Roy Spencer is used to being labeled a “global warming denier.” But anyone who listens to what Spencer has to say ? or what he’s written in the recent book Climate Confusion ? will learn quickly that Spencer denies no scientifically proven facts associated with global warming.
Instead Spencer takes issue with the extrapolations global warming alarmists have made from facts to their predictions of environmental gloom and doom. He notes that no one, including a trained climate scientist like himself, has enough knowledge about the way the climate works to know the impact of man’s contribution to global warming.
The thermostatic control system in your house might be small and somewhat complex, but you know it must be understood in order to explain the temperature of the air in your house. Very few climate researchers are actively trying to understand how the Earth’s thermostatic control system operates. It is so complex, and so little is understood about it, we just sweep it under the rug and hope that it?s not too important.
As a result, the climate modelers’ belief in a sensitive climate system is due to a misplaced faith in overly simplistic climate models.
Spencer’s book also focuses on an important element missing from much of the current climate debate: economics. He reminds us that any idea pursued in the name of fighting global warming must provide more benefits than costs to make sense.
You’ll soon have a chance to hear more from Spencer. He’ll deliver a John Locke Foundation Headliner address Sept. 16 in Raleigh.
