2007 Bali Climate Declaration and the (minor itty-bitty) pretenders’ cover

December 23, 2007 at 1:13 pm | Posted in Climate change, Climate science, Media, Policies, Politics, PR, Unbalanced | 1 Comment

Earlier this month, the world was presented with, yet seemed to remain rather unaware of, this clear 2007 Bali Climate Declaration by Scientists, hereafter referred to as ‘the Declaration’ (except where it makes more sense to write its title in complete form).

My post titled 2007 Bali Climate Declaration by Scientists (in 10 languages) was an attempt to bring news of this to a wider audience, i.e. beyond myself 😉 and way beyond the “English is all I speak—LET ME YELL THAT ONE MORE TIME TO MAKE YOU UNDERSTAND” world. Here’s my post in full, again, to save you hopping back-and-forth, because I am going to give you a little more to digest after this:

This 2007 Bali Climate Declaration by Scientists was released today yesterday, 5 December 2007. It is a clear, straightforward statement, suitable for students, chief climate negotiators and policymakers to digest easily, and is available in Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, French, Hindi,Indonesian, Portugese, Russian, Spanish, and English—with scientists’ signatures listed on the English webpage.

Here it is, taken straight from that first link:

2007 Bali Climate Declaration by Scientists

This consensus document was prepared under the auspices of the Climate Change Research Centre at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.

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The 2007 IPCC report, compiled by several hundred climate scientists, has unequivocally concluded that our climate is warming rapidly, and that we are now at least 90% certain that this is mostly due to human activities. The amount of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere now far exceeds the natural range of the past 650,000 years, and it is rising very quickly due to human activity. If this trend is not halted soon, many millions of people will be at risk from extreme events such as heat waves, drought, floods and storms, our coasts and cities will be threatened by rising sea levels, and many ecosystems, plants and animal species will be in serious danger of extinction.

The next round of focused negotiations for a new global climate treaty (within the 1992 UNFCCC process) needs to begin in December 2007 and be completed by 2009. The prime goal of this new regime must be to limit global warming to no more than 2 ºC above the pre-industrial temperature, a limit that has already been formally adopted by the European Union and a number of other countries.

Based on current scientific understanding, this requires that global greenhouse gas emissions need to be reduced by at least 50% below their 1990 levels by the year 2050. In the long run, greenhouse gas concentrations need to be stabilised at a level well below 450 ppm (parts per million; measured in CO2-equivalent concentration). In order to stay below 2 ºC, global emissions must peak and decline in the next 10 to 15 years, so there is no time to lose.

As scientists, we urge the negotiators to reach an agreement that takes these targets as a minimum requirement for a fair and effective global climate agreement.

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Bali Declaration translations: Arabic Bengali Chinese French Hindi Indonesian Portugese Russian Spanish

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Media release information Press conference information

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The 2007 Bali Climate Declaration has been signed by the following scientists:

