'No Climate Emergency,' Say 500 Scientists Reports Physicians for Civil Defense

TUCSON, Ariz., Oct. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- On the same day that 17-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg made an impassioned speech to the UN, 500 highly qualified scientists sent a letter to the UN Secretary-General António Guterres and Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa Cantellano, stating unequivocally: "There is no climate emergency."

The lead signatory is Professor Guus Berkhout, founder of the Climate Intelligence Foundation (CLINTEL) based in The Netherlands.

The letter states:

The general-circulation models of climate on which international policy is at present founded are unfit for their purpose. Therefore, it is cruel as well as imprudent to advocate the squandering of trillions of dollars on the basis of results from such immature models. Current climate policies pointlessly and grievously undermine the economic system, putting lives at risk in countries denied access to affordable, reliable electrical energy.

We urge you to follow a climate policy based on sound science, realistic economics and genuine concern for those harmed by costly but unnecessary attempts at mitigation.

Michelle Stirling of the Friends of Science Society has read the letter to more than 600,000 viewers on YouTube.

The letter has been criticized by six scientists who claim that its credibility is very low. One complaint is that most of the 500 are not experts in "climate science." However, observes Physicians for Civil Defense president Jane Orient, M.D., the six reviewers study agroforestry, forest ecology, statistics and modeling, economics and policy, ocean sediments, and glaciers. "The only reviewer with expertise in factors affecting the atmosphere and climate appears to be Timothy Osborn from the University of East Anglia, the scene of the ClimateGate scandals."

The models relied on by the reviewers, she notes, have been called "Mickey-Mouse mockeries of the real word" by prominent Japanese scientist Mototaka Nakamura.

"Policies affecting the lives and livelihoods of billions of the world's people must not be dictated by emotionally distraught but ill-informed protesters chanting apocalyptic threats based on dubious computer models," Dr. Orient stated.

Physicians for Civil Defense distributes information to help to save lives in the event of war or other disaster.

Contact: Jane M. Orient, M.D., (520) 323-3110, [email protected]

SOURCE Physicians for Civil Defense