Roy Spencer

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For other uses, see: Roy Spencer (disambiguation).

Roy Spencer is a principal research scientist for University of Alabama in Huntsville. In the past, he served as Senior Scientist for Climate Studies at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Dr. Spencer is the recipient of NASA's Medal for Exceptional Scientific Achievement.

He is principally known for his satellite-based temperature monitoring work, for which he was awarded the American Meteorological Society's Special Award. He is also a vocal supporter of intelligent design and is skeptical of the view that human activity is primarily responsible for global warming.

Contents

[edit] Views on global warming

In several self-published articles[citation needed] Spencer has espoused opinions that are skeptical of the scientific opinion on global warming.

In 2006 Spencer criticized Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth saying, "For instance, Mr. Gore claims that the Earth is now warmer than it has been in thousands of years. Yet the latest National Academies of Science (NAS) report on the subject has now admitted that all we really know is that we are warmer now than we were during the last 400 years, which is mostly made up of the 'Little Ice Age.'" [1] The NAS report [2] states:

"The basic conclusion of Mann et al. (1998, 1999) was that the late 20th century warmth in the Northern Hemisphere was unprecedented during at least the last 1,000 years. This conclusion has subsequently been supported by an array of evidence .... Based on the analyses presented in the original papers by Mann et al. and this newer supporting evidence, the committee finds it plausible that the Northern Hemisphere was warmer during the last few decades of the 20th century than during any comparable period over the preceding millennium. The substantial uncertainties currently present in the quantitative assessment of large-scale surface temperature changes prior to about A.D. 1600 lower our confidence in this conclusion compared to the high level of confidence we place in the Little Ice Age cooling and 20th century warming."

In a New York Post opinion column on February 26, 2007, Spencer wrote:

Contrary to popular accounts, very few scientists in the world - possibly none - have a sufficiently thorough, "big picture" understanding of the climate system to be relied upon for a prediction of the magnitude of global warming. To the public, we all might seem like experts, but the vast majority of us work on only a small portion of the problem.

[1]

In an interview with conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh on February 28, 2007, Spencer stated that he doesn't believe "catastrophic manmade global warming" is occurring. He also criticized climate models, saying "The people that have built the climate models that predict global warming believe they have sufficient physics in those models to predict the future. I believe they don't. I believe the climate system, the weather as it is today in the real world shows a stability that they do not yet have in those climate models." [3]

He testified before the Waxman committee's examination of political interference with climate science on March 19, 2007.[2][3]

Spencer is listed as a member of the Heartland Institute and a contributor to the George C. Marshall Institute.

[edit] Views on Intelligent design

In support of Intelligent design, Spencer wrote in 2005, "Twenty years ago, as a PhD scientist, I intensely studied the evolution versus intelligent design controversy for about two years. And finally, despite my previous acceptance of evolutionary theory as 'fact,' I came to the realization that intelligent design, as a theory of origins, is no more religious, and no less scientific, than evolutionism. . . . In the scientific community, I am not alone. There are many fine books out there on the subject. Curiously, most of the books are written by scientists who lost faith in evolution as adults, after they learned how to apply the analytical tools they were taught in college." [4]

[edit] See also

[edit] Awards

  1. 1989: MSFC Center Director’s Commendation
  2. 1990: Alabama House of Representatives Resolution #624
  3. 1991: NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal (with John Christy)
  4. 1996: AMS Special Award "for developing a global, precise record of earth's temperature from operational polar-orbiting satellites, fundamentally advancing our ability to monitor climate." (with John Christy)[5]

[edit] Selected Papers

  1. Spencer, R.W., and W.D. Braswell, 1997: How dry is the tropical free troposphere? Implications for global warming theory. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 78.
  2. Christy, John R., R.W. Spencer, and W.D. Braswell, 1997: How accurate are satellite thermometers? Nature, 25 September.
  3. Spencer, R.W., J.R. Christy, and N.C. Grody, 1996: Analysis of "Examination of ‘Global atmospheric temperature monitoring with satellite microwave measurements’". Climatic Change, 33, 477-489.
  4. Spencer, R.W., W. M. Lapenta, and F. R. Robertson, 1995: Vorticity and vertical motions diagnosed from satellite deep layer temperatures. Mon. Wea. Rev., 123,1800-1810.
  5. Christy, J.R., R.W. Spencer, and R.T. McNider, 1995: Reducing noise in the MSU daily lower-tropospheric temperature dataset. J. Climate, 8, 888-896.
  6. Spencer, R.W., R.E. Hood, F.J. LaFontaine, E.A. Smith, R. Platt, J. Galliano, V.L. Griffin, and E. Lobl, 1994: High-resolution imaging of rain systems with the Advanced Microwave Precipitation Radiometer. J. Atmos. Oceanic Tech., 11, 849-857.
  7. Spencer, R.W., 1994: Global temperature monitoring from space. Adv. Space Res., 14, (1)69-(1)75.
  8. Spencer, R.W., 1993: Global oceanic precipitation from the MSU during 1979-92 and comparisons to other climatologies. J. Climate, 6, 1301-1326.
  9. Spencer, R.W., and J.R. Christy, 1993: Precision lower stratospheric temperature monitoring with the MSU: Technique, validation, and results 1979-91. J. Climate, 6, 1301-1326.
  10. Spencer, R.W., and J.R. Christy, 1992a: Precision and radiosonde validation of satellite gridpoint temperature anomalies, Part I: MSU channel 2. J. Climate, 5, 847-857.
  11. Spencer, R.W., and J.R. Christy, 1992b: Precision and radiosonde validation of satellite gridpoint temperature anomalies, Part II: A tropospheric retrieval and trends during 1979-90. J. Climate, 5, 858-866.
  12. Spencer, R.W., J.R. Christy, and N.C. Grody, 1990: Global atmospheric temperature monitoring with satellite microwave measurements: Method and results, 1979-84. J. Climate, 3, 1111-1128.
  13. Spencer, R.W., and J.R. Christy, 1990: Precise monitoring of global temperature trends from satellites. Science, 247, 1558-1562.
  14. Spencer, R.W., D.W. Martin, B.B. Hinton, and J.A. Weinman, 1983: Satellite microwave radiances correlated with radar rain rates over land. Nature, 304, 141-143.

[edit] References

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
  1. ^ Spencer, Roy W.. "NOT THAT SIMPLE / GLOBAL WARMING: WHAT WE DON'T KNOW", New York Post, 2007-02-26. Retrieved on April 7, 2007.
  2. ^ Spencer, Roy W. (2007-03-19). STATEMENT TO THE COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM OF THE UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES (PDF). House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Retrieved on March 7, 2007.
  3. ^ Committee Examines Political Interference with Climate Science. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (2007-03-19).
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