Skeptics delighted when climate change stories clash

Climate change skeptics would have been delighted with the juxtaposition of stories published in the national media today.

The first, published by the ABC under the headline: “2013 was the hottest year on record in Australia, Bureau of Meteorology says”, explained how heat records throughout Australia had tumbled last year.

However, the Melbourne Age carried a comment piece from John McLean that questioned the value and mode of operation of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and so the veracity of its views about human-induced climate change.

McLean’s piece – “Lack of accountability clouding the climate change debate” - throws doubt upon the climate change discussion and it appears perfectly timed to coincide with the release of damning figures from the Bureau of Meteorology about Australia’s worsening climate.

His credentials appear sketchy at best and he is described as a member of the International Climate Science Coalition, which has as its chief science director, Professor Bob Carter.

Carter’s professional esteem among internationally recognised climatologists is somewhat less than encouraging and that does not reflect well upon the organization that is integral to McLean’s authority.