Climate Confusion: How Global Warming Hysteria Leads to Bad Science, Pandering Politicians and Misguided Policies that Hurt the Poor | 
| Author: Roy Spencer
Publisher: Encounter Books
Category: Book
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Avg. Customer Rating:  33 reviews
Sales Rank: 159
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 184
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.2 x 1
ISBN: 1594032106
Dewey Decimal Number: 363.73874
EAN: 9781594032103
ASIN: 1594032106
Publication Date: March 27, 2008
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Product Description
If you listen to the media, you would think that man-made environmental catastrophe was about to engulf the world and imperil civilization. From Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth to nightly jeremiads about CO2 emissions and carbon footprints, we are bombarded around the clock with alarmist reports that disasterous global warming is on the rise and that it's our fault. In Climate Confusion, noted climatologist Roy Spencer shows that fears about global warming are vastly exaggerated and are driven by politics, not truth. He shows that a global superstorm has already arrived-but it is a storm of hype and hysteria. Climate Confusion is a ground-breaking book that combines impeccable scientific authority with great wit and literary panache to expose the hysteria surrounding the myths of global warming and climate change. Spencer shows that the earth is far more resilient than exopessimists pretend and that increasing wealth and technology ingenuity, far from being the enemies of the environment, are the only means we possess to solve environmental problems as they arise.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 28 more reviews...
 Be advised May 11, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I have NOT read this book. But I thought I'd pass on that it's being promoted with an Adsense ad that reads, "Climate Change Muths Exposed ..."
So take that into consideration when you consider your purchase -- not to mention your opinion on the issue.
 Excellent statement of opposition, needs more sources May 11, 2008
Dr. Spencer makes a logical, unemotional case refuting the "fact" of manmade global warming. One of his conclusions, with which a logical person must agree, is that we simply cannot say for certain that the warming is man-caused. The data clearly point in no certain direction, and the variables are far too complex to confidently say "XXX is the cause". We do not yet have the technology to model the extremely complex atmospheric interactions accurately enough to pinpoint the cause of a one or two degree temperature shift, or to accurately predict such a change.
One concern Dr. Spencer raises, and one I share, is that the issue has moved from the scientific to the political arena, and putting our trust in politicians to do much other than to pander for personal political advantage is foolhardy at best, and potentially destructive to our economy and standard of living. The recent politically driven (by both parties) subsidies for ethanol that has caused food prices to go through the roof should give pause to anyone who believes otherwise.
To those who say "we cannot afford to be wrong", Dr. Spencer correctly states that Al Gore's Chicken Little "crisis" has been largely generated to provide increased funding for researchers and flashy headlines for the media. Given that we are in the midst of a seven-year COOLING trend causes the "crisis" notion to deflate like a balloon full of holes.
Overall, Dr. Spencer's train of thought is easy to follow, and the conclusions he draws are valid, and the book is thought-provoking. As one who becomes involved in the discussion with friends and coworkers, I would have preferred more source information in order to add substance to the logic I try to provide in my arguments.
 Refreshing read, with too many questions unanswered. May 10, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
I was glad to find this book hidden among books on global warming in a bookstore. This was a refreshing funny read, but some of this book leaves too many questions unanswered. As a Computer Scientist and Applied Mathematician from a family of scientists, we watched Al Gore's movie and laughed hysterically. It was junk science with junky graphs. I'm glad Dr. Spencer dares to explain why it is junk science, in a way the average person can understand.
I grew up with the fear of global cooling and that an Ice Age was coming. People who aren't scientists need to read this book and understand that the money to be made off of these hysterias and hypes are not driven by real science. As mentioned in the book and other books, we contribute very little Co2 into the atmosphere or do we? After thinking more on the Mauna Loa graph provided in the book, I had to rewrite my review and ding Dr. Spencer here a bit. No offense though, as I think it's a worthy read.
I realized that if we add 1 molecule of Co2 per 100,000 molecules of air every 5 years, as stated in his book, that will add up to 100 PPM in 50 years. That is an increase of 25% Co2 in the air in 50 years. Figure out the math from page 63 in his book. He thinks that 1 part of Co2 per 100,000 molecules of air is nothing over 5 years. He has a graph that shows there are 380 PPM (parts per million) Co2 right now. If you do the math, there will be 10 PPM added every 5 years and Co2 will rise to 480 PPM from the 380 PPM that it is right now. That is more than a 25% increase in Co2 alone.
