Wobbly Universe

Oil Giants' Money Fuels Climate of Suspicion

Last night, 16th August 2007, I was reading the 13th January 2007 issue of New Scientist, and I came across an article on page 14 that explained at least some of the things that have caused me problems in investigating the facts of climate change. The article states that between 1998 and 2005 ExxonMobil spent US$16,000,000 on funding research at 43 bodies that were critical of claims of climate change, such as Frontiers of Freedom in the apparent expectation that these groups will propagate disinformation about global warming even when what they are publicising has been shown to be wrong.

In 1998 ExxonMobil-sponsored promoted a report that said that carbon dioxide emissions posed no warming threat. The report was authored by, amoung others, Slly Baliunas, and astrophysicist affiliated with at least nine ExxonMobil funded groups. In 2003 Baliunas published a review paper in Climate Research (vol 23, p 89) claiming that the climate had not changed significantly in the past millenium. Her conclusions were challenged by 13 scientists whose work she cited, but ExxonMobil-funded groups have continued to promote it.

The above was added on 17th August 2007. Based on this the following should be treated with great suspicion.

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Some quotes from Sally Baliunas from the above article in Reason magazine ...

"We're trying to subtract the sun's influence [from climate fluctuations caused by other sources]. The sun is particularly good at explaining this early 20th-century warming, which can't have been caused by the greenhouse gases. If we had a good prediction for what the sun would do next, given the past calibrations that we've done, we then could make a prediction. But we're not at the point where we can predict what the sun will do 50 years from now."

Referring to the previous IPCC report she said "The IPCC report actually is very careful to say that the models have not been validated. That tells you that you can't make a prediction with them. The executive summary says that there's a discernible human influence, but the information in the chapter on which that conclusion was based has been overturned by the scientific process. The report is obsolete."

Of course the next IPCC report is now out.

See Also:
Causes of Climate Change Over the Past 1000 Years
Humans vs Sun as cause for climate change
Astronomer Sallie Baliunas on sunspots, global warming, ...
Global Warming - Humans and/or the Sun? ... and more!
Sun more active than for a millennium
Sally Baliunas inteviewed on Solar Fluctuations and Global Warming
Interview: James Lovelock on Climate Change
Humans, Cycles, Sun or Ice-ages - What affects our climate most?
Sun's fickle heart may leave us cold