Over the years, Professor Richard Muller, a respected physicist at Berkeley, has been something of a poster boy for the Global Warming denialist folk.

He was on record as criticising the science and the scientists whose research showed that the world is warming, and at an increasing rate in recent decades, (in parallel with the dramatic rise in human induced emissions of greenhouse gases, most notably CO2).

So, Dr Muller put together a team of ten physicists including Dr Saul Perlmutter, a Nobel Prize winner, with a view to re-examining all the available data from all available sources using recently developed and more sophisticated analytical methodologies.

It’s worth noting that in part the project was funded by a 150KUSD grant from Koch Industries. The Koch Brothers, whose inherited fortune comes from oil and mining, have been among the most vocal opponents of Global Warming.

After analysing 1.6 billion measurements, Dr Muller has now released his findings for comment and analysis by others, prior to publication in a scientific journal.

They track closely with the findings of the worlds’ leading climate scientists, with NASA, with Pentagon study groups, with the world's Academies of Science, i.e. that the world is indeed warming. He even confirms the famous Hockey stick trend which aligns increases in warming with increases in human activity.

Dr. Muller now acknowledges that Global Warming is happening and that Anthropogenic Global Warming is “very much in the picture”.
"Our biggest surprise was that the new results agreed so closely with the warming values published previously by other teams in the US and the UK," said Prof Muller. “This confirms that these studies were done carefully and that potential biases identified by climate change sceptics did not seriously affect their conclusions.”
Pretty much that leaves only a handful of ‘Scientists-for-hire’ left who argue against climate change. Many of these are the same scientists who, not many years ago, were still arguing that there was no scientific proof that smoking causes cancer.
The story in the Washington Post may be found here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/a-skeptical-physicist-ends-up-confirming-climate-data/2011/10/20/gIQA6viC1L_blog.html
And the BBC here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15373071
Anthony
http://www.observationpoint.com.au

So what?

Initially they told us that the sea will rise by 300 meters.
That was a cause for panic. Imagine us all crowding on the mountain-tops and howling across to our friends on the other peaks.

Then they revised it to 63 meters.
So my brother built a house 64 meters above sea level, expecting to end up with a private beach.

Now they tell us it's just ONE meter, and even that only by the end of the century when myself and most of us will no longer be around.

Got better things to worry about!

Fair enough!
But I have children, and more relevently, grandchildren.
Right now, they, (my grandkids) are too young to be able to have a say, but with medical science going as it is, there's every chance that they might live healthily to the end of the century.
So for me, there is nothing more important than doing what I can to ensure that they can live out their lives in a world at least as pleasant as the one I've been able to enjoy.
Cheers,
Anthony
http://www.observationpoint.com.au

"So for me, there is nothing more important than doing what I can to ensure that they can live out their lives in a world at least as pleasant as the one I've been able to enjoy."

Fine. In that case, keep doing what you were always doing, only one meter higher.

Our author has found a truth.
OLO is, like every place, no place to talk about this issue.
Not if you value truth, want to measure science against deniers.
We are about a week is it? from the birth of the seventh billion human being living on our planet.
How long did it take for the first billion.
Then how long for the next.
Next two billion come in 39 years.
We have only burnt fossil fuels in this tonnage for what 100 years?
Was it half that before say 1900?
What was it in 1800.
Why would man pollute the atmosphere? or is it why not?
Are we puppets? is some one named self interest muddying the waters.
Are we fighting phantoms?
One side is.
Yes be assured one side is wrong.
I think we need to act, to find clean energy, to reduce then stop using dirty fuels.
I too think we can do it without the predicted pain, unless we take in to account our old Friend self interest, the owners of todays energy/fuels.
You can and do, fool most of the people most of the time.
No hard task, they enjoy the feeling, of assisting you.

Think we have talked this subject out here.
Thread after thread, insults from all sides.
And yes from both sides, some thoughts and ideas that came from the lower end of Gene pool.
But if nothing else, we can if we just look, find much.
In matters that should hold our attention, we take a side based on politics.
Or base our views on them.
The other side.
They are never right.
Maybe we need a dictatorship.
It may well be we are not capable of fixing much.