What does the Earth do with all of it? Some will be reused and broken down, but even from his graph, over the last 40 years an increase of more than 60 PPM's has already happened. That is nearly a 20% increase in Co2 molecules. He thinks that the Earth will adjust and that Co2 levels will be double what they are at the end of the century. The Earth does not adjust that quickly in geologic terms to a doubling of Co2 in only 100 years. We will be breathing less oxygen and more Co2 into our lungs. Not mentioned.
He thinks precipitation will be a stabilizing factor and that the earth has stabilizing controls. Does that mean more evaporation and condensation affecting the weather then? He doesn't tell us the consequences of the precipitation-stabilizing factor, other than it will cool the Earth. Certainly the Earth isn't absorbing Co2 quickly and breaking it down. The doubling of Co2 won't have much of a global warming effect, but it will have other effects and he ignores that. He makes light of doubling Co2 and this I do not understand.
450 million years ago the CO2 levels were supposed to be much higher according to scientists, yet there was an ice age. Co2 levels have been higher in the past and if they get too high you can get ice ages, but this is not mentioned. Why are Mars, Triton, Pluto and other planets and moons also heating up? Is this a coincidence or not? Are HCFC's contributing anything to global warming? Is the Sun in a cycle? He talks very little about the Sun and I would have liked more, as I think more is known.
These were questions I was hoping to see talked of in this book and that is why I gave it 3 stars. Also there is no bibliography. It wasn't enough science and a tad too much on the political side. I was hoping he would talk more about the topics above. However, I recommend reading this book and then exploring other books and reports beyond it. Young people need a history lesson in the hysteria and politics of hype in the past and present and this book gives it. It is driven by the almighty dollar and not science.
Having said all of this, page 63, if you do the math, says quite a lot, but it's made to seem like nothing. Confusing to the reader, however in the end real objective science needs to be done on this issue. -Julie A.
 good story but not true May 7, 2008
1 out of 13 found this review helpful
Yes, I have read this book and yes I have read the IPCC report and this book just takes the IPCC report and says the opposite. IPCC report, the sky is blue, Climate Confusion, the sky is red!!!
The view of a respectable contrarian May 7, 2008
2 out of 5 found this review helpful
As I have been trying to learn about climate change, I was interested to see several points of view. Spencer's book is a good example of the contrarian view from an expert in the field.
From my understanding so far, the reason that man-made climate change is hard to grasp by the general public is that the signal for it is, at present, comparable to the size of natural fluctuations. Therefore it requires an analysis within the context of physics models to see if it exists. The models are also important for predicting the future climate. The models contain a number of effects like solar activity, sulfur emissions, volcanic activity, CO2, etc. There is an important graph in the IPCC 2007 report (I'm referring to fig 8.1 in "Climate Change 2007, the Physical Science Basis") which shows how all the available models agree well with the data, but this result is not described in Spencer's book. Maybe he simply doesn't believe it.
Spencer says the models leave out things which are not fully understood, such as a possible water-vapor feedback. Spencer asserts that the model-builders are biased and try to conform to each other. I find this hard to believe, but then I wouldn't know. The IPCC 2007 report lists the uncertainties with it's findings. My understanding is that not all the issues are completely settled, but that's why it's scientific research: the answers are not obvious.
To amplify his points, Spencer is sarcastic and often disrespectful, and he complains about environmental extremism. He's right that we should avoid hysteria, but I think he misrepresents how science works. Science is a process for finding the truth. On some rare occasions, erroneous "group-think" may occur, but a wrong hypothesis is always proven wrong eventually.
I cannot recommend the IPCC 2007 report, as it is too long and detailed; however, a nice short book for the general public which explains the findings is "The Science and Politics of Global Climate Change" by A. Dessler and E. Parson. Overall I found it to be a much more balanced presentation, including explanations of the uncertainties such as those Spencer mentions.
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