We are told that the IPCC report is the collective opinion of the World’s experts in climate science. Here is a listing of the “expertise” of the British and US contributors to this report. Compiled from information available on Resistance – Challenging Climate Orthodoxy and other sources:
Of the 51 contributors from the UK to the latest IPCC report, there were 5 economists, 3 epidemiologists, 5 who were either zoologists, entomologists, or biologists. 5 worked in civil engineering or risk management/insurance. 7 had specialties in geography. And just 10 have specialties in geophysics, climate science or modelling, or hydrology. But there were 15 who could only be described as social scientists. If we take the view that economics is a social science, that makes 20 social scientists.
Abigail Bristow is a professor of Transport Studies at Newcastle University. Professor Diana Liverman at Oxford University specialises in “human dimensions of global environmental change” – Geography is a social science too. Professor John Morton, of the University of Greenwich, specialises in “development Anthropology.” Johanna Wolf, from the University of East Anglia, works in the department for “development studies.” Anna Taylor, of the Stockholm Environment Institute in Oxford, has no PhD at all; her research focuses on “stakeholder engagement in adapting to multiple stresses, including climate variability and change, water scarcity, food insecurity and health concerns.” Susanne Rupp-Armstrong, listed as a member of Southampton University, appears to have contributed only to one academic paper. Maureen Agnew, Research Associate at the University of East Anglia, does not focus her research on climate science, but on such things as “Public perceptions of unusually warm weather in the UK: impacts, responses and adaptations,” and “Potential impacts of climate change on international tourism.” Katherine Vincent specialising in “Social Capital and Climate change” at the UEA, only began her PhD thesis in October 2003.
Of the 70 US contributors, there were 7 economists, 13 social scientists, 3 epidemiologists, 10 biologists/ecologists, 5 engineers, 2 modellers/statisticians, 1 full-time activist (and 1 part time), 5 were in public health and policy, and 4 were unknowns. 17 worked in earth/atmospheric sciences. We gave the benefit of the doubt to geographers where it wasn’t clear whether their specialty was physical or human geography.
Included as contributors are Patricia Craig, Judith Cranage, Susan Mann, and Christopher Pfeiffer, all from Pennsylvania State University. Their jobs are (in order) website-designer, administrative assistant (x2), and network administrator.
Also on the list is Peter Neofotis who appears to be a 2003 graduate of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology from Columbia. Also at Columbia is Marta Vicarelli , who is a PhD candidate in “sustainable development.” And Gianna Palmer at Wesleyan University, who will not graduate from university until 2010.
A significant number of IPCC contributors are simply not experts, nor are they mostly climate scientists – but in fact are made up of specialties that carry no “climate” element at all. Many are not even scientists by any measure.
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