Over the last few years, “climate skeptics” have been having a field day, confusing the public by claiming man is not responsible for climate change. Backed by money and powerful lobbies of oil and political interests, these skeptics have been relentless in their attacks on the scientific claims that man’s activities are causing more carbon dioxide to be released and that this is causing global warming and contributing to climate change.
Caught in the cross-hairs are climate scientists and such environmental lobbyists as Al Gore and Bill Mckibben, who have been attacked both on a professional and personal level.
Targetted
One man who understands this only too well is Michael Mann, an American scientist who for much of his professional life has been in the thick of the climate change debate. He and his colleagues used analysis of the Earth’s atmosphere in many parts to the world to plot a graph that showed an upward movement in global temperatures over the last half of the 20th century. That graph became known as the “hockey stick” graph, because of the way temperatures had accelerated upward near the close of the 20th century.
Mann has been attacked by climate skeptics and calls have been made for him to hando over his e-mails.
According to a report in the Guardian, although other prominent scientists, such as Nasa’s James Hansen and more recently Texas Tech University’s Katharine Hayhoe, have also been targeted by contrarian bloggers and thinktanks demanding their institutions turn over their email record, it’s Mann who’s been the favourite target.
Growing consensus over climate change
But the consensus is growing. Climate scientists like Mann have received a lot of support for their claims that man is the major driver of increases in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and this build up is causing a rise in the overall temperature around the world, causing noticeable climate change. Even Britain’s then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher warned of the dangers.
Mann found himself at the center of the climate wars, as lobbyists representing fossil fuel companies and politicians sought to attack the scientists involved in the research.
New book
Mann has written a book, “The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars,” which charts the progress and opposition and how a computer geek became a climate ninja.
Man says the issue is not that complicated, showing how the rise of CO2 runs parallel to the rise in global temperatures. He calls the “climate wars” a conflict between science and “anti-science.”
The Hockey Stick became an icon in the climate debate and as happens often to icons, they get fiercely attacked, Mann says.
There has been a crescendo of attacks, Mann said in a recent video interview, taken from the playbook of the tobacco industry with a hint of McCarthyism. He has been attacked on a professional and personal level, including having his safety and life threatened.
Assault on science
This assault on science continues. Scientists like Mann are mismatched, given the amount fof money and power the climate skeptics have. But Mann continues to publicize his scientific findings.
“Defending good science, I believe this is a noble cause,” he said.
Sources include:
The inside story on climate scientists under siege
Michael Mann reveals his account of attacks by entrenched interests seeking to undermine his ‘hockey stick’ graph.
