David Bellamy (Deceased)

Credentials  

• Honorary Dr. of Science, Bournemouth University (1999). [1], [2]
• PhD. [2]
• BSc. [2]
• OBE. [2]
• DUniv. [2]
• FLS. [2]
• FIBiol. [2]

Background

David J. Bellamy OBE (born 1933) was an English professor, botanist, author, broadcaster and environmental campaigner. He passed away in December 2019. [28]

Bellamy wrote a 2004 article in the Daily Mail, which lambasted mainstream positions on climate change, prompted environmental writer Mark Lynas to ask “Has David Bellamy gone mad?” [3]

A typographical error in a letter he published in the New Scientist on April 16th, 2005, suggested a large percentage (555 of 625) of the world’s glaciers were advancing, not retreating. George Monbiot investigated and found the claim to be untrue and misleading. Bellamy subseqently admitted that his figures were incorrect, and also announced he had “decided to draw back from the debate on global warming.” [4], [24]

On May 25, 2005, The Times reported that Bellamy would likely lose his role as president of Plantlife International and the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts, two organizations that have actively warned of the dangers plants and wildlife face due to climate change. “They have been acutely embarrassed to discover that while they have been campaigning to raise awareness, their president has been leading seminars and writing articles in science magazines declaring that man-made warming is a myth,” The Times noted. [5]

Bellamy has opposed wind farms in undeveloped areas, first getting involved in the issue in 1996.  although doesn’t always appear to have held anti-wind views. He was once enthusiastic about wind power in the 1989 educational video Power from the Wind, which was produced by Britain’s Central Electricity Generating Board. [25], [22]

Bellamy has claimed his views on climate change were responsible for the end of his TV career, claiming he was “shunned” because “they didn’t want to hear the other side.” His TV prominence began in the late 1960s, after being an environmental consultant during the Torrey Canyon disaster. He later appeared on “Life in Our Sea” on the BBC.

Stance on Climate Change

November 19, 2009

Bellamy was quoted in a short profile piece at The Telegraph: [19]

“I’m sceptical about man-made climate change. There’s absolutely no proof that carbon dioxide will kill us all. It’s not a poison, it’s the most important gas in the world. Carbon dioxide is an airborne fertiliser. How can farmers grow increasing amounts of food without a rise in CO2?”

January 2005

According to The Times, Bellamy had given a keynote speech at the Royal Institution in London where he declared:

“Global warming is a largely natural phenomenon. The world is wasting stupendous amounts of money on trying to fix something that can’t be fixed.” [5]

July 9, 2004

In an article in The Daily Mail titled “GLOBAL WARMING? What a Load of Poppycock!” Bellamy said he believed that: [21]

“[G]lobal warmig is largely a natural phenomenon that has been with us for 13,000 years and probably isn’t causing us any harm anyway […]”

1989

In the preface to the 1989 book, The Greenhouse Effect, Bellamy was quoted: [20]

“The profligate demands of humankind are causing far reaching changes to the atmosphere of planet Earth, of this there is no doubt. Earth’s temperature is showing an upward swing, the so-called greenhouse effect, now a subject of international concern. The greenhouse effect may melt the glaciers and ice caps of the world causing the sea to rise and flood many of our great cities and much of our best farmland.”

Key Quotes

October, 2011

Quoted in an interview with The Journal, Bellamy was critical of wind turbines: [25]

“Every turbine you put up has to have back-up electricity produced because the wind goes up and down, it is inconsistent.

“Wind farms are totally useless environmentally. But there are people who are getting a vast amount of money just to put these things up. And who pays for them? The people who use the electricity in Britain. The more wind farms we put up the more electricity costs.

“I’ve noticed the impact of wind farms on Country Durham, you can’t fail to.

“Its not just me, I’ve worked with artists going around painting what these stunning landscapes would look like with these monsters going up. There’s a number of areas in Weardale and Teesdale where there are proposals in and they could happen. But I’m keeping up the campaigning.”

March , 2009

In an interview at The Daily Express, reported on by George Monbiot at The Guardian, Bellamy had said of peer-reviewed journals: [27]

“[P]eer-reviewed journals – it’s the last thing I would use now.”

