Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I have been directly involved in the hockey stick war. I have been been an active research ecologist for over 20 years, and during the last 10 years I have focused on climate change and its effects on living systems. During part of my recent career, I was employed as science advisor to the Century Commission for a Sustainable Florida, a legislatively mandated commission. In March of 2007, while giving an invited report on climate change to a select committee of the Florida legislature, a conservative legislator rose from his seat and declared me to be a liar and demanded that I be dismissed. Indeed, I was asked to step from the podium. Only one newspaper in the state carried the story, and my employers, who were GOP appointees, did not so much as apologize for my treatment. Democracy in action, right? My sin? I had shown the hockey stick. When I approached the legislator who had objected, I discovered that he did not know that the National Academy and reviewed Michael Mann's work and found it to be fundamentally sound. Indeed, it was not apparent that he even knew of the existence of the US National Academy. After the climate gate emails were released, the prestigious journal Nature referred to the push back from the oil soaked Irrational Right as a "street fight." I could not agree more. I have carefully read and evaluated Mann's work and I find it to be of the highest standards of scientific integrity. He has been vindicated by numerous reviews. Despite continued harassment, he continues to find time to do excellent research. I have the greatest respect for him as a colleague and role model. The story that Mann recounts in this book is horrific and indicative of the demise of our most cherished institutions. The primary strategy of the industry funded hacks who claim to be scientists is to attack the messenger. I recently spoke at a conference where one of these credentialed, unscrupulous scientists-for-hire began his talk by attacking the personal integrity of John Holdren, Ralph Cicerone, and Jane Lubchenco, all scientists who adhere to the highest standards of integrity. Later in his talk, this scoundrel showed slides of a crayfish and crab which had grown larger in acidified water. He used this as proof that ocean acidification was actually good for shelled organisms. The bald face lie in this is that these two organisms have chitinous exoskeletons, rather than calcarious shells. This is typical of the tactics that I have observed. It is a scorched-earth strategy to destroy the credibility of our most esteemed scientists and scientific establishments. To date 32 national academies have endorsed the fundamental reality of human caused climate change. Numerous professional organizations have also made clear statements to support the mainstream science. 97% of all climate scientists agree. NSF, NASA, NOAA, USDA, the NPS, and the CDC have active research programs predicated on the reality of human-caused climate change. The clarity of the climate change threat could not be greater. It is most sobering to realize that our present emissions trajectory will result in a global average warming of over 5 degrees C by 2100. Such a planet will not sustain civilization in any recognizable form. The excess CO2 that is pumped into the air today will affect our planet for thousands of years into the future. I am not an alarmist, but I am alarmed. You should be too. I urge everyone to read Mann's book. It is well written and compelling. Any publishing scientist who reads it will likely be chilled to the bone. I have contributed to the climate scientist legal defense fund, and urge all of you to do the same. [...] Stephen Mulkey, PhD President, Unity College Unity, ME 04988