bjarne Andresen, PhD,
physicist, Professor, The Niels Bohr Institute, University of
Copenhagen, Denmark
Geoff L. Austin, PhD,
FNZIP, FRSNZ, Professor, Dept. of Physics, University of
Auckland, New Zealand
Timothy F. Ball, PhD,
environmental consultant, former climatology professor,
University of Winnipeg
Ernst-Georg Beck, Dipl.
Biol., Biologist, Merian-Schule Freiburg, Germany
Sonja A.
Boehmer-Christiansen, PhD, Reader, Dept. of Geography, Hull
University, U.K.; Editor, Energy & Environment journal
Chris C. Borel, PhD,
remote sensing scientist, U.S.
Reid A. Bryson, PhD, DSc,
DEngr, UNE P. Global 500 Laureate; Senior Scientist, Center for
Climatic Research; Emeritus Professor of Meteorology, of
Geography, and of Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin
Dan Carruthers, M.Sc.,
wildlife biology consultant specializing in animal ecology in
Arctic and Subarctic regions, Alberta
R.M. Carter, PhD,
Professor, Marine Geophysical Laboratory, James Cook University,
Townsville, Australia
Ian D. Clark, PhD,
Professor, isotope hydrogeology and paleoclimatology, Dept. of
Earth Sciences, University of Ottawa
Richard S. Courtney, PhD,
climate and atmospheric science consultant, IPCC expert
reviewer, U.K.
Willem de Lange, PhD,
Dept. of Earth and Ocean Sciences, School of Science and
Engineering, Waikato University, New Zealand
David Deming, PhD
(Geophysics), Associate Professor, College of Arts and Sciences,
University of Oklahoma
Freeman J. Dyson, PhD,
Emeritus Professor of Physics, Institute for Advanced Studies,
Princeton, N.J.
Don J. Easterbrook, PhD,
Emeritus Professor of Geology, Western Washington University
Lance Endersbee, Emeritus
Professor, former dean of Engineering and Pro-Vice Chancellor of
Monasy University, Australia
Hans Erren, Doctorandus,
geophysicist and climate specialist, Sittard, The Netherlands
Robert H. Essenhigh, PhD,
E.G. Bailey Professor of Energy Conversion, Dept. of Mechanical
Engineering, The Ohio State University
Christopher Essex, PhD,
Professor of Applied Mathematics and Associate Director of the
Program in Theoretical Physics, University of Western Ontario
David Evans, PhD,
mathematician, carbon accountant, computer and electrical
engineer and head of 'Science Speak,' Australia
William Evans, PhD,
editor, American Midland Naturalist; Dept. of Biological
Sciences, University of Notre Dame
Stewart Franks, PhD,
Professor, Hydroclimatologist, University of Newcastle,
Australia
R. W. Gauldie, PhD,
Research Professor, Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and
Planetology, School of Ocean Earth Sciences and Technology,
University of Hawai'i at Manoa
Lee C. Gerhard, PhD,
Senior Scientist Emeritus, University of Kansas; former director
and state geologist, Kansas Geological Survey
Gerhard Gerlich, Professor
for Mathematical and Theoretical Physics, Institut für
Mathematische Physik der TU Braunschweig, Germany
Albrecht Glatzle, PhD,
sc.agr., Agro-Biologist and Gerente ejecutivo, INTTAS, Paraguay
Fred Goldberg, PhD,
Adjunct Professor, Royal Institute of Technology, Mechanical
Engineering, Stockholm, Sweden
Vincent Gray, PhD, expert
reviewer for the IPCC and author of The Greenhouse Delusion: A
Critique of 'Climate Change 2001, Wellington, New Zealand
William M. Gray, Professor
Emeritus, Dept. of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State
University and Head of the Tropical Meteorology Project
Howard Hayden, PhD,
Emeritus Professor of Physics, University of Connecticut
Louis Hissink MSc,
M.A.I.G., editor, AIG News, and consulting geologist, Perth,
Western Australia
Craig D. Idso, PhD,
Chairman, Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global
Change, Arizona
Sherwood B. Idso, PhD,
President, Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global
Change, AZ, USA
Andrei Illarionov, PhD,
Senior Fellow, Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity; founder
and director of the Institute of Economic Analysis
Zbigniew Jaworowski, PhD,
physicist, Chairman - Scientific Council of Central Laboratory
for Radiological Protection, Warsaw, Poland
Jon Jenkins, PhD, MD,
computer modelling - virology, NSW, Australia
Wibjorn Karlen, PhD,
Emeritus Professor, Dept. of Physical Geography and Quaternary
Geology, Stockholm University, Sweden
Olavi Kärner, Ph.D.,
Research Associate, Dept. of Atmospheric Physics, Institute of
