Dr Tim Ball, a Great Teacher Who Deserved the Order of Canada

Written by Tom Harris on March 20, 2023. Posted in Current News

We have recently said goodbye to several outstanding scientists who fought long and hard in support of real science to contest the global warming scare. Jay Lehr, Bob Carter, Fred Singer, Patrick Michaels and Tim Ball were the heroes I knew best.

It may come as a shock to some readers to see Tim Ball, Ph.D. (Climatology, Queen Mary College, University of London, England), on that list.

Most people thought he was virtually indestructible and would live to 100, fighting the good fight with good humor and solid science for many more years to come. 

“Ball” was certainly the right last name for Tim. After all, the harder you throw a ball against a wall, the harder it comes back.

Tim obviously followed the Churchill idiom that,

“If you have an important point to make, don’t try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once.

Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time—a tremendous whack.”

He certainly gave the climate scare a tremendous whack. He was straightforward and honest, never hiding from the truth and always getting right to the point.

And unlike most scientists who make many of us feel dumb by speaking in jargon only fellow experts can understand, Tim had a way of communicating that made the exceptionally complicated field of climate change understandable by everyone.

With patience, humility, and the gifts of a natural teacher, Tim built up his listeners’ understanding and self-confidence. This was not surprising. After all, as a climatology professor at the University of Winnipeg, he won many outstanding teaching awards.

All this resulted in him attracting a far wider audience demographic and swaying public opinion far more than we could ever hope to reach with our technical conference presentations and scientific papers.

And this is precisely why Tim was so often in the crosshairs of the climate alarmist movement. They knew he had a tremendous impact on the public through radio, TV, newspapers, and in presentations.

Even today, the Bing search engine yields about 32 million results for “’Tim Ball’ and ‘climate change.’”

During the day after one of Tim’s articles was published on the Drudge Report, he received approximately 1,000 e-mails from the public, 90 percent of which were supportive. And, believe it or not, he answered over 500 of these e-mails personally. The amount of work he did was incredible.

While the vicious attacks he endured were ultimately hard on Tim, who passed away last September at the age of 83, and his wife Marty, in the final analysis, I hope his family realizes that the animosity from enemies of our society was a compliment in a rough sort of way.

It reminds me of when World War II Lancaster bomber pilot, the late Sandy Mutch, a steadfast climate realist himself, encouraged me to not back off when the going got tough. Sandy explained:

“On bombing raids over Europe, we could tell we were closing in on the target when we started to get the most flak.”

That occurred because critical German assets were usually surrounded by anti-aircraft guns that filled the sky with AA fire. And, instead of being deterred by this resistance, it told Bomber Command precisely where the next wave of aircraft should concentrate their attack.

Mutch, who held a Master of Science degree and even prepared some of his own YouTube videos on climate change, continued:

“Anyone who wants to kill the dangerous and unfounded climate scare … should focus on exposing the shaky science behind climate alarm.

That is the Achilles heel of the whole movement. Shoot it down, and you win the war!”

Dr. Tim Ball, a Royal Canadian Air Force veteran himself, was clearly right over the target in the climate war. We are so fortunate that he was the right man, in the right place at the right time.

And so he suffered the slings and arrows for all of us for decades. Tim stood up to aggressive lawyers in terrible court cases. He handled overconfident and ignorant politicians with grace in government hearings.

He faced uninformed, arrogant radio and TV talking heads, making sure to get his message out to a public thirsting for honesty and real science. And he gave literally thousands of presentations to audiences large and small, young and old, all over the world, no matter how he was smeared.

When I think of Tim Ball, I think of one word in particular, and that is “courage.” He’s one of the bravest people I have ever known.

Of all the scientists I worked with since becoming Executive Director of the International Climate Science Coalition in 2008, no one helped me more than Dr. Ball.

One thing people didn’t realize when they saw me on television or heard me on the radio during the 14 years I worked closely with Tim (2006 – 2019) is what I did in the hours before the interview.

I was almost always on the phone with Dr. Ball. Always generous with his time and right up to date in current affairs and the latest climate science, he was essential to my success for all those years. I was so happy to have had the privilege to present the Lifetime Achievement in Climate Science Award to Dr. Ball at the 13^th International Climate Change Conference in 2019.

Mutch explained,

“I lost many of my best friends and colleagues in the war, but we were doing it to defend our society from deadly enemies.

Canada now needs leaders with the courage to stand up to today’s deadly enemies, climate campaigners who are bent on destroying the energy sources we need to maintain a prosperous society.”

The motto of the Order of Canada, which our country awards to people who make extraordinary contributions to the nation, is DESIDERANTES MELIOREM PATRIAM (“They desire a better country”).

As one of those very rare Canadians who had the courage, knowledge, and skills to stand up to extremists who are destroying our nation, Dr. Tim Ball clearly should have received the Order of Canada.

See more here americaoutloud.com

Header image: Youtube

About the author: Tom Harris is Executive Director of the International Climate Science Coalition, and a policy advisor to The Heartland Institute. He has 40 years experience as a mechanical engineer/project manager, science and technology communications professional, technical trainer, and S&T advisor to a former Opposition Senior Environment Critic in Canada’s Parliament.

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