Antonino Zichichi
Credentials
- Ph.D.1“Open Letter to the Secretary-General of the United Nations,” December 13, 2007. Reprinted by the Science and Public Policy Institute.
- Professor of Advanced Physics, University of Bologna, Italy.2“Open Letter to the Secretary-General of the United Nations,” December 13, 2007. Reprinted by the Science and Public Policy Institute.
Background
Antonino Zichichi is an Italian physicist who specializes in the area of nuclear physics. He was president of the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare from 1977 up to 1982 and is currently an emeritus professor of physics at the University of Bologna.3“Professor Antonino Zichichi’s Short Biography,” Ettore Majorana Foundation and Centre for Scientific Culture. Accessed January, 2012.
He has also been a leading scientist with European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), and the Geneva Founder of the World Laboratory.4“Antonino Zichichi (2005),” Liberal International. Accessed January 31, 2012.
He is the co-founder and president of the World Federation of Scientists (WFS), which he helped form in 1973.5“About the Organization,” World Federation of Scientists. Accessed January, 2012.
WFS is an organization concerned with the fight against planetary emergencies, but also appears to have opened a “Permanent Monitoring Panel” on Climatology run by Canadian climate skeptic Christopher Essex.6“Permanent Monitoring Panel – Climatology,” World Federation of Scientists. Accessed January, 2012.
Zichichi is on Senator James Inhofe‘s list of “400 + scientists” who dispute man-made global warming as one of 49 who are currently retired.7“49 of Inhofe’s Global Warming Deniers Are Retired,” The Daily Green, January 10, 2008.
Stance on Climate Change
“[I]t is not possible to exclude the idea that climate changes can be due to natural causes. [It is plausible that] man is not to blame.”8“Scientist: Models used to analyse climate change are incoherent & invalid from a scientific point of view,” Global Research, May 2, 2007.
Key Quotes
“[The IPCC] has led the public to believe – as said before – that Science has understood all about Climate. If that was true, climatologically, the destiny of our planet should be free of uncertainties and under the rigorous control of Science. But it’s not this way.”
“The conclusion is that years of work and strong financial support are needed in
order to improve the theoretical formulation of the problems and the corresponding experimental worldwide observations.”9“METEOROLOGY AND CLIMATE: PROBLEMS AND EXPECTATIONS” (PDF), 38th Session, International Seminars on Planetary Emergencies, Erice, 19 – 24 August 2007. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog. WebCite URL: www.webcitation.org/6fTbeBj77
Key Actions
January 27, 2012
Zichichi is one of 16 scientists who appended their signatures to a Wall Street Journal Op-Ed titled “No Need to Panic About Global Warming.”
The piece begins, stating “There’s no compelling scientific argument for drastic action to ‘decarbonize’ the world’s economy.”
Other “scientists” whose signatures appear include Claude Allègre, J. Scott Armstrong, Jan Breslow, Roger Cohen, William Happer, William Kininmonth, Richard Lindzen, James McGrath, Rodney Nichols, Burt Rutan, Harrison H. Schmitt, Nir Shaviv, Edward David, Michael Kelly, and Henk Tennekes.
It has received criticism from numerous sources (see here 10Michael Tobis. “The Wall Street Journal, Again,” Planet3.0, January 27, 2012., here, 11Chris Moony. “On Global Warming, Should You Trust the Wall Street Journal, or Chevron, ExxonMobil and the Defense Department??,” The Intersection, January 30, 2012., and here 12Peter Frumhoff. “Dismal Science at the Wall Street Journal,” The Equation, January 27, 2012. for example.)
Media Transparency also examined Op-Ed and concluded that most of the scientists have never published articles in peer-reviewed journals on the subject of climate change. They also contacted economist William Nordhaus who said that the WSJ was guilty of a “Complete Mischaracterization Of My Work.”13“The Journal Hires Dentists To Do Heart Surgery,” Media Transparency, January 30, 2012.
December 13, 2007
Signatory to an open letter to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon that describes global warming as a natural phenomenon.
The letter describes carbon dioxide as a “non-polluting gas that is essential to plant photosynthesis,” and claims that the IPCC’s reports are “inadequate as justification” for implementing climate change policy.14“Open Letter to the Secretary-General of the United Nations,” December 13, 2007. Reprinted by the Science and Public Policy Institute.
