David Douglass
Credentials
- Ph.D. Physics, MIT (1959).1“David H. Douglass,” Retrieved from University of Rochester (www.pas.rochester.edu), March 16, 2013.
- B.S. Physics, University of Maine.2“David H. Douglass,” Retrieved from University of Rochester (www.pas.rochester.edu), March 16, 2013.
Background
David Douglass is a Professor of Physics at the University of Rochester. According to his bio, Douglass main focus has been in the area of experimental condensed matter, but in the last few several years he’s been studying the fundamental science issues underlying global warming. Douglass has published several papers on questioning the validity of the scientific conclusion that global warming is caused by human activity.
Stance on Climate Change
“The observed pattern of warming, comparing surface and atmospheric temperature trends, does not show the characteristic fingerprint associated with greenhouse warming. The inescapable conclusion is that the human contribution is not significant and that observed increases in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases make only a negligible contribution to climate warming.”3Philip V. Brennan. “New Study Explodes Human-Global Warming Story,” Newsmax.com, December 10, 2007. Archived December 13, 2007.
Key Quotes
“Have the models been successful in predicting anything? They, of course, predict substantial global warming. This is not surprising given the expressed belief of some of the model builders in the global warming Hypothesis and the many parameters in the model that need to be introduced. However, the models also predict unambiguously that the atmosphere is warming faster than the surface of the earth; but all the available observational data unambiguously shows the opposite!”4“AGU AND GLOBAL WARMING,” Bizarre Science, May 25, 2004. Reproduced from a letter submitted to Wall Street Journal by Prof. David Douglass. Archived September 3, 2004.
Key Deeds
Ongoing
David Douglass has produced a number of “unpublished papers” on the subject of climate change and has made presentations at a number of locations including George Mason University. For example:5“Recent Talks and Presentations,” Retrieved from http://www.pas.rochester.edu/~douglass/recent-publications.html, March 16, 2013.
- Atmospheric Temperature trends: Climate Models versus Observation (invited paper)
David H, Douglass
AGU in New Orleans. 23-27 May 2005.
- Climate Sensitivity of Earth to Solar Irradiance: update II (invited paper)
David H. Douglass, B. David Clader, and Robert S. Knox
AGU in New Orleans. 23-27 May 2005
- Comparison of the Observational Data with the Global Climate Models
David H. Douglass
George Mason University March 11, 2005
- Climate Sensitivity to Solar Irradiance and Climate Models (invited talk)
David H. Douglass
SORCE meeting on Decade Variations in the Sun and the Climate. Merideth NH. Oct 28, 2004.
- Global Warming and Cooling
David H. Douglass
University of Rochester Wednesday evening Alumni Lecture Series. September 25, 2002.
- Construction of a Template to Represent an Ice Age Climate Cycle.
David H. Douglass, Alphonso Magri.
Paper presented at the AGU San Francisco Meeting. Dec 10-15, 2001.
- Determination of the Parameters of the Earth-Climate System due to Forcing from the Solar 11-year Cycle and from the Mt. Pinatubo Volcano Event. (invited paper)
D, H. Douglass and B. David Clader
1st International Conference on Global Warming and the Next Ice Age. 19-24 August Halifax, Canada. 2001. - Determination of the Parameters of the Earth-Climate System due to Forcing from the Solar 11-year Cycle and from the Mt. Pinatubo Volcano Event. (invited)
David H. Douglass.
Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics June 6, 2001.
- Were the Ice Ages Caused by Oscillations of Atmospheric C02?
David H. Douglass.
Science and Technology Seminar. Laboratory for Laser Energetics Dec 17, 1999 - Global Warming?
David H. Douglass.
Sixth Annual Myron W. Cucci Visiting Scientist Address. Monroe Community College. Dec 10, 1999
May 2010
Douglass was a speaker at the Heartland Institue’s Fourth International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC3).6“Fourth International Conference on Climate Change, Program,” (PDF) Heartland Institute. Archived February 8, 2018.
DeSmog has done research on the co-sponsors of the conference and found that 19 of the 65 sponsors (including Heartland itself) have received a total of over $40 million in funding since 1985 from ExxonMobil, Koch Industries family foundations or the Scaife family foundations.
His speech, titled “New Comparisons of Tropical Temperature Trends with 22 Model Predictions from 1958-2004: At Least 20 Models Are Still Wrong” can be viewed below.
March 2009
David Douglass was a speaker at the Heartland Institute’s Second International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC2). DeSmog researched the funding behind ICCC2 and found that sponsor organizations had received over $47 million in funding from energy companies and right-wing foundations.7“Speakers,” The 2009 International Conference on Climate Change. Archived April 27, 2010.
