The Exxon-funded Fraser Institute officially released its Independent Summary for Policy Makers (ISPM) today, confirming that the version leaked here on the DeSmogBlog last week was authentic.
The Institute also announced that it has scheduled an ongoing attack on the report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, promising a โFraser Institute Supplementary Analysis Seriesโ on topics such as โFundamental Uncertainties in Climate Modelling.โ
Still, the denial community is likely to be disappointed with this effort. While hostile analysts were able to imagine serious flaws in the IPCCโs Third Assessment Report, this โIndependentโ summary can do little more than cling to the dwindling uncertainty that the IPCC itself defines in the most forthright way.
Perhaps most pathetic are the ISPMโs โSupplementary Informationโ sections, in which the Fraser Instituteโs โexpertsโ add information that they deem under-reported in the 1,600-page IPCC report. For example, the ISPM reports recent record-breaking snowfalls in New York, Boston and Atlantic Canada, introducing the section with this banal question:
ยโRecord-breakingย local hot weather events are sometimes promoted as evidence of global warming. What can we infer if record-breaking cold weather events begin to accumulate in some local data?โ
They neglect to mention that such weather anomalies are predicted in the most rudimentary climate models.
Even more sophomoric is the Fraser Instituteโs argument in a โSupplementary Informationโ section entitled โDefining โClimate Change:โโ
โIf the climate is nonstationary, a change in the mean is consistent with an ยunchangedย climate.โ
You can almost imagine the assembled โscientistsโ sitting around a table, shouting: โAh ha! We sure got them on that one.โ
Then, they conclude the whole analysis by wondering aloud โwhether or not such (climate) change is a good or bad thing.โ
Even if the energy industryโs tracks were not evident on this report, itโs hard to believe that any but the most agenda-driven deniers could take it seriously.
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