Peer Repeatedly Asks Why Government Believes in Global Warming, Always Gets Same Answer: Because, Science

picture-25876-1571179299.jpg
on

Itโ€™s not just a broken record, itโ€™s a broken record that has been glued back together and put on an increasingly wonkyย turntable.

DeSmog UK previously revealed how climate science denying Lord Donoughue had been wasting ministers’ time and taxpayersโ€™ money by spamming the government with 25 questions over 15 months about obscure climateย models.

And heโ€™s at itย again.

Over the past five months he has asked Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) ministersย four times why they are confident saying the climate is warming. In each case, heโ€™s been pointed back to the mass of scientific research that shows itย is.

Donoughueโ€™s questions are not a surprise. He sits on the board of trustees of former chancellor Nigel Lawsonโ€™s climate science denying think tank, the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF).

The gist of Donoughueโ€™s questions is that he wants to know why the government is so sure global temperature rises are not down to natural variability โ€“ a well-trodden climate science denialistย path.

Ministers have pointed out that if he looks at the most cutting-edge climate science, such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Changeโ€™s Fifth Assessment Report (AR5), he will see that โ€œit is virtually certain (>99% probability) that natural internal variability alone cannot account for the observed increase in global surfaceย temperaturesโ€.

Another GWPF associate, Peter Lilley MP, was given a similar response recently when he asked about snow and iceย decline.

Donoughueโ€™s recent questions comeย around the same time that the GWPF released a new report, speculating that contemporary global temperatures are in line with naturalย variation.

The report claimed to be the first to be based on โ€œobservations onlyโ€, thereby excluding lots ofย sophisticated climateย modelling.

The report was quickly dismissed by scientists, not least because many other mainstream scientific institutions also regularly release reports based on observations, while coming to ย a very different conclusion โ€“ that recent warming trends are very much outside the realms of naturalย variability.

UK Met Office climate scientist Mark McCarthy helpfully provided the GWPF with links to a few suchย reports:

The author of the GWPF report, Ole Humlum, is a geologist on the fringes of climate science. Back in 2011, Humlum wrongly predicted that northern Europe and the โ€œEuropean part of the Arcticโ€ would experience โ€œsome cooling for the coming 5-7ย yearsโ€.

Dr Humlum did not respond to DeSmog UKโ€™s repeated requests for comment, asking whether the GWPF report had been peer-reviewed, and whether he had received any payment for theย work.

Updated 03/04/2017: The spelling of Lord Donoughue’s name was corrected in paragraphย nine.

Main image credit: Mat Hope CC BYSA

Get Weekly News Updates

picture-25876-1571179299.jpg
Mat was DeSmog's Special Projects and Investigations Editor, and Operations Director of DeSmog UK Ltd. He was DeSmog UKโ€™s Editor from October 2017 to March 2021, having previously been an editor at Nature Climate Change and analyst at Carbon Brief.

Related Posts

Analysis
on

Oil patch advocate Lisa Baiton called for more extraction and less regulation at Vancouver address that didnโ€™t once mention climate change.

Oil patch advocate Lisa Baiton called for more extraction and less regulation at Vancouver address that didnโ€™t once mention climate change.
on

PA-based CEO Toby Rice hobnobbed with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago. Now heโ€™s poised for pipelines, exports, and profits.

PA-based CEO Toby Rice hobnobbed with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago. Now heโ€™s poised for pipelines, exports, and profits.
on

Longtime DeSmog reporter and author of The Petroleum Papers will play a key leadership role as we investigate a global resurgence of climate obstruction.

Longtime DeSmog reporter and author of The Petroleum Papers will play a key leadership role as we investigate a global resurgence of climate obstruction.
on

Victoria Hewson called the 2050 ambition a โ€œhuge own goalโ€ while working for a Tufton Street think tank.

Victoria Hewson called the 2050 ambition a โ€œhuge own goalโ€ while working for a Tufton Street think tank.