Who am I?

"A democratic society depends on diverse sources of reliable information and contending opinions."
ABC Editorial policy

Pop Quiz: Who am I?

Professor and Chair of the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at theGeorgia Institute of Technology and President (co-owner) of Climate Forecast Applications Network (CFAN). I received a Ph.D. in Geophysical Sciences  from the University of Chicago in 1982.  Prior to joining the faculty at Georgia Tech, I held faculty positions at the University of Colorado, Penn State University and Purdue University. I currently serve on the NASA Advisory Council Earth Science Subcommittee and the DOE Biological and Environmental Science Advisory Committee,  and have recently served on the National Academies Climate Research Committee and the Space Studies Board, and the NOAA Climate Working Group. I am a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Geophysical Union.

Intelligent, top of their field, numerous peer reviewed publications, a world leader, articulate, concise, open, an award winning scientist. Seems someone ABC might want to get an opinion from, yet somehow this person is passed over in favour of lesser mortals.

Their latest testimony to the US Senate now available HERE.

Extract...

• For the past 16 years, there has been no significant increase in surface temperature. There is a growing discrepancy between observations and climate model projections. Observations since 2011 have fallen below the 90% envelope of climate model projections
• The IPCC does not have a convincing or confident explanation for this hiatus in warming.
• There is growing evidence of decreased climate sensitivity to atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations
• Based on expert judgment in light of this evidence, the IPCC 5thassessment report lowered its surface temperature projection relative to the model projections for the period 2016-2036.

The growing evidence that climate models are too sensitive to CO2 has implications for the attribution of late 20th century warming and projections of 21st century climate change. Sensitivity of the climate to carbon dioxide, and the level of uncertainty in its value, is a key input into the economic models that drive cost-benefit analyses, including estimates of the social cost of carbon.