Global Warming False Alarms (web publication)

06 March 2007

Russell Lewis

Author questions the case for action on climate change

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In the twenty-fifth IEA Current Controversies Paper, Russell Lewis, former Director of the Conservative Political Centre and former Acting General Director of the Institute of Economic Affairs, argues that there are good reasons to challenge the case for political intervention to reduce carbon emissions.

The author suggests that the government claim that global warming is more threatening than terrorism is alarmist and unwarranted. It is also suspect as an excuse for mounting taxes and controls. It is strikingly similar to the dire predictions of 40 years ago of an imminent ice age and to other past doom forecasts due to alleged overpopulation, depletion of food and fuel supplies, and chemical pollution.

There are serious doubts about the measurements, assumptions and predictions of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), with regard to global CO2 growth, temperature and the role of clouds. Indeed there is a strong case that the IPCC has overstated the effect of anthropogenic greenhouse gases on the climate and downplayed the influence of natural factors such as variations in solar output, El Niños and volcanic activity.

The empirical evidence used to support the global warming hypothesis has often been misleading, with ‘scare stories’ promoted in the media that are distortions of scientific reality. The high salience of the climate change issue reflects the fact that many special interests have much to gain from policies designed to reduce emissions through increased government intervention and world energy planning.

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See also Climate Alarmism Reconsidered by Robert L. Bradley Jr.

http://www.iea.org.uk/record.jsp?type=book&ID=403