Name Title Country Richard Allan Dr United Kingdom Richard Anthes Dr USA Waleed Abdalati Head, Cryospheric Sciences Branch USA Becky Alexander Assistant Professor USA Ian Allison Dr Australia Caspar Ammann Research Scientist USA Leif Anderson Professor Sweden Jean-Claude Andre Dr France Natalie Andronova Research Scientist USA David Archer Professor University of Chicago USA Mike Archer Professor. Dean of Science Australia Vincenzo Artale Senior Research Scientist Italy Paulo Artaxo Professor Brazil Karen Assmann Dr Norway Dorothee Bakker Dr United Kingdom Edouard Bard Professor College de France France Tim Barnett Research Marine Physicist USA J. Ray Bates Professor Ireland Richard Bellerby Dr Norway Rasmus E. Benestad Dr Norway Terje Berntsen Senior Scientist Norway Nathan Bindoff Professor Physical Oceanography Australia Robert Bindschadler Chief Scientist, Hydrospheric/Biospheric Laboratory USA Roxana Bojariu Head, Climate Research Group Romania Sandrine Bony Research Scientist France Laurent Bopp Dr France Alberto Borges Dr Belgium Philippe Bousquet Assistant Professor France Pascale Braconnot Dr France Raymond S. Bradley Professor. Director. Climate System Research Center USA Guy Brasseur Senior Scientist USA Francois-Marie Breon Professor France Christopher Bretherton Director. Program on Climate Change USA Victor Brovkin Dr Germany Erik Buitenhuis Dr United Kingdom Pep Canadell Executive Director Global Carbon Project Australia Mark Cane Professor USA Carlo Carraro Professor Italy Anny Cazenave Senior Scientist France Marie-Lise Chanin Director of Research Emeritus France Sylvie Charbit Dr France Robert J. Charlson Professor USA John Church Chief Research Scientist Australia Garry Clarke Emeritus Professor of Geophysics Canada Martin Claussen Professor. Director. Max Planck Inst. Germany William D. Collins Professor and Senior Scientist USA Paul Crutzen Professor Germany/USA Kurt M. Cuffey Professor USA Valerie Daux Dr France Anthony Del Genio Physical Scientist USA Kenneth Denman Senior Scientist Canada Robert E. Dickinson Professor USA Paul Dirmeyer Research Scientist USA Helge Drange Professor Norway Kerry Emanuel Professor USA Matthew England Professor and ARC Federation Fellow Australia Ian Enting Professor Australia Jean-Louis Fellous Earth observation satellite expert France Jonathan Fink Director. Global Institute of Sustainability USA Andreas Fischlin Director Terrestrial Systems Ecology. ETH Zurich Switzerland Jacqueline Flückiger Research Scientist Switzerland Chris E. Forest Research Scientist USA Piers Forster Reader in Climate Change Physics UK Joos Fortunat Professor Switzerland Roger Francey Senior Scientist Australia Helen Amanda Fricker Associate Research Geophysicist USA Pierre Friedlingstein Dr France Andrew D. Friend Dr United Kingdom Qiang Fu Professor USA Andrey Ganopolski Scientist Germany Catherine Gautier Professor USA Alexander Gershunov Research Climatologist USA Sarah Gille Associate Professor USA Nathan Gillet Dr UK Valerie Gros Dr France Nicolas Gruber Professor Switzerland Hoshin Gupta Professor USA Kimio Hanawa Professor Japan Bogi Hansen Professor Faroe Islands Mohamed H.A. Hassan Professor Italy Klaus Hasselmann Prof. Emeritus Germany Gerald Haug Professor Switzerland Didier Hauglustaine Directeur de Recherche CNRS France A. D. J. Haymet Professor USA Gabriele Hegerl Dr and Reader Geosciences UK,USA Martin Heimann Professor. Director. Max-Planck-Inst. Germany Christoph Heinze Professor in Chemical Oceanography Norway Ann Henderson-Sellers Professor Australia Jens Hesselbjerg Christensen Head of Climate Research Programme Denmark Bruce Hewitson Professor South Africa Kip Hodges Director. School of Earth & Space Exploration United States Georg Hoffman Dr France Marika Holland Scientist USA David M Holland Professor USA Elisabeth A. Holland Senior Scientist, National Centre for Atmospheric Research USA Greg Holland Senior Scientist Severe Weather Research and Applications USA Lesley Hughes Professor Australia James W. Hurrell Senior Scientist USA Stan Jacobs Senior Research Scientist USA Eystein Jansen Professor. Director Norway Truls Johannessen Professor of Chemical Oceanography Norway Ian Joughin Senior Engineer USA Masa Kageyama Dr France Robert Kandel Emeritus Senior Scientist France Georg Kaser Professor Austria Ralph Keeling Professor of Geochemistry