cc: "Michael E. Mann" , Tim Osborn , Phil Jones , Keith Briffa , , , Tom Wigley , tom crowley , Gabi Hegerl , Jonathan Overpeck date: Mon, 10 Nov 2003 23:24:15 -0800 (PST) from: Stephen H Schneider subject: Re: Fwd: McIntyre and McKintrick paper to: Michael Oppenheimer The "postmodernist" Sonja, is anything but naive. I wrote about her earlier--rejects peer review as elitist and anti-democratic etc, and ironically for a left-wing type has linked up with the right wing contrarians--not dull at least, just infuriating and disingenouos. If anyone wants more, let me know. Cheers, Steve On Thu, 6 Nov 2003, Michael Oppenheimer wrote: > Mike: > > Bizarre, and either incredibly naive or incredibly disingenuous. > > Michael > > "Michael E. Mann" wrote: > > > Dear all, > > > > Thought you'd all be interested in this email. > > > > Of course, we have no intention to respond to this, or other further > > emails from the contrarians. > > > > We're working on a full response that will be formally published. > > We'll let you know the venue when its confirmed, > > > > mike m > > > > > >> Delivered-To: mem6u@virginia.edu > >> From: "Sonja.B-C" > >> Date: Thu, 6 Nov 2003 14:30:42 +0000 > >> To: "Michael E. Mann" > >> Subject: McIntyre and McKintrick paper > >> Cc: L.A.Love@hull.ac.uk, Steve McIntyre , > >> Ross McKitrick , > >> timo hameranta , > >> Reto Knutti , > >> "David R. Legates" , > >> George Kukla , > >> Hans von Storch , > >> John Christy , > >> "Keith R. Briffa >> , > >> "Rajendra K. Pachauri" , > >> Ulrich Cubasch , > >> "Spencer R. Weart" , Aynsley Kellow > >> , > >> Bjorn Lomborg , Bob Foster , > >> Chris de Freitas , > >> Christopher Essex , "Craig D. Idso" > >> , > >> Curt Holder , "David E. Wojick" > >> , > >> Henrik Svensmark , Hugh W Ellsaesser > >> , > >> ian.castles@anu.edu.auKirill.Ya.Kondratyev > >> Priority: NORMAL > >> X-Mailer: Execmail for Win32 5.1.1 Build (10) > >> > >> Dear Professor Mann > >> > >> I have found a list of scientists which contained you email address, > >> > >> hence I am able to communicate with you directly. As you already > >> know, a > >> paper by McIntyre and McKintrick analysing your famous 'Hockey > >> stick' > >> paper is now available to everybody at www.multi-science.co.uk. The > >> printed version is due later this month. Your, via the attention it > >> received by the IPCC, is currently widely used by social scientists > >> > >> and many researchers in the energy policy community as 'the' proof > >> for > >> anthropogenic dangerous warming. Humanity should now act, it argued, > >> on > >> the basis of fact rather than the rather suspect 'precautionary > >> principle'. > >> I would respectfully like to explain to you and other scientistst > >> who > >> may feel offended by the publication from outside 'their' domain, > >> why > >> I have published this and other 'attacks' and why I would appreciate > >> a > >> publishable reply from you and your colleagues. You may yet win the > >> argument! Who knows, but an open debate is overdue. > >> > >> I do not claim that I or my reviewers can arbitrate on the > >> 'scientific' > >> truth of publications that the IPCC selects as most relevant, but > >> your 1998 certainly was selected as such and as far as I know, there > >> > >> was no protest against its use in global policy advocacy. I may be > >> wrong, for I am more in contact with research that is based on worse > >> > >> case scenarios (from IPCC) than with basic climate scince research. > >> > >> ENERGY&ENVIRONMENT has paid attention to the 'science' and 'social > >> science' controversies associated with the IPCC for over a decade > >> and > >> has done so not in order to advance (natural) scientific > >> understanding, > >> but with reference to the profound policy relevance of this > >> understanding and hence of any controversy about the nature of > >> climate > >> and the causes of its variability over time, as well as attempts, in > >> > >> some circles, to stifle associated controversies, presumably to make > >> > >> life easier for policy and policy relevant research. > >> > >> I am