April 27, 2007
Spoke at a conference sponsored by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace titled “Climate Change and Development.”
During the conference Zichichi made the assertion that human activity has less than a 10% impact on the environment, and said he was not convinced that global warming is caused by the increase of emissions of greenhouse gases produced through human activity. He also said climate changes depended significantly on the fluctuation of cosmic rays.15“Scientist: Models used to analyse climate change are incoherent & invalid from a scientific point of view,” Global Research, May 2, 2007.
Note that this is a common argument used by skeptics, according to examination by SkepticalScience.
The National Post covered the conference, and had this to say about Zichich’s presentation:
“The man most responsible for quelling any potential call to action is one of the Vatican’s own, Antonino Zichichi, a member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. Dr. Zichichi, who made the seminar’s most powerful presentation, set its tone. It amounted to a damning indictment of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the body responsible for most of the dire warnings that the press reports daily.”16“Some restraint in Rome,” National Post, May 23, 2007.
Affiliations
- The Heartland Institute — “Expert.”17“Heartland Experts: Mr. Antonino Zichichi,” The Heartland Institute. Accessed January, 2012.
- World Federation of Scientists (WFS) — Co-Founder.18“About the Organization,” World Federation of Scientists. Accessed January, 2012.
- The Vatican — “Academician,” The Pontifical Academy of Sciences.19“ANTONINO ZICHICHI,” The Pontifical Academy of Sciences. Accessed January 31, 2010.
Publications
According to a search of Google Scholar, Zichichi has never published in a peer-reviewed journal in the area of climate science.
Other sources mention that he has published over 1000 articles in journals, primarily in the area of physics.
Other Resources
- ExxonSecrets Factsheet: Antonio Zichichi.
- “Antonino Zichichi,” Wikipedia Entry.
- Jeremy A. Kaplan. “Green Smoke and Mirrors? Vatican Weighs in on Climate Change,” FoxNews.com, May 12, 2011.
Resources
- 1“Open Letter to the Secretary-General of the United Nations,” December 13, 2007. Reprinted by the Science and Public Policy Institute.
- 2“Open Letter to the Secretary-General of the United Nations,” December 13, 2007. Reprinted by the Science and Public Policy Institute.
- 3“Professor Antonino Zichichi’s Short Biography,” Ettore Majorana Foundation and Centre for Scientific Culture. Accessed January, 2012.
- 4“Antonino Zichichi (2005),” Liberal International. Accessed January 31, 2012.
- 5“About the Organization,” World Federation of Scientists. Accessed January, 2012.
- 6“Permanent Monitoring Panel – Climatology,” World Federation of Scientists. Accessed January, 2012.
- 7“49 of Inhofe’s Global Warming Deniers Are Retired,” The Daily Green, January 10, 2008.
- 8“Scientist: Models used to analyse climate change are incoherent & invalid from a scientific point of view,” Global Research, May 2, 2007.
- 9“METEOROLOGY AND CLIMATE: PROBLEMS AND EXPECTATIONS” (PDF), 38th Session, International Seminars on Planetary Emergencies, Erice, 19 – 24 August 2007. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog. WebCite URL: www.webcitation.org/6fTbeBj77
- 10Michael Tobis. “The Wall Street Journal, Again,” Planet3.0, January 27, 2012.
- 11Chris Moony. “On Global Warming, Should You Trust the Wall Street Journal, or Chevron, ExxonMobil and the Defense Department??,” The Intersection, January 30, 2012.
- 12Peter Frumhoff. “Dismal Science at the Wall Street Journal,” The Equation, January 27, 2012.
- 13“The Journal Hires Dentists To Do Heart Surgery,” Media Transparency, January 30, 2012.
- 14“Open Letter to the Secretary-General of the United Nations,” December 13, 2007. Reprinted by the Science and Public Policy Institute.
- 15“Scientist: Models used to analyse climate change are incoherent & invalid from a scientific point of view,” Global Research, May 2, 2007.
- 16“Some restraint in Rome,” National Post, May 23, 2007.
- 17“Heartland Experts: Mr. Antonino Zichichi,” The Heartland Institute. Accessed January, 2012.
- 18“About the Organization,” World Federation of Scientists. Accessed January, 2012.
- 19“ANTONINO ZICHICHI,” The Pontifical Academy of Sciences. Accessed January 31, 2010.