June 24, 2007

In an article titled “The Global Warming Myth” at The New Zealand Centre for Political Research, Bellamy wrote:

“I don’t like being called a denier because deniers don’t believe in facts. There are no facts linking the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide with imminent catastrophic global warming there are only predictions based on complex computer models.” [6]

April 13, 2005

In a submission to New Scientist, Bellamy wrote:

”[…] [I]t should be pointed out that glaciers in many other parts of the world are not shrinking but in fact are growing. […] Indeed, if you take all the evidence that is rarely mentioned by the Kyotoists into consideration, 555 of all the 625 glaciers under observation have been growing since 1980.” [7]

Key Deeds

March 30, 2009

Bellamy is a signatory to displayed full-page ad funded by the CATO institute that appeared in numerous newspapers including The Washington Post, The New York Times, and the Chicago Tribune in 2009.

The advertisement criticizes President Obama’s declaration that “few challenges facing America and the world are more urgent than combating climate change,” claiming that “with all due respect Mr. President, that is not true.”

The ad claims “there has been no net global warming for over a decade,” and that the dangers associated with global warming are “grossly overstated.” [8]

September 9, 2009

Bellamy went on New Zealand’s 3 news for an interview on his views on climate change: [26]

“For the last 10 years, man-made global warming […] has stopped,” Bellamy said. “Because temperatures have gone down.” He added “Where’ heading for 30 years, pretty cold.”

March 3, 2008

Bellamy spoke at the Heartland Institute‘s 2008 First International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC1). He participated in a panel titled “Track 2: Climatology” with Kesten Green,  Scott Armstrong, and Fredrick Seitz. [23]

February 5,  2007

Featured speaker at the press conference for the Fraser Institute 2007 Independent Summary for Policymakers. [9]

May 29, 2005

In an April 2005 letter published in the New Scientist, Bellamy had claimed that a large percentage of the world’s glaciers were advancing (555 of 625), not retreating. On May 29, 2005, Bellamy wrote a letter to the Sunday Times, he had “decided to draw back from the debate on global warming.” [24]

Bellamy debated the issue with George Monbiot on Channel 4 News:

January 27, 2005

Bellamy spoke at a conference organized by the Scientific Alliance titled “Apocalypse No: Assessing Catastrophic Climate Change.” [10]

Affiliations  

• New Zealand Climate Science Coalition  — Member. [11]
• World Land Trust — Former Trustee, 1992 – 2002. [12]
• The Heartland Institute — “Expert.” [13]

Other Affiliations

• Wildlife Trusts partnership — Past president. [15]
• Population Concern — Past President.  [14]
• Plantlife — Past President. [16], [14] 
• WATCH — Past President. [14]
• Coral Cay Conservation — Past President. [14]
• National Association for Environmental Education — Past President. [14]
• British Naturalists Association — Past President. [14]
• Galapagos Conservation Trust — Past President. [14]
• British Institute of Cleaning Science — Past President. [14]
• British Trust for Conservation Volunteers — Former Vice President. [14]
• Fauna and Flora International — Former Vice President. [14]
• Marine Conservation Society — Former Vice President. [14]
• Australian Marine Conservation Society — Former Vice President. [14]
• Trustee of the Living Landscape Trust — Former Vice President. [14]
• President, Conservation Foundation (UK) — Former Vice President. [14]
• Council, Zoological Society of London — Former Vice President. [14]

Publications

According to a search of Google Scholar, David Bellamy has published only one article in a journal on the subject of climate change: “Carbon is the World’s Best Friend,” co-published by Bellamy and Jack Barrett, was published in the Energy & Environment (E&E), a journal edited by climate change skeptic Sonja Boehmer-Christiansen. E&E  has faced criticism in the past for its peer review process. [18], [17]

Bellamy has published articles skeptical of climate change in numerous newspapers, and some in journals that don’t normally cover climate change (such of Civil Engineering). For example:

• “Global Warming? What a Load of Poppycock!” David Bellamy, The Daily Mail, 9 July 2004.
• Bellamy, David; Barrett, David (2007-05-01), “Climate stability: an inconvenient proof,” Civil Engineering (Thomas Telford Journals).
• “The Global Warming Myth,” The New Zealand Centre for Political Research, June 24, 2007.

