MINING industry veteran Hugh Morgan has further inflamed the climate change debate by claiming that the worlds climate scientists will be remembered in a similar vein to the Chicken Little theorists who published the apocalyptic tome The Limits to Growth more than 40 years ago. The long-time climate change sceptic said the intensity of the debate on global warming made it timely to consider the impact of the 1972 book published by the Club of Rome, which sold 12 million copies and was translated into 37 languages. The Club of Rome - a group of mostly European scientists and academics - used computer modelling to warn that the world would run out of commodities, including gold, mercury, silver, tin, zinc, petroleum, copper, lead, oil and natural gas, within 30 years. The book captured the publics imagination by warning of the sudden and uncontrollable collapse of economic life. SCIENTISTS: Nuclear power needed to slow warming Mr Morgan, the former chief executive of Western Mining Corporation, told The Australian: The book illustrates the dangers of academics talking about things they know nothing about. The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) will be remembered in the same way as the Club of Rome for its Chicken Little approach. Mr Morgans comments came as former Commonwealth Bank and Future Fund chairman David Murray suggested last week that the worlds climate scientists lacked integrity, prompting an angry response from a leading body representing scientists. Mr Murray told the ABCs Lateline program that the climate problem had been overstated by IPCC scientists and he would be convinced that man-made climate change was real only when I see some evidence of integrity amongst the scientists themselves. Host Emma Alberici pointed out that the most recent IPCC report was written by 250 authors from 39 countries and was subject to review by more than 1000 experts, but he could not be swayed. The Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society said on Friday it was disturbed by Mr Murrays comments. The IPCC reports are an outstanding example of international science co-operation, rigour and transparency, AMOC president Blair Trewin said. The society regards the remarks of Mr Murray as being a serious slur on the integrity of the many Australian and international authors of the IPCC report. The backlash from scientists came as Bill Shorten announced that Labor would propose amendments to the federal governments carbon tax repeal legislation, saying he believed an emissions trading scheme was the best way to tackle climate change. We accept the science of climate change. Tony Abbott doesnt, the Opposition Leader said. Mr Morgan said political leaders should reread The Limits of Growth to understand the dangers of modelling and the risk of believing academics who think they can see the future. He said the Club of Romes prediction that most major commodities would run out within a few decades had been proven wrong because of the scientists failure to consider technological innovation in the resources industry and their inability to understand how companies made decisions. It completely presumed there was a standstill in technology, Mr Morgan said. He cited the shale gas revolution in the US as an example of technological change leading to increased reserves of a key commodity. The move towards deep-sea drilling for oil had also led to new discoveries in areas previously discounted. Mr Morgan said the Club of Romes forecasts had scared the hell out of everybody and had encouraged overproduction, which kept commodity prices low for 20 years. Everybody invested and you had a massive oversupply, he said. - See more at: theaustralian.au/national-affairs/policy/ipcc-this-centurys-chicken-little/story-e6frg6xf-1226752383735#sthash.6CMy59ho.dpuf
Posted on: Sun, 03 Nov 2013 23:39:13 +0000
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