Patrick Michaels

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).

Patrick J. Michaels (born February 15, 1950) is a Research Professor of Environmental Sciences at the University of Virginia. He has been the university's Climatologist for Virginia since 1980 [1] [2]. His professional specialty was the influence of climate on agriculture. Although Michaels agrees with the basics of greenhouse theory and acknowledges a warming earth, he is a well known global warming skeptic. Michaels contends that the changes will be minor not catastrophic and even beneficial in many cases. He has written extensive editorials on this topic for the mass media and for publications such as Regulation[3].

He has received substantial financial support (in research funding and consulting fees) from the fossil-fuel energy industry.[4] He is a fellow of the Cato Institute and edits the World Climate Report, published and funded by the Western Fuels Association through WFA's Greening Earth Society.

His work has been published in Climate Research, Climatic Change and Geophysical Research Letters. He is the author of several books including: Sound and Fury: The Science and Politics of Global Warming, 1992, Satanic Gases, as coauthor 2002, Meltdown: The Predictable Distortion of Global Warming by Scientists, Politicians and the Media, published by the Cato Institute, 2004, and Shattered Consensus: The True State of Global Warming as editor and coauthor, 2005.

Contents

[edit] View on Climate Change

Michaels maintains that current and future warming will occur at the low end of the range IPCC assessments:

[S]cientists know quite precisely how much the planet will warm in the foreseeable future, a modest three-quarters of a degree (C) [in 50 years]
All this has to do with basic physics, which isn't real hard to understand. It has been known since 1872 that as we emit more and more carbon dioxide into our atmosphere, each increment results in less and less warming. In other words, the first changes produce the most warming, and subsequent ones produce a bit less, and so on. But we also assume carbon dioxide continues to go into the atmosphere at an ever-increasing rate. In other words, the increase from year-to-year isn't constant, but itself is increasing. The effect of increasing the rate of carbon dioxide emissions, coupled with the fact that more and more carbon dioxide produces less and less warming compels our climate projections for the future warming to be pretty much a straight line. Translation: Once human beings start to warm the climate, they do so at a constant rate. [5]

This "linear" view is not accepted by most climate scientists.

[edit] Attempted betting on global warming

Like global warming skeptics Richard Lindzen and William M. Gray, Michaels' World Climate Report offered in late 1998 "to wager that the 10-year period beginning in January 1998 and extending through December 2007 will show a statistically significant downward trend in the monthly satellite record of global temperatures."[6] Climatologist James Annan, who has offered multiple bets that global temperatures will increase,[7] learned of the offer in 2005 and contacted the Report to arrange a bet.[8] An editor from World Climate Report responded, reneging on the original bet offer and declining to make a new bet starting from the present.

December 2007 has yet to arrive but average global temperatures have risen since January 1998. [9]. While 1998 was an exceptionally hot year (a fact known when the bet was offered), the stated terms mean that the relevant comparison is between the end of 1997 and the end of 2007.

[edit] CFCs and ozone

Michaels has criticised predictions of thinning of the ozone layer over the Arctic, and of increasing ultraviolet radiation reaching the surface of the earth, in the absence of a phaseout CFC emissions. The Montreal Protocol of 1987 required such a phaseout.[citation needed]

[edit] Intermountain Rural Electric Association

In a July 27, 2006 ABC News report, it was revealed that a Colorado energy cooperative, the Intermountain Rural Electric Association, had given Michaels $100,000. The report noted that the cooperative has a vested interest in opposing mandatory carbon dioxide caps. The wider context of the report concerned entities within the fossil fuel industry giving money to scientists. [10]

[edit] State Climatologist

In 2006, the Governor of Virginia, Timothy M. Kaine (D) clarified that Virginia does not have an official state climatologist. Evidently, former Gov. John Dalton (R) had bestowed this honorary title on Michaels. In a letter sent to the University of Virginia by Secretary of the Commonwealth Katherine Hanley, the administration of Gov. Timothy M. Kaine Kaine clarified that the code of Virginia "does not provide for the governor to appoint a state climatologist."[11]. Hanley made it clear that Patrick J. Michaels works for the university, not the state government. Michaels was asked to "avoid any conflict of interest or appearance thereof by scrupulously avoiding the use of the title of 'state climatologist' in connection with any outside activities or private consulting endeavors."[12].


[edit] Selected Publications

[edit] Science Papers

[edit] Books

  • Michaels, Patrick J. (October 1992). Sound and Fury: The Science and Politics of Global Warming (in English). Cato Institute, 196. ISBN 0932790895. 
  • Michaels, Patrick J. (May 15, 2000). The Satanic Gases (in English). Cato Institute, 224. ISBN 1882577922. 
  • Michaels (October 25, 2005). Meltdown: The Predictable Distortion of Global Warming by Scientists, Politicians, and the Media. Cato Institute, 280. ISBN 1930865791. 
  • Michaels, Patrick J. (December 28, 2005). Shattered Consensus: The True State of Global Warming. Rowman & Littlefield, 304. ISBN 0742549232. 

[edit] References

  1. ^ Kessler, Aaron. "State: Climatologist appointed by university", The Daily Progress (Charlottesville, VA), August 19, 2006. Retrieved on 2007-02-25. ““The Code of Virginia does not provide for the governor to appoint a state climatologist,” [Secretary of the Commonwealth] Hanley wrote. “My office has been unable to find evidence that any governor since 1980 has made such an appointment."”
  2. ^ Santos, Carlos. "Climatologist request made", Richmond (VA) Times-Dispatch, August 19, 2006. Retrieved on 2007-02-25. “"Michaels, who has been the [University's] state climatologist since 1980, has come under fire after news reports last month said a Colorado utility raised at least $150,000 in donations and pledges to help him analyze other scientists' global-warming research."”
  3. ^ Michaels, Patrick; Paul C. Knappenberger, and Robert E. Davis (Fall 2000). The Way of Warming. Regulation. Retrieved on 2007-03-14.
  4. ^ Gelbspan, Ross (December 1995). The Heat is On: The warming of the world's climate sparks a blaze of denial. Harpers Magazine. Retrieved on 2007-03-14.
  5. ^ Michaels, Patrick J.. Posturing and reality on warming. Washington Times. Retrieved on 2007-03-14.
  6. ^ Logic Goes Extinct As Press Overplays Overpeck. World Climate Report (December 28, 1998). Retrieved on 2007-03-14.
  7. ^ Annan, James (June 6, 2005). 3 more non-bets on climate change. James' Empty Blog. Retrieved on 2007-03-14.
  8. ^ Annan, James (May 24, 2005). Yet more betting on climate with World Climate Report. James' Empty Blog. Retrieved on 2007-03-14.
  9. ^ Global Temperatures (graph). The University of Alabama in Huntsville (2005). Retrieved on 2007-03-14.
  10. ^ Sandell, Clayton, Bill Blakemore. "ABC News Reporting Cited As Evidence In Congressional Hearing On Global Warming", ABC News, July 27, 2006. Retrieved on 2007-03-14.
  11. ^ Kessler, Aaron. "State: Climatologist appointed by university Michaels no longer Virginia official", The Daily Progress, August 19, 2006. Retrieved on 2007-03-14.
  12. ^ Szkotak, Steve. "Virginia asks state climatologist to limit use of title", Associated Press, WVEC, August 19, 2006. Retrieved on 2007-03-14.

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../p/a/t/Patrick_Michaels_a475.html"