Climate Denial 101

Period.

Footnotes

1. In climate science publications temperature trends are generally presented as deviations from a baseline average to make the actual magnitude of the changes more apparent. These are referred to as anomalies from the referenced datum.
2. There are literally dozens of these fronts, all well-funded by industry and Far-Right foundations, and with official-sounding names carefully crafted to give the appearance of neutral science.
3. Astroturf fronts routinely give their publications, websites, and events names that closely mimic those of legitimate institutions to superficially leech their respectability with audiences that don't pay close attention (which sadly, is all too often true of the general public). In this case “ICCC” is a thinly-veiled attempt to mimic the IPCC—an international organization of the world’s most respected scientists in climate-relevant fields, and the world’s leading climate change authority. Likewise, realclimate.org is an informative, and widely respected blog run by some of the world’s leading climate scientists (a few of whom I know). But realclimatescience.com is a blog run by anti-environmental activist Tony Heller who until recently hid behind the online sockpuppet “Steven Goddard,” no doubt to hide the fact that he has no formal training whatsoever in any climate-relevant field (Heller still uses this sockpuppet in many forums, even after admitting to it in 2014). He is well-known for recklessness with climate facts and bizarre conspiracy theories (including his 2019 claim that NASA has been deliberately falsifying global surface temperature records from as long ago as the mid-1800’s, originally published in the John Birch Society publication the New American). These and other claims of Heller’s have been repeatedly debunked (Johnson, 2019; Boyer, 2016; Greenburg, 2014), and his track record has gone far enough off the rails that even prominent climate skeptics have begun to distance themselves from him (Bailey, 2014).
4. He was part of the IPCC and as such, a Nobel recipient with Al Gore. So… for better or worse, I now have the dubious distinction of being the only guy I know ever to have received hate mail from a Nobel Laureate. ☺

References

Bailey, R. 2014. Did NASA/NOAA Dramatically Alter U.S. Temperatures After 2000? Reason, June 23, 2014. Online at https://reason.com/2014/06/23/did-nasanoaa-dramatically-alter-us-tempe/. Accessed July 31, 2023.

Bickmore, B.R. (2010). Monckton makes it up. RealClimate, Aug. 7, 2010. Available online at www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2010/08/monckton-makes-it-up/. Accessed Apr. 17, 2010.

Church, S. (2005). Climate Change & Tropospheric Temperature Trends: Part I - What do we know today and where is it taking us? ScottChurchDirect, Feb. 10, 2005. Available online at www.scottchurchdirect.com/docs/MSU-Troposphere-Review01.pdf. Accessed Apr. 13, 2017.

Church, S. (2005b). Climate Change & Tropospheric Temperature Trends: Part II - A Critical Examination of Skeptic Claims. ScottChurchDirect, Feb. 10, 2005. Available online at www.scottchurchdirect.com/docs/MSU-Troposphere-Skeptic01.pdf. Accessed Apr. 13, 2017.

Colose, C. (2008). Easterbrook and the coming 'Global Cooling.' Chris Colose WordPress Blog, Nov. 11, 2008. Available online at https://chriscolose.wordpress.com/2008/11/11/easterbrook-and-the-coming-global-cooling/. Accessed Apr. 17, 2017.

Easterbrook, D. (2012). Are Forecasts of a 20-Year Cooling Trend Credible? Heartland Institute. Presented at the 7th annual International Conference on Climate Change. May 2012. Video available at http://climateconferences.heartland.org/don-easterbrook-iccc7/. PowerPoint slides at http://climateconferences.heartland.org/wp-content/uploads/Powerpoints/ICCC7/Easterbrook_Don.ppt. Accessed Apr. 12, 2017.

Ferrara, P. (2012). Sorry Global Warming Alarmists, The Earth Is Cooling. Forbes. May 31, 2012. Available online at www.forbes.com/sites/peterferrara/2012/05/31/sorry-global-warming-alarmists-the-earth-is-cooling/. Accessed Apr. 6, 2017.

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Hansen, J. (2005). Michael Crichton’s “Scientific Method.” Columbia University, J. Hansen Communications, Sept. 27, 2005. Available online at www.mediafire.com/view/2mobtu52t0tk58k/20050927_Crichton.pdf. Accessed Apr. 14, 2017.

Hays, J.D., J. Imbrie, & N.J. Shackleton. (1976). Variations in the Earth's Orbit: Pacemaker of the Ice Ages. Science, 194 (4270), pp. 1121-1132. Available online at www.researchgate.net/profile/J_Hays/publication/301325552_Variations_in_the_Earth_pacemaker_of_the_ice_ages/links/573cca0c08ae9ace840fe240.pdf. Accessed Apr. 13, 2017.

Lambert, T. (2006). Pat Michaels: "fraud, pure and simple." Deltoid, June 5, 2006. Available online at http://scienceblogs.com/deltoid/2006/06/05/pat-michaels-fraud-pure-and-si/. Accessed Apr. 14, 2017.

Housfather, Z. 2017. Major correction to satellite data shows 140% faster warming since 1998. CarbonBrief, June 30, 2017. Available online at https://www.carbonbrief.org/major-correction-to-satellite-data-shows-140-faster-warming-since-1998/. Accessed July 31, 2023.

Johnson, S. 2019. NASA did not create global warming by manipulating data. Climate Feedback, June 26, 2019. Available online at https://climatefeedback.org/claimreview/nasa-did-not-create-global-warming-by-manipulating-data-tony-heller-steven-goddard/. Accessed July 31, 2023.

Lambert, T. (2008). Steve McIntyre defends Pat Michaels’ fraud. Deltoid, Jan. 17, 2008. Available online at http://scienceblogs.com/deltoid/2008/01/17/steve-mcintyre-defends-pat-mic/. Accessed Apr. 14, 2017.

Krugman, P. (2006). Swift Boating the Planet. New York Times, May 29, 2006. Available online at http://select.nytimes.com/2006/05/29/opinion/29krugman.html?n=Top%2fOpinion%2fEditorials%20and%20Op-Ed%2fOp-Ed%2fColumnists%2fPaul%20Krugman&pagewanted=print. Accessed Apr. 14, 2017.

Mears, C. A., & Wentz, F. J. (2005). The effect of diurnal correction on satellite-derived lower tropospheric temperature. Science, 309 (5740), pp. 1548-1551. Available online at http://images.remss.com/papers/rsspubs/Mears_Science_2005_Diurnal.pdf. Accessed Apr. 13, 2017.

Mears, C.A. and Wentz, F.J., 2017. A satellite-derived lower-tropospheric atmospheric temperature dataset using an optimized adjustment for diurnal effects. Journal of Climate, 30 (19), pp.7695-7718. Available online at https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/clim/30/19/jcli-d-16-0768.1.xml. Accessed July 31, 2023.

Michaels, P.J. (1998). Kyoto Protocol: A Useless Appendage to an Irrelevant Treaty. Testimony of Patrick J. Michaels, Professor of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia, and Senior Fellow in Environmental Studies at Cato Institute before the Committee on Small Business, United States House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Available online at www.cato.org/publications/congressional-testimony/kyoto-protocol-useless-appendage-irrelevant-treaty. Accessed Apr. 13, 2017.