How much
skepticism can the climate take?
(April 23, 2012) Influential
skeptics continue to challenge the scientific consensus that CO2 emissions are
responsible for climate change. Have they got a point?
In January
this year, 16 scientists wrote in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that they saw
no scientific arguments supporting the need for urgent action to combat climate
change. They
included prominent climate skeptics like MIT Atmospheric Science professor
Richard Lindzen as well as the scientists, and former ExxonMobil employees,
Roger Cohen and William Happer.
Even in
Germany, where climate skeptics have less political influence than countries
like the USA, a book called "Die kalte Sonne" (The Cold Sun) has been
making waves since its publication earlier this year. The authors
Fritz Vahrenholt und Sebastian Lüning, employees of Germany's second-biggest
energy company RWE, maintain that less than half the world's warming to date is
human-made. They say solar activity, sunspots and magnetic fields, which change
in cycles, are responsible.