Support for climate Professor – BRAVE DEFENCE against environmental club
Within the climate sceptic community he is the hero. but environment activists have strated a smear campaign aginst him. “Oh well” says climate economist Richard Tol, who recently resigned from the prestigious UN IPCC Climate Panel, “I have a thick skin. The commotion is to be expected.”
There has been overwhelming support for the environment Professor on the website of De Telegraaf. “Homage”, “Courageous”, “At last someone is doing something against the environment mafia” are some of the comments.
What the Dutch Professor did is highly unusual in climate science: to disassociate oneself from a renowned club which for decades has been saying that the earth will be destroyed by global warming, whilst billions have been spent to try and prevent sea level rise and restrict greenhouse gases. If nothing is done, as stated in the second part of the fifth UN IPCC’s Climate Report which was published last week, there will be floods, coral reefs will disappear and we can only go on holiday to the south of France if we can withstand the heat.
Climate economist Tol, involved with the UN IPCC since 1994, is one of the few scientists who speaks out over what a growing group has been thinking for longer, namely that it will be less dramatic.
Messing around
The tone of the report is “alarmist and apocolyptic” he states. The consequences of climate change are being over-estimated. “Such an over-estimation is the result of self-selection of authors and references within the Panel”, says Tol. Bureaucrats, unhindered by the lack of any pertinent knowledge, are messing around with texts that scientists have written with much effort.
From the south of England, where Tol works at the University of Sussex, the Professor reacted with rather controlled irony. “That people think the earth will be destroyed is timeless. Within the European culture we have a deep-rooted desire to rescue the world from such a demise. Throughout history there is always a new idea that surfaces about our pending doom. This was already present in Viking times.
According to Tol this is now the case with climate science. “At this point in time the warming is seen as the latest doom scenario from which we must rescued. Climate science is thus seen almost as a religion rather than science. My experience within the UN IPCC Panel is that they are more concerned about the puppets rather than the contents.”
He continues: “Nothing new then. There have also been more recent problems that from which we should all have perished. Around the time of the end of the last century we were all scared about the “Millenium Bug”. In 2002 people became paranoid about the SARS virus and, especially in Germany, there is more panic about acid rain than necessary.”
Tol is not concerned in the slightest and walks with his head held high within the corridors of Sussex University. “I am part of the Economic Faculty and the people there are quite laid-back about the fuss. Other Faulties are rather leftist, so they will be quite cross with me” he laughs. There might well be warming says the Professor. The degree of it is not as bad as predicted. In any case there are benefits to be had. In warm winters we need less fuel and fewer people die due to the cold.
Read the original Dutch article at: https://telegraaf-i.telegraaf.
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