Sceptics call for jail sentences as Met Office global warming prediction fails
22nd November 2013
The Scottish Climate and Energy Forum is an association for climate sceptics and have issued the following statement -
As the latest climate talks come to an end with green groups walk out, a sceptic group has demanded those "lying about climate models should face jail sentences" as a key prediction by the Met Office proves to be wrong
In 2007 a team of climate scientists from the UK Met Office led by Doug Smith made predictions for the decade 2004-2014. They said that the world would be 0.3°C warmer over the decade and that at least half of the years after 2009 would be warmer than the record year of 1998. But after 1998 warming slowed and many are now claiming there has not been any warming since 1998.
But in 2007 the Met Office were not coy when it came to speaking about their ability to predict the climate saying they had: “a unique position in the world of climate science" and that "No other single body has a comparable breadth of climate-change science and modelling, or has made the same contribution to global climate science and current knowledge.”
Keen that their models should be used by government and commerce to "tackle climate change" they claimed that: "these predictions would allow businesses and policy-makers to be able to respond to short-term climate change when making decisions today."
And staffers like Met Office Vicky Pope was confident that
“these are very strong statements about what will happen over the next 10 years.”
But climate sceptics like Mike Haseler from the Scottish Climate & Energy Forum were doubtful.
"I became interested in these forecasts around 2005. By 2008 I knew something was wrong because every forecast had been far too high. But the Met Office continued saying they could predict the global temperature. I thought they would see sense after Climategate in 2009, but the Met Office continued saying their forecasts were good even though they stopped publishing them. How could they claim that if they were predicting 0.05C warming each year and the average error was 0.06C?".
Despite the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change remaining confident in its predictions and even increasing its headline confidence in man-made global warming this September, little progress has been made in the world climate talks since 2009. The latest climate talks in Warsaw were bound to be difficult, but few expected it to be so bad. Developing nations walked out when they did not get their way on a climate compensation scheme. Green groups were enraged by the sponsorship from fossil fuel companies. Several governments refused to send government ministers and the Polish hosts even sacked their Environmental Minister running the talks. It all too much for many green groups who eventually walked out and went home.
Now according to Mike Haseler things could get much worse. Referring to their forecast of 0.3C warming Mike Haseler said:
"it would now take a miracle for the Met Office to be right. They said half of the years since 2004 would be warmer than 1998 but using their own HADCRUT3 data none have been warmer and it is now clear that 2013 will also be cooler."
"This is a total disaster for the Met Office" claimed Mike Haseler, "If the Met Office can't even get the sign of their predictions right, whatever they claim, the public can see that their models don't work. Government can no longer justify taking money from householders through higher fuel bills to pay for this policy when it is built on the lie that climate scientists like the Met Office can predict the climate. They can't. Taking money by deception is a fraud. The Met Office have not come clean. It is now time that they were investigated to see if those responsible knew these models had failed. If they knew, and did not tell the public who paid for their mistakes, then they should face jail.
Issued by
Scottish Climate and Energy Forum
7 Poplar Drive, Lenzie, East Dunbartonshire, G66 4DN
A suggestion from our forum is to look at -
http://fullfact.org/factchecks/energy_bills_green_taxes-29250