USA Robert M. Key Research Oceanographer United States Jeffrey Kiehl Senior Scientist USA Miko Kirschbaum Senior Scientist New Zealand Christine Klaas Dr Germany Albert Klein Tank Dr Netherlands Reto Knutti Professor Switzerland Rupa Kumar Kolli Dr India René Laprise Professor. Director ESCER Centre Canada Corinne Le Quere Professor United Kingdom Herve Le Treut Director. Laboratoire de Meteorologie Dynamique France Peter Lemke Professor Germany Conway Leovy Professor Emeritus USA Sydney Levitus Director. World Data Center for Oceanography USA Ulrike Lohmann Professor Switzerland Diana Liverman Professor United Kingdom Dan Lubin Research Physicist USA Joachim Luther Professor Germany Amanda H. Lynch Professor and ARC Federation Fellow Australia Jose Antonio Marengo Senior Scientist Brazil Jochem Marotzke Professor. Director. Max Planck Inst. Germany Valerie Masson-Delmotte Dr France Ben Matthews Dr Belgium Cecilie Mauritzen Senior Scientist Norway Bryant McAvaney Senior Principal Research Scientist Australia James J. McCarthy Professor of Oceanography USA Jeffrey J. McDonnell Professor and Richardson Chair in Watershed Science USA Trevor J. McDougall Dr Australia Tony McMichael Professor Australia Ben McNeil Queen Elizabeth II Research Fellow Australia Nicolas Metzl Dr France Elisabeth Michel Dr France Guy Midgley Dr South Africa Arthur J. Miller Research Oceanographer USA Gunnar Myhre Senior Scientist Norway Neville Nicholls Professor Australia Richard D. Norris Professor and Curator, SIO Geological Collections USA Daniel Olago Dr. Senior Lecturer University of Nairobi Kenya Michael Oppenheimer Professor USA Bette Otto-Bliesner Senior Scientist USA Jonathon Overpeck Director Institute for the Study of Planet Earth USA Didier Paillard Dr France Wm. Richard Peltier University Professor of Physics Canada Andy Pitman Professor Australia Serge Planton Senior Scientist France Gian-Kasper Plattner Dr Switzerland Jan Polcher Directeur de Recherche du CNRS France Michael J. Prather Fred Kavli Professor USA Stefan Rahmstorf Professor of Physics of the Oceans Germany Philip Rasch Senior Scientist USA Michael Raupach Dr Australia Chris Reason Professor. Oceanography South Africa James Renwick Science Leader, Climate Variability & Change New Zealand Ulf Riebesell Professor Germany Stephen R. Rintoul Dr Australia Johan Rockström Associate Professor Sweden Terry L. Root University Faculty, Senior Fellow USA Lynn M. Russell Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry USA Toshiro Saino Professor Japan Christoph Schär Professor in Atmospheric Sciences, ETH Zurich Switzerland John Schellnhuber Professor Germany Gavin Schmidt Research Scientist, NASA GISS USA Stephen H. Schneider Professor USA Birgit Schneider Dr France Michael Schulz Senior Scientist France Richard Seager Senior Research Scientist USA Jeffrey P. Severinghaus Professor of Geosciences USA Drew Shindell Senior Scientist and Lecturer USA W James Shuttleworth Professor. Director NSF SAHRA Center USA Murugesu Sivapalan Professor USA John P. Smol Professor Canada Olga Solomina Dr Russia Richard Somerville Professor USA Will Steffen Professor Australia Thomas Stocker Professor Switzerland Kristof Sturm Associate Professor Sweden John Sulston Dr United Kingdom Didier Swingedouw Dr France Lynne D. Talley Professor USA Karl E. Taylor Dr USA Fichefet Thierry Professor Belgium Helmuth Thomas Associate Professor. Canada Reseach Chair Canada Jerry Tjiputra Dr Indonesia Kevin Trenberth Dr. Head, Climate Analysis Section USA Peter A. Troch Professor USA Carol Turley Dr United Kingdom A.S Unnikrishnan Senior Scientist India Francisco P. J. Valero Director Atmospheric Research Laboratory USA Rob Van Dorland Dr The Netherlands Ricardo Villalba Director IANIGLA Argentina Martin Visbeck Professor Germany Andrea Volbers Dr Norway Thorsten Wagener Assistant Professor USA John Wahr Professor USA Warren M. Washington Senior Scientist USA Bob Wasson Professor Australia Andrew Watson Professor United Kingdom Ian G. Watterson Dr Australia Andrew Weaver Professor Canada Peter J. Webster Professor USA Ray F. Weiss Professor USA James W.C. White Professor USA Jürgen Willebrand Professor Emeritus Germany Larry Winter Deputy Director NCAR USA Carl Wunsch Professor of Physical Oceanography USA Xubin Zeng Professor USA Guang J. Zhang Research Meteorologist USA