fully aware of the policy significance of the debate between > >> 'you, > >> the IPCC and so-called climate skeptics, and its funding > >> implications > >> for so many. But the implications for humanity are even greater. ( > >> In > >> fact, most of the papers I have published in recent years have used > >> > >> the IPCC 'consensus' as baseline.) > >> I have been an energy policy researcher writing and now editing with > >> an > >> international relations/ political science bias; I have a strong > >> research history in environmental politics, and a basic education in > >> > >> physical geography as well as German literature. (Remember acid > >> rain, > >> the death of Europ'es forests in a few deacdes? Or the death of the > >> global ocean from pollution in the 1970s, the subject of my PhD? > >> Environmental threats have long serves many other agendas, and > >> natural > >> scientists may at least be aware of this.) > >> > >> I have published 'outsiders' whom I trust because I no longer fully > >> trust many 'research products' - not because of any failings > >> because > >> of individual researchers , but because of the nature of much > >> contemporary research funding, see > >> http://www.john-daly.com/sonja-bc.htm. I do know about > >> research funding from bureaucracies - the importance of the right > >> buzzwords, policy visions, legal commitments and political > >> ambitions. > >> > >> I simply believe that research controversies related to global > >> warming > >> (science, social science, and technology) should be heard by > >> policy-makers and NGOs in a world were vast amounts of limited > >> finance > >> are about to be spend on 'decarbonisation' on the assumption made > >> by > >> most social scientists and many policy people that IPCC summary > >> pronouncements are undisputed and hence are acceptable as > >> uncontroversial baseline for their work on decarbonisation > >> economics, > >> 'clean' technologoly, carbon finance, Kyoto mechanisms etc). I am > >> encouraging research controversy in the public arena rather than > >> editorial boardrooms. For example and to my considerable regret, > >> even > >> the UK Foreign Office and many of my colleaugues in the energy > >> policy > >> research (not in the earth sciences by the way) now believe that > >> they > >> need not pay any attention to scientific issues because all climate > >> skeptics are funded by the oil industry. If this slur is permitted > >> to > >> stand, as it seems to be, then journals like mine are surely > >> permitted > >> to ask and who is funding the 'global warming' modelling community > >> if > >> not governments committed to the UNFCCC, and to explore what agendas > >> > >> have attached themselves to the warming threat. > >> > >> If I have offended against the ethics of natural science > >> publication, > >> which I am not sure of given cases that have been reported to me, I > >> > >> apologise and plead ignorance. I forward to hearing from you not > >> via > >> a web site, but in the form of a paper or view point that I can > >> published for libraries and readers. > >> > >> Best wishes > >> Sonja Boehmer-Christiansen > >> ---------------------- > >> Dr.Sonja Boehmer-Christiansen > >> Reader,Department of Geography, > >> Editor, Energy & Environment > >> (Multi-science,www.multi-science.co.uk) > >> Faculty of Science > >> University of Hull > >> Hull HU6 7RX, UK > >> Tel: (0)1482 465349/6341/5385 > >> Fax: (0)1482 466340 > >> Sonja.B-C@hull.ac.uk > > > > ______________________________________________________________ > > Professor Michael E. Mann > > Department of Environmental Sciences, Clark Hall > > University of Virginia > > Charlottesville, VA 22903 > > ______________________________________________ > > ________________________ > > e-mail: mann@virginia.edu Phone: (434) 924-7770 FAX: (434) > > 982-2137 > > http://www.evsc.virginia.edu/faculty/people/mann.shtml > ------ Stephen H. Schneider, Professor Dept. of Biological Sciences Stanford University Stanford, CA 94305-5020 U.S.A. Tel: (650)725-9978 Fax: (650)725-4387 shs@stanford.edu