Bugsy congratulations, you got that one right, a meteorologist. And, this is the big one bugsy, He forecast this warming period over 50 years ago!

Did he indeed? How about backing that up with some sauce?

Got a list of Jones' forecasts lying around have you?

Dallas, didn't he try to predict sunspot cycles? In which case there's something quite bizarrely wrong if his prediction was warming based on that variable, because the sunspot cycle has not intensified. On the contrary, we are currently at the deepest low since 1913.

Philip Machanick,
Don't you mean white old men?

Phillip, He did predict.

Dallas, you answers are a tad cryptic. I haven't been able to find a detailed exposition of this theory, other than a vague reference to predicting sunspots. If that's all it is, it's dead wrong, because sunspots have not been on the increase. Let's hear more. I'm always interested in new ideas even if they're 50 years old.

HermanYutic: when I last checked, Robert Mugabe was not particularly keen on being lumped in with "white old men". Let's be clear here: I am not accusing all elderly people of this mindset. Rather, I am singling out the peculiar phenomenon of people who should be able to lead opinion by virtue of their experience, who get stuck in an old paradigm that no longer applies. Contrast Mugabe with Mandela. Mandela used his vast experience and personal following to pull South Africa away from disaster, then stepped aside when he felt he'd done his part.