Astrophysics and Atmospheric Physics, Toravere, Estonia
Joel M. Kauffman, PhD,
Emeritus Professor of Chemistry, University of the Sciences in
Philadelphia
David Kear, PhD, FRSNZ,
CMG, geologist, former Director-General of NZ Dept. of
Scientific & Industrial Research, New Zealand
Madhav Khandekar, PhD,
former research scientist, Environment Canada; editor, Climate
Research (2003-05); editorial board member, Natural Hazards;
IPCC expert reviewer 2007
William Kininmonth M.Sc.,
M.Admin., former head of Australia's National Climate Centre and
a consultant to the World Meteorological organization's
Commission for Climatology Jan J.H. Kop, MSc Ceng FICE (Civil
Engineer Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers), Emeritus
Prof. of Public Health Engineering, Technical University Delft,
The Netherlands
Prof. R.W.J. Kouffeld,
Emeritus Professor, Energy Conversion, Delft University of
Technology, The Netherlands
Salomon Kroonenberg, PhD,
Professor, Dept. of Geotechnology, Delft University of
Technology, The Netherlands
Hans H.J. Labohm, PhD,
economist, former advisor to the executive board, Clingendael
Institute (The Netherlands Institute of International
Relations), The Netherlands
The Rt. Hon. Lord Lawson
of Blaby, economist; Chairman of the Central Europe Trust;
former Chancellor of the Exchequer, U.K.
Douglas Leahey, PhD,
meteorologist and air-quality consultant, Calgary
David R. Legates, PhD,
Director, Center for Climatic Research, University of Delaware
Marcel Leroux, PhD,
Professor Emeritus of Climatology, University of Lyon, France;
former director of Laboratory of Climatology, Risks and
Environment, CNRS
Bryan Leyland,
International Climate Science Coalition, consultant and power
engineer, Auckland, New Zealand
William Lindqvist, PhD,
independent consulting geologist, Calif.
Richard S. Lindzen, PhD,
Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Meteorology, Dept. of Earth,
Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of
Technology
A.J. Tom van Loon, PhD,
Professor of Geology (Quaternary Geology), Adam Mickiewicz
University, Poznan, Poland; former President of the European
Association of Science Editors
Anthony R. Lupo, PhD,
Associate Professor of Atmospheric Science, Dept. of Soil,
Environmental, and Atmospheric Science, University of
Missouri-Columbia
Richard Mackey, PhD,
Statistician, Australia
Horst Malberg, PhD,
Professor for Meteorology and Climatology, Institut für
Meteorologie, Berlin, Germany
John Maunder, PhD,
Climatologist, former President of the Commission for
Climatology of the World Meteorological Organization (89-97),
New Zealand
Alister McFarquhar, PhD,
international economy, Downing College, Cambridge, U.K.
Ross McKitrick, PhD,
Associate Professor, Dept. of Economics, University of Guelph
John McLean, PhD, climate
data analyst, computer scientist, Australia
Owen McShane, PhD,
economist, head of the International Climate Science Coalition;
Director, Centre for Resource Management Studies, New Zealand
Fred Michel, PhD,
Director, Institute of Environmental Sciences and Associate
Professor of Earth Sciences, Carleton University
Frank Milne, PhD,
Professor, Dept. of Economics, Queen's University
Asmunn Moene, PhD, former
head of the Forecasting Centre, Meteorological Institute, Norway
Alan Moran, PhD, Energy
Economist, Director of the IPA's Deregulation Unit, Australia
Nils-Axel Morner, PhD,
Emeritus Professor of Paleogeophysics & Geodynamics, Stockholm
University, Sweden
Lubos Motl, PhD,
Physicist, former Harvard string theorist, Charles University,
Prague, Czech Republic
John Nicol, PhD, Professor
Emeritus of Physics, James Cook University, Australia
David Nowell, M.Sc.,
Fellow of the Royal Meteorological Society, former chairman of
the NATO Meteorological Group, Ottawa
James J. O'Brien, PhD,
Professor Emeritus, Meteorology and Oceanography, Florida State
University
Cliff Ollier, PhD,
Professor Emeritus (Geology), Research Fellow, University of
Western Australia
Garth W. Paltridge, PhD,
atmospheric physicist, Emeritus Professor and former Director of
the Institute of Antarctic and Southern Ocean Studies,
University of Tasmania, Australia
R. Timothy Patterson, PhD,
Professor, Dept. of Earth Sciences (paleoclimatology), Carleton
University
Al Pekarek, PhD, Associate
Professor of Geology, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Dept., St.
