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Global Warming False Alarms
Russell Lewis
6
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March 200725
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IEA CURRENT CONTROVERSIES PAPER
Institute of Economic Affairs2 Lord North StreetLondonSW1P 3LB
www.iea.org.uk  
IEA web publications are designed to promote discussion on economicissues and the role of markets in solving economic and socialproblems. Copyright remains with the author. If you would like tocontact the author, in the first instance please contactrwellings@iea.org.uk. As with all IEA publications, the views expressedin IEA web publications are those of the author.
 
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GLOBAL WARMING FALSE ALARMS
Russell Lewis
The government claim that global warming is more threatening thanterrorism is alarmist and unwarranted. It is also suspect as an excuse for mounting taxes and controls. It is strikingly similar to the dire predictionsof 40 years ago of an imminent ice age and to other past doom forecastsdue to alleged overpopulation, depletion of food and fuel supplies, and chemical pollution.There are serious doubts about the measurements, assumptions and  predictions of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC),with regard to global CO2 growth, temperature and the role of clouds. Indeed there is a strong case that the IPCC has overstated the effect of anthropogenic greenhouse gases on the climate and downplayed theinfluence of natural factors such as variations in solar output, El Niñosand volcanic activity.The empirical evidence used to support the global warming hypothesishas often been misleading, with ‘scare stories’ promoted in the mediathat are distortions of scientific reality. The high salience of the climatechange issue reflects the fact that many special interests have much togain from policies designed to reduce emissions through increased government intervention and world energy planning.
 
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 Contents
Introduction: The Mother of All Scares 41 Prophecies of Doom: a Mini-History 52 How the Global Warming Scare Began 83 Global Warming’s Achilles Heels 103a
 Box:
Sceptical Response to the IPCC 4
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Report on 18the Science of Climate Change4 Alternative Theories 205 Climate Change Politics 246 False Alarms 257 The Fat Cats of Global Warming 338 Kyoto: World Energy Planning 399 What Next? 4510 A Better Approach 47
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