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tabatha

(18,795 posts)
3. Fritz Vahrenholt - Duped on Climate Change
Sun Mar 18, 2012, 02:21 AM
Mar 2012

German electric utility executive Fritz Vahrenholt is co-author (along with geologist Sebastian Lüning) of a book expressing "skepticism" regarding the human contribution to global warming, which predictably has been trumpeted by the usual climate denial enablers. Why should we particularly care what Vahrenholt thinks about climate science? That is something of a mystery - he has a PhD in chemistry and has worked in the energy sector for Shell Oil and wind turbine maker RePower. Vahrenholt and Lüning both currently work for RWE Innogy, Germany's second-largest energy company (Vahrenholt as a manager, Lüning as a scientist in its oil and gas division).

Vahrenholt admits he has no expertise in climate science, but apparently his status as "Germany’s Top Environmentalist" (a title which Vahrenholt appears to have been awarded just recently by anti-climate think tanks and denialists) and his climate "skepticism" are sufficient for some people to take his climate claims seriously. In an interview with Der Spiegel, Vahrenholt discusses why he chose to write a book rather than attempting to conduct and publish scientific research.

SPIEGEL: You make concrete statements on how much human activity contributes to climatic events and how much of a role natural factors play. Why don't you publish your prognoses in a professional journal?

Vahrenholt: Because I don't engage in my own climate research. Besides, I don't have a supercomputer in my basement. For the most part, my co-author, geologist Sebastian Lüning, and I merely summarize what scientists have published in professional journals -- just as the IPCC does.

Read the full debunking: http://www.skepticalscience.com/fritz-vahrenholt-duped-on-climate-change.html

An astrologer who thought cosmic rays were responsible for Stalin and Hitler's power. greyl Mar 2012 #1
meanwhile, back on planet earth..... virtualobserver Mar 2012 #2
Eastern Europe had brutal winter, several hundred perished golfguru Mar 2012 #8
Fritz Vahrenholt - Duped on Climate Change tabatha Mar 2012 #3
Another ice age? I predict lots of famine from lack of sun. Oh, well, you can't win. freshwest Mar 2012 #4
Mother nature never promised us a rose garden! golfguru Mar 2012 #7
Hollywood warned us! Here's proof! Run for the border, folks! freshwest Mar 2012 #11
St Paddy's parade Chicago lakefront 2012 = 81 degrees today!! lunasun Mar 2012 #5
Holy cow 81 deg in mid-March! golfguru Mar 2012 #6
last summer had short heat wave that was bad enuf this one lunasun Mar 2012 #9
Yes I recall 600 deaths in Chicago in that year 1995? golfguru Mar 2012 #18
It's 73 F here in Ottawa - 25 degrees warmer than San Francisco nt GliderGuider Mar 2012 #17
This post is idiocy intaglio Mar 2012 #10
Bingo! Champion Jack Mar 2012 #12
The strongest global warming we know of took place golfguru Mar 2012 #19
Thankfully, your guesses have no weight in our decisions muriel_volestrangler Mar 2012 #21
In case you have not kept up with the news... golfguru Mar 2012 #23
If by "news" you mean "dead astrologer", then yes. Dead_Parrot Mar 2012 #24
Maybe you haven't kept up with the news - the integration of Russian data muriel_volestrangler Mar 2012 #25
You are again missing my point golfguru Mar 2012 #26
The rate of warming *from a warm period* is unprecedented muriel_volestrangler Mar 2012 #27
Observe and learn golfguru Mar 2012 #28
Of all the stupid denier crap, that is one of the most uninformed examples there is muriel_volestrangler Mar 2012 #29
I have never denied global warming...just MAN MADE global warming golfguru Mar 2012 #30
"just another excuse to raise taxes" Dead_Parrot Mar 2012 #31
Google "Carbon Isotope Balances" and then get back to us, m'kay? hatrack Mar 2012 #34
Smart nations such as China & India will never go along with carbon tax golfguru Mar 2012 #32
"I pay enough taxes! 1,300,000 times bigger! Wah!" muriel_volestrangler Mar 2012 #33
I did enjoy reading your posts in this thread. golfguru Mar 2012 #37
Apostate! guardian Mar 2012 #22
In what peer reviewed journal was this published? Stupid denier webiste fail jpak Mar 2012 #13
German scientist breeds unicorns with bigfoot. Viking12 Mar 2012 #14
Rec for the lulz Dead_Parrot Mar 2012 #15
Don't Bogart! jpak Mar 2012 #36
........ marmar Mar 2012 #16
Winter of 2011/12 departure from norm AlecBGreen Mar 2012 #20
Just so the OP is aware, the hosts voted to ban someone from E/E yesterday XemaSab Mar 2012 #35
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