Cloud State University, Minnesota
Ian Plimer, PhD, Professor
of Geology, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences,
University of Adelaide and Emeritus Professor of Earth Sciences,
University of Melbourne, Australia
Brian Pratt, PhD,
Professor of Geology, Sedimentology, University of Saskatchewan
Harry N.A. Priem, PhD,
Emeritus Professor of Planetary Geology and Isotope Geophysics,
Utrecht University; former director of the Netherlands Institute
for Isotope Geosciences
Alex Robson, PhD,
Economics, Australian National University Colonel F.P.M.
Rombouts, Branch Chief - Safety, Quality and Environment, Royal
Netherland Air Force
R.G. Roper, PhD, Professor
Emeritus of Atmospheric Sciences, School of Earth and
Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology
Arthur Rorsch, PhD,
Emeritus Professor, Molecular Genetics, Leiden University, The
Netherlands
Rob Scagel, M.Sc., forest
microclimate specialist, principal consultant, Pacific
Phytometric Consultants, B.C.
Tom V. Segalstad, PhD,
(Geology/Geochemistry), Head of the Geological Museum and
Associate Professor of Resource and Environmental Geology,
University of Oslo, Norway
Gary D. Sharp, PhD, Center
for Climate/Ocean Resources Study, Salinas, CA
S. Fred Singer, PhD,
Professor Emeritus of Environmental Sciences, University of
Virginia and former director Weather Satellite Service
L. Graham Smith, PhD,
Associate Professor, Dept. of Geography, University of Western
Ontario
Roy W. Spencer, PhD,
climatologist, Principal Research Scientist, Earth System
Science Center, The University of Alabama, Huntsville
Peter Stilbs, TeknD,
Professor of Physical Chemistry, Research Leader, School of
Chemical Science and Engineering, KTH (Royal Institute of
Technology), Stockholm, Sweden
Hendrik Tennekes, PhD,
former director of research, Royal Netherlands Meteorological
Institute
Dick Thoenes, PhD,
Emeritus Professor of Chemical Engineering, Eindhoven University
of Technology, The Netherlands
Brian G Valentine, PhD, PE
(Chem.), Technology Manager - Industrial Energy Efficiency,
Adjunct Associate Professor of Engineering Science, University
of Maryland at College Park; Dept of Energy, Washington, DC
Gerrit J. van der Lingen,
PhD, geologist and paleoclimatologist, climate change
consultant, Geoscience Research and Investigations, New Zealand
Len Walker, PhD, Power
Engineering, Australia
Edward J. Wegman, PhD,
Department of Computational and Data Sciences, George Mason
University, Virginia
Stephan Wilksch, PhD,
Professor for Innovation and Technology Management, Production
Management and Logistics, University of Technolgy and Economics
Berlin, Germany
Boris Winterhalter, PhD,
senior marine researcher (retired), Geological Survey of
Finland, former professor in marine geology, University of
Helsinki, Finland
David E. Wojick, PhD,
P.Eng., energy consultant, Virginia
Raphael Wust, PhD,
Lecturer, Marine Geology/Sedimentology, James Cook University,
Australia
A. Zichichi, PhD,
President of the World Federation of Scientists, Geneva,
Switzerland; Emeritus Professor of Advanced Physics, University
of Bologna, Italy
Note: This was sent seven
years ago. Do you recall hearing anything of it? It was not
published by any American major media nor has anything about it
ever been published. Instead UN people continue to say "97%
of all scientists believe in man-caused global warming" and that
is not true.
Adrian Vance