The first response I found to this was issued the very next day, by the Royal Society of the United Kingdom:

Royal Society responds to scientists’ climate declaration

6 Dec 2007

In response to the 2007 Bali Climate Declaration by Scientists’ Sir John Houghton, a climate change advisor to the Royal Society, said:
“The Declaration emphasises the clear imperative coming from the science that we must take urgent action on climate change or face severe consequences. Although it sounds like a small rise, even a two degree increase in global temperatures will have severe effects on people, the environment and the economy. The political leaders at the UN climate conference in Bali must realise that there are very real global consequences if they fail to put the world on a path to cut emissions of green house gases quickly enough to make a difference.”

The text of the 2007 Bali Climate Declaration by Scientists’ can be seen here.

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So there you have it, as posted by me over two weeks ago: the Declaration that is worth paying attention to, and responding to positively in thought, word and deed.

Funnily enough, also on the day after the Declaration was issued, this beginning of an appeal to present an alternative document signed by many scientists (er, ‘friends’?) to support an alternative view of reality (a possible attempt at counter-attack?) appeared on the web at FOX-like Canada Free Press:

Open Letter to the UN Secretary General Concerning Global Warming
Canada Free Press, Canada – 6 Dec 2007

Dear Friends,
We are writing to invite you to join us in endorsing the following open letter to the Secretary-General of the United Nations …

So it looks like the Declaration did strike a nerve. I wonder if it served to trigger the “400 Prominent Scientists Dispute” now doing the pre-Christmas rounds of blogoplane?

Incidentally, the original ten-page document sent to the UN and copied to heads of state of countries of the signatory persons, kindly reprinted here by the Science and Public Policy Institute (SPPI) as:

Open Letter to the Secretary-General of the United Nations
by 100 Prominent Scientists 13 December 2007

was subtitled:

by
100 Prominent Scientists
Dec. 13, 2007

😐

Got that? 100 signed the letter and now 400 dispute man-made global warming claims. The 100 prominent scientists are a subset (along with another 60 from a previous list) of the 400. The names on the list of 100 are clear, while the 400 take some work to dig out of the post of the EPW Minority blog.

Well, having been busy on our travels in preparation for Christmas, it’s good to find that The Rabett is nibbling at the 400, and The Stoat took the original 100 as seriously as they deserve. So it’s fair to say that both climate creatures are covering and uncovering the minority opinion and who holds it, in their own inimitable way.

No surprise that the Open Letter is being promoted by unhöflich Inhofe’s PR team as though it’s an official U.S. Senate document. No surprise that the 100 has grown to 400, and its the FOUR HUNDRED that is SHOUTED FROM THE ROOFTOPS. Send it during the UN Bali conference, and let it infect virally thereafter, like all good propaganda exercises. Ho-hum. Akshullee, if you use the google thingy, and ask it what it can find on:

‘U.S. Senate Report: Over 400 Prominent Scientists Disputed Man-Made Global Warming Claims in 2007’

it currently gives you these results:

Web Personalised Results 1 – 10 of about 104,000 for ‘U.S. Senate Report: Over 400 Prominent Scientists Disputed Man-Made Global Warming Claims in 2007’. (0.33 seconds)

News results Results 1 – 3 of 3 for US Senate Report Over 400 Prominent Scientists Disputed Man-Made. (0.05 seconds)

Blog SearchResults 1 – 10 of about 36 for ‘U.S. Senate Report: Over 400 Prominent Scientists Disputed Man-Made Global Warming Claims in 2007’. (0.17 seconds)

Which is, in itself, interesting: the propaganda machine is working overtime before Christmas, the news orgs are ignoring this to the best of their ability, as it is not news, and Blather is probably the best place for this, but FOX and Canada Free Press are a bit confused! Look:

US Senate Report: Over 400 Prominent Scientists Disputed Man-Made …
Canada Free Press, Canada – Dec 20, 2007
By EPW Blog Thursday, December 20, 2007 Over 400 prominent scientists from more than two dozen countries recently voiced significant objections to major …

US Senate Report: Over 400 Prominent Scientists Disputed Man-Made …
Blather (satire), Ireland –

Dec 20, 2007
Over 400 prominent scientists from more than two dozen countries recently voiced significant objections to major aspects of the so-called “consensus” on …

“LATEST NEWS” item on FoxNews.com front page linked not to news …
Media Matters for America, DC – Dec 21, 2007
The headline on the post to which the FoxNews.com headline linked states: “US Senate Report: Over 400 Prominent Scientists Disputed Man-Made Global Warming …

The usual suspect blogs are picking up on it, slowly.

• As a Full U.S. Senate Report, I would have expected to have found this document available at least on the Senate website as a PDF. Nope.
• As a Senate Committee Report, for the EPW, I would have expected to have found this document available at least on the Senate Majority website as a PDF. Nope.

No surprises in this case. How Inhofe gets away with these cloaking tactics, is not a surprise, but it is a disgrace.

So, I shall hold this latest Inhofe promo up as a great example to show students how it is that the organised contrarians develop materials and propaganda merchants push their wares: supported by quack doctors on the front lines 😉

On a final note, by way of contrast, going back to the Declaration—the original 2007 Bali Climate Declaration by Scientists signed and advocated for by world-class experts acting in their own personal capacities as concerned and exceedingly well-informed citizens, we can see that few websites—apart from ClimateProgress, ClimateScienceWatch and Mason Inman—picked up on it at all and spent time cheering and supporting it. The Royal Society is the only national scientific body I found that actually published a statement of support for the Declaration, from a respected scientist, Sir John Houghton, who has more credibility on climate science topics than any combination of names on the minority list.

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