Resources

1. “Honorary Graduates of Bournemouth University” (PDF), Bournemouth University. Document no longer available online.
2. “Open Letter from World Scientists to All Governments Summary,” Institute of Science in Society. Archived November 30, 2010. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/oWSVw
3. “Has David Bellamy gone mad?”, Marklynas.org, July 14, 2004. Archived February 11, 2006. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/7uou2
4. “Junk Science,” Monbiot.com, May 10, 2005. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/R7idZ
5. “Wildlife groups axe Bellamy as global warming ‘heretic’,” Times Online, May 15, 2005. Archived September 6, 2008. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/S9XeG
6. “The Global Warming Myth,” The New Zealand Centre for Political Research, June 24, 2007. Archived October 14, 2008. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/gBAPY
7. David Bellamy. “Glaciers are cool,” New Scientist, issue 2495 (April 16, 2005). Archived October 18, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/MBf6a
8. “With all due respect Mr. President, that is not true.” Cato.org. Archived October 19,2 009. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/pbJvP
9. “The Fraser Institute: Media Advisory; Independent Summary of UN Climate Change Report to be Released in London on Monday, 5th February,” (Press Release), Marketwire, February 2, 2007. Archived January 29, 2013. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/7THb1
10. “Climate Weekly Special Report: Apocalypse No: Assessing Catastrophic Climate Change,” Proceedings of the Scientific Alliance Conference, Royal Institution, January 27, 2005. Republished by Frontiers of Freedom. Archived January 30, 2006. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/tP2Zo
11. “Bellamy warms to scientists’ scepticism on climate change,” The New Zealand Herald, Oct 19, 2006. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/geZhz
12. “David Bellamy, former trustee of the World Land Trust,” World Land Trust. Archived January 6, 2009.  Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/muXlJ
13. “David Bellamy,” The Heartland Institute. Archived October 18, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/qf9ZC
14. “David Bellamy,” SourceWatch.
15. “About the wildlife trusts,” Wildlifetrusts.org. Archived August 3, 2004. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/0p50U
16. “Our history,” Plantlife. Archived November 14, 2011. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/bDPsw 
17. David Hasemyer. “Documents Reveal Fossil Fuel Fingerprints on Contrarian Climate Research,” InsideClimate News, February 21, 2015. Archived December 15, 2015.
18. Google Scholar search for articles containing “Climate” or “Global Warming” by author “David Bellamy.” Search performed October 18, 2017.
19. Jessica Salter. “Eco hero: David Bellamy, botanist and campaigner,” The Telegraph, November 19, 2009. Archived October 18, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/tMavl
20. Boyle, Stewart; Ardill, John (1989), The Greenhouse Effect, London: New English Library.
21. “What a Load of Poppycock!” The Daily Mail. Retrieved from Junksciencearchive.com. Archived .png on file at DeSmog.
22. “16mm sound film “POWER FROM THE WIND” GB 1989” YouTube video uploaded by user “95filmforver,” October 2, 2017. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.
23. The 2008 International Conference on Climate Change: Global Warming is not a crisis! (PDF), Archived July 25, 2015. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmogBlog. 
24. “In an adverse climate,” The Sunday Times, Mary 29, 2006. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/cr1aA
25. “David Bellamy speaks out against wind farms,” The Journal, October 26, 2011. Archied October 18, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/3k1FB
26. “David Bellamy denounces man-made climate change,” 3 News, September 9, 2009. Archived July 22, 2013. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.
27. George Monbiot.”Bellamy the Bearded Bungler doesn’t disappoint,” The Guardian, March 16, 2009.
28. Holly Christodoulou. “TV STAR DEAD David Bellamy death – TV nature presenter and environmental campaigner who ‘inspired a generation’ passes away aged 86,” The Sun, December 12, 2019. Archived December 28, 2019. Archive.ph URL:https://archive.ph/wip/PWCyZ

Other Resources

• “David Bellamy,” Wikipedia.
• “David Bellamy,” ExxonSecrets.
• “Fraser Institute Briefing Document” (PDF), prepared by DeSmogBlog.
• Correspondence with David Bellamy, Monbiot.com, 19 August 2004.
• “Has David Bellamy gone mad?” by Mark Lynas, 14 July 2004.
• “Junk Science” by George Monbiot, The Guardian. May 10, 2005.
• “Wildlife groups axe Bellamy as global warming ‘heretic’,” The Sunday Times, May 15, 2005.
• “The Fraser Institute: Media Advisory,” February 2, 2007.
• David Bellamy. “Glaciers are cool,” New Scientist, issue 2495 (April 16, 2005).
• “Heartland Institute/International Conference on Climate Change (2008),” SourceWatch. Accessed September 15, 2011.