Victor Manuel Velasco Herrera

Credentials

Ph.D. National Aerospace University of Ukraine, July 2001.¹
M.C. (Physics) Kharkov State University, January 1996.²
B.Sc. (Physics) Kharkov State University, January 1995.³

Background

Victor Manuel Velasco Herrera is a researcher at the Institute of Geophysics at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. His research areas include remote sensing systems, signal and image processing, planetary remote sensing, and prevention of natural disasters.

Herrera’s name appears as part of a list (PDF) of “650 international scientists who dissent over global warming.” The list appears to have been assembled by Marc Morano.⁴

Stance on Climate Change

“The models and forecasts of the UN IPCC “are incorrect because they only are based on mathematical models and presented results at scenarios that do not include, for example, solar activity.”⁵

Herrera has said that the Earth is in a state of transition as solar activity is diminishing. He predicts that in two years or so, the earth will see a small ice age that will last form 60 to 80 years.⁶

Key Quotes

August 2008

Herrera was quoted in an article from Mileneo Online speaking about the global trend in glacier size, saying

“In this century glaciers are growing.”⁷

This statement goes against the research of distinguished paleoclimatologist Lonnie Thompson, which finds that glaciers are retreating at an unprecedented rate.

Key Deeds

February 4, 2018

In January 2018, more than 200 scientists endorsed an open letter calling on the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) to remove climate change denier Rebekah Mercer from its board and to “end ties to anti-science propagandists and funders of climate science misinformation.” The New York Times reported that those among the AMNH letter calling for Mercer to step down were Michael E. Mann, director of the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University, and Katharine Hayhoe, director of the Climate Science Center at Texas Tech University.⁸

Herrera was among a group of climate change deniers who responded with their own open letter, calling for the AMNH “not to cave in to this pressure.” The letter was signed by numerous individuals with ties to groups funded by the Mercer Family Foundation such as Will Happer of the CO2 CoalitionRichard Lindzen, a fellow at the Cato InstituteCraig Idso, the chairman of the Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change. There are a number of signatories affiliated with the Heartland Institute, which has received over $5.78 million from the Mercer Family Foundation since 2008.⁹

The letter reads:¹⁰

“The Earth has supported abundant life many times in the geological past when there were much higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. It is quite likely that future generations will benefit from the enrichment of Earth’s atmosphere with more carbon dioxide.

“Make no mistake, the agitators are not defending science from quackery — quite the contrary!”

August 2016

Victor Manuel Velasco Herrera is listed as a “Founding Member” of group named Climate Exit (Clexit) led by climate change denier Christopher Monckton. According to Clexit’s founding statement (PDF), “The world must abandon this suicidal Global Warming crusade. Man does not and cannot control the climate.”¹¹ ¹²

Desmog reports on how the group grew in the wake of the UK’s decision to leave the EU. A key member of Clexit’s “60 well-informed science, business and economic leaders” is Hugh Morgan, a former board member of the Reserve Bank of Australia and former CEO of Western Mining Corporation with close ties to Australia’s Liberal party.¹³ ¹⁴

According to Clexit’s founding statement:

“If the Paris climate accord is ratified, or enforced locally by compliant governments, it will strangle the leading economies of the world with pointless carbon taxes and costly climate and energy policies, all with no sound basis in evidence or science […]”¹⁵

May 16–18, 2010

Herrera was a speaker at the Heartland Institute‘s Fourth International Conference on Climate Change in Chicago, Illinois. His talk, titled “The New Solar Minimum and the Mini Ice Age of the Twenty-First Century“ can be viewed below.¹⁶

Affiliations

The Heartland Institute — Past speaker at Heartland’s International Conference on Climate Change.
Climate Exit (Clexit) — ”Founding Member.”¹⁷

Publications

According to Google Scholar, Herrera has not published any work in peer-reviewed journals in the area of climate change.

Other Resources

ExxonSecrets Factsheet: Victor Herrera.
“Victor Manuel Velasco Herrera,” Wikipedia entry.

Resources

1
“Dr. Victor Manuel Velasco Herrera (researcher),”. Archived February 2, 2012.
2
“Dr. Victor Manuel Velasco Herrera (researcher),”. Archived February 2, 2012.
3
“Dr. Victor Manuel Velasco Herrera (researcher),”. Archived February 2, 2012.
4
“U. S. Senate Minority Report: More Than 700 International Scientists Dissent Over
Man-Made Global Warming Claims Scientists Continue to Debunk “Consensus” in 2008 & 2009” (PDF), U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee
Minority Staff Report (Inhofe), December 11, 2008 (Updated March 16, 2009).
5
“Top Scientists say global warming is a lie,” IceAgeNow.com. Accessed January, 2012.
6
“Auguran breve era del hielo en 2010,” Milenio Online. Translated from Spanish with Google Translate. Original article here.
7
“Auguran breve era del hielo en 2010,” Milenio Online. Translated from Spanish with Google Translate. Original article here.
8
Robin Pogrebin and Somini Sengupta. “A Science Denier at the Natural History Museum? Scientists Rebel,” The New York Times, January 25, 2018. Archived February 13, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/tAIv4
9
Graham Readfearn. “Climate Science Deniers Defend New York’s American Museum of Natural History From Calls to Drop Trustee Rebekah Mercer,” DeSmog, February 6, 2018.
10
mnh18-feb4-petitionletter (PDF – Untitled). Retrieved from Watts Up With That.
11
“The Clexit Committee comprises” (PDF), Clexit.net. Archived.pdf on file at Desmog.
12
“After Brexit, Clexit” (PDF), Clexit.net. Archived .pdf on file at Desmog.
13
Graham Readfearn. “After Brexit, Climate Science Denialists Form New Group to Call for a Clexit,” Desmog, August 3, 2016.
14
“Hugh Morgan AO,” Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Archived February 22, 2002. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/1ObOB
15
“The Clexit Committee comprises” (PDF), Clexit.net. Archived.pdf on file at Desmog.
16
“The Fourth International Conference on Climate Change, schedule” (PDF) Heartland Institute. Archived December 21, 2017.
17
“The Clexit Committee comprises” (PDF), Clexit.net. Archived.pdf on file at Desmog.

DeSmog

DeSmog