Douglass’ speech, titled “The Models Still Do Not Agree with the Observations” can be viewed below.
March 2008
Douglass was a speaker at the Heartland Institute‘s First International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC1).8“First International Conference on Climate Change, Program,” (PDF) Heartland Institute. Archived February 8, 2018.
His speech, titled “Observations Regarding Climate Model Predictions” can be viewed below.
December 2007
Douglass, along with Fred Singer and John Christy published a paper that, according to conservative media organizations, “explodes [the] human-global warming story.” Douglass et al.’s paper concludes that climate models have been inaccurate in predicting the amount of warming in the troposphere.
At the time, Douglass is quoted in a Fox News article as stating, ”[c]an the models accurately explain the climate from the recent past? It seems that the answer is no.” RealClimate points out that this is not the first time that Douglass, Christy and Singer have made this claim.9Philip V. Brennan. “New Study Explodes Human-Global Warming Story,” Newsmax.com, December 10, 2007. Archived December 13, 2007. 10David H. Douglass, John R. Christy, Benjamin D. Pearson and S. Fred Singer. “A comparison of tropical temperature trends with model predictions” (PDF), International Journal of Climatology (2007). 11“Study: Part of Global-Warming Model May Be Wrong,” FoxNews.com, December 13, 2007. 12S. Fred Singer and David H. Douglass. “Settling Global Warming Science,” TCS Daily, August 12, 2004.
July 2004
Douglass co-authored a 2004 paper with Patrick J. Michaels, as well as a paper in the July 9 issue of Geophysical Research Letters with Fred Singer. According to the Heartland Institute’s coverage, the paper supposedly puts the U.N.’s temperature records into question.13“Global Warming Computer Models Seriously Flawed, Studies Show,” The Heartlander, October 1, 2004.
According to SourceWatch, in a letter to the Washington Times criticizing a National Geographic article on global warming, Douglass wrote: “I, with Patrick J. Michaels as a co-author, showed that out of four data sets, three show no significant global warming. Advocates of global-warming theory simply ignore all contrary evidence. This is hardly a ‘scientific approach.’”
Affiliations
- The Heartland Institute — Listed as a Heartland “Expert” on climate change. Also a past ICCC speaker.
Publications
David H. Douglass has published a number of papers in peer-reviewed journals, largely in journals related to geophysics/geosciences. Some of his articles related to climate change have been published by the skeptical science journal Energy and Environment which has been criticized for its sub-standard peer review process in the past. Skeptical Science lists only one peer-reviewed paper by David Douglass on the subject of climate change.14“Peer-reviewed skeptic papers by David Douglass,” SkepticalScience. Accessed March 16, 2013.
A full list of his publications is available here.
Other Resources
- “David Douglass,” SourceWatch profile.
- ExxonSecrets Factsheet: David H. Douglass.
- “David Douglass,” Wikipedia.
Resources
- 1“David H. Douglass,” Retrieved from University of Rochester (www.pas.rochester.edu), March 16, 2013.
- 2“David H. Douglass,” Retrieved from University of Rochester (www.pas.rochester.edu), March 16, 2013.
- 3Philip V. Brennan. “New Study Explodes Human-Global Warming Story,” Newsmax.com, December 10, 2007. Archived December 13, 2007.
- 4“AGU AND GLOBAL WARMING,” Bizarre Science, May 25, 2004. Reproduced from a letter submitted to Wall Street Journal by Prof. David Douglass. Archived September 3, 2004.
- 5“Recent Talks and Presentations,” Retrieved from http://www.pas.rochester.edu/~douglass/recent-publications.html, March 16, 2013.
- 6“Fourth International Conference on Climate Change, Program,” (PDF) Heartland Institute. Archived February 8, 2018.
- 7“Speakers,” The 2009 International Conference on Climate Change. Archived April 27, 2010.
- 8“First International Conference on Climate Change, Program,” (PDF) Heartland Institute. Archived February 8, 2018.
- 9Philip V. Brennan. “New Study Explodes Human-Global Warming Story,” Newsmax.com, December 10, 2007. Archived December 13, 2007.
- 10David H. Douglass, John R. Christy, Benjamin D. Pearson and S. Fred Singer. “A comparison of tropical temperature trends with model predictions” (PDF), International Journal of Climatology (2007).
- 11“Study: Part of Global-Warming Model May Be Wrong,” FoxNews.com, December 13, 2007.
- 12S. Fred Singer and David H. Douglass. “Settling Global Warming Science,” TCS Daily, August 12, 2004.
- 13“Global Warming Computer Models Seriously Flawed, Studies Show,” The Heartlander, October 1, 2004.
- 14“Peer-reviewed skeptic papers by David Douglass,” SkepticalScience. Accessed March 16, 2013.
