Ed. note: Paul C. “Chip” Knappenberger was a longtime colleague and friend of Patrick Michaels (1950–2022). Knappenberger was co-author (with Michaels) of Lukewarming: The New Climate Science that Changes Everything (Cato Institute: 2016)
It was during the Fall of 1984 that I first met Pat Michaels. He was the professor of my Applied Climatology course during the first semester of my junior year at the University of Virginia. He entered class carrying a 3-ring binder over-stuffed with papers sticking out on all sides, pouring a Dr. Pepper over ice that was overflowing onto his khakis and sneakers, while fiddling with his tie and pushing in the tails of his button-down shirt.
He was brash and entertaining, but personable and approachable—qualities unlike any other professor I had experienced during my first two years at UVa.…
Continue Reading“So when the next summer heat wave arrives along with all the negative spin stories demonizing CO2 as its cause, I hope you will remember this post and the numerous scientific studies proving rising CO2 levels helps plants better withstand and recover from temperature-induced stresses. And when you do remember this, please share it with others!”
It’s summer time once again in the Northern Hemisphere. And like every summer, expect the occasional heat wave to set off a fury of news stories hyping the claim that today’s heat waves are caused or made worse by anthropogenic global warming.
Of course there is no clear evidence to support such assertions (sorry, climate model projections are not evidence!). Yet, the warmer temperatures that have finally reached the cold part of the country in which I live got me thinking about my next post exploring the many biological benefits of rising atmospheric CO2.…
Continue Reading“Unsurprisingly, just as in Sri Lanka, the Dutch announcement has created political upheaval. What is surprising is that, in the face of all this, politicians in countries like Belgium and New Zealand want to follow suit.”
As Benjamin Franklin once quipped, “Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other, and scarce in that.” Unfortunately, experience is often painful and occasionally fatal. Even the most foolish, if they survive, can learn from their own mistakes, but the wise learn from the mistakes of others.
Sri Lanka has made a catastrophic mistake. In 2021, during the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa announced that his country had embarked on a “new agricultural revolution that has sustainability at its core.”…
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