Monday, May 4, 2009

AGW Denialists "Wedge Document" in the New York Times

It was only a matter of time before a document like this would show up. In it, scientists funded by oil and gas interests essentially give away the game they knew AGW was real. Ed Brayton has an excellent write up, quoting the paper in conclusion thusly:

"The contrarian theories raise interesting questions about our total understanding of climate processes, but they do not offer convincing arguments against the conventional model of greenhouse gas emission-induced climate change. Jastrow's hypothesis about the role of solar variability and Michaels' questions about the temperature record are not convincing arguments against any conclusion that we are currently experiencing warming as the result of greenhouse gas emissions."

It is worth nothing that with all of the conspiracy theories touted by those on the paranoid right, no one has produced anything remotely like this article, or The Wedge Document to support their claims.

2 comments:

ronaldo said...

"The contrarian theories raise interesting questions about our total understanding of climate processes, but they do not offer convincing arguments against the conventional model of greenhouse gas emission-induced climate change. Jastrow's hypothesis about the role of solar variability and Michaels' questions about the temperature record are not convincing arguments against any conclusion that we are currently experiencing warming as the result of greenhouse gas emissions."

Were Jastrow's and Michaels' propositions intended to refute AGW, or were they merely intended to reduce its role? Ed Brayton seems to imply the former, but I just want to double check.

ronaldo said...

(Reduce the human role in global warming, that is.)