Guy McPherson
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| − | '''Guy McPherson''' is Professor Emeritus of Natural Resources and Ecology & [[Evolution|Evolutionary Biology]] at the University of [[Arizona]]. An author, blogger, and parallel universe version of [[Bjorn Lomborg]], McPherson theorizes that runaway [[climate change]] constitutes a near-term [[human]] [[extinction]] event due to species interdependence{{citation needed|date=September 2014}} and the current Holocene extinction rate of 200 species per day<ref>[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/17/un-environment-programme-_n_684562.html UN Environment Programme: 200 Species Extinct Every Day, Unlike Anything Since Dinosaurs Disappeared 65 Million Years Ago].</ref>{{citation needed|date=September 2014}} caused by human activity. McPherson has gained a | + | '''Guy McPherson''' is Professor Emeritus of Natural Resources and Ecology & [[Evolution|Evolutionary Biology]] at the University of [[Arizona]]. An author, blogger, and parallel universe version of [[Bjorn Lomborg]], McPherson theorizes that runaway [[climate change]] constitutes a near-term [[human]] [[extinction]] event due to species interdependence{{citation needed|date=September 2014}} and the current Holocene extinction rate of 200 species per day<ref>[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/17/un-environment-programme-_n_684562.html UN Environment Programme: 200 Species Extinct Every Day, Unlike Anything Since Dinosaurs Disappeared 65 Million Years Ago].</ref>{{citation needed|date=September 2014}} caused by human activity. McPherson has gained a cultishly persistent following in the [[deep ecology]]/"doomer" fringe of the [[hard green]] movement, whose members occasionally vandalize this humble page. His blog is called ''Nature Bats Last''. |
According to McPherson, current climate data collected from ''Science'', ''Nature'', and many organizations such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Hadley Centre for Meteorological Research, United Nations Environment Programme, and International Energy Agency, demonstrates that it is far too late to cut down on carbon emissions and mitigate the 40-year<ref>[http://www.skepticalscience.com/Climate-Change-The-40-Year-Delay-Between-Cause-and-Effect.html Climate Change: The 40 Year Delay Between Cause and Effect]. Skeptical Science.</ref> [[global warming]] process; accelerating climate feedbacks could cause a global average temperature increase of between >1° and >6° Celcius. This could begin to make humanity [[Extinction|extinct]] by 2030 at the earliest. McPherson cites Paul Beckwith as saying that the earth could warm by 6°C in a decade. McPherson believes that warming of 4° to 6° C will result in "a dead planet".<ref name="[[McPhersonSummary]]"> | According to McPherson, current climate data collected from ''Science'', ''Nature'', and many organizations such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Hadley Centre for Meteorological Research, United Nations Environment Programme, and International Energy Agency, demonstrates that it is far too late to cut down on carbon emissions and mitigate the 40-year<ref>[http://www.skepticalscience.com/Climate-Change-The-40-Year-Delay-Between-Cause-and-Effect.html Climate Change: The 40 Year Delay Between Cause and Effect]. Skeptical Science.</ref> [[global warming]] process; accelerating climate feedbacks could cause a global average temperature increase of between >1° and >6° Celcius. This could begin to make humanity [[Extinction|extinct]] by 2030 at the earliest. McPherson cites Paul Beckwith as saying that the earth could warm by 6°C in a decade. McPherson believes that warming of 4° to 6° C will result in "a dead planet".<ref name="[[McPhersonSummary]]"> | ||
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title =Climate-change summary and update| | title =Climate-change summary and update| | ||
author=Guy McPherson| | author=Guy McPherson| | ||
| − | accessdate=2014-04-03}}</ref> However, analysis of the data by knowledgeable science educators such as Scott K. Johnson<ref>[http://fractalplanet.wordpress.com/2014/02/17/how-guy-mcpherson-gets-it-wrong/ How Guy McPherson gets it wrong]. Fractal Planet.</ref> and scientists such as Michael Tobis<ref>[http://planet3.org/2014/03/13/mcphersons-evidence-that-doom-doom-doom/ McPherson's Evidence That Doom Doom Doom]. Planet 3.0</ref> shows that McPherson is wildly distorting climate change science -- especially developments about methane emissions from the Arctic -- to support his conclusions. Additionally, Tobis has pointed out that some of McPherson's statements -- such as his nonsensical predictions regarding chain nuclear meltdowns--have literally nothing to do with | + | accessdate=2014-04-03}}</ref> However, analysis of the data by knowledgeable science educators such as Scott K. Johnson<ref>[http://fractalplanet.wordpress.com/2014/02/17/how-guy-mcpherson-gets-it-wrong/ How Guy McPherson gets it wrong]. Fractal Planet.</ref> and working scientists such as Michael Tobis<ref>[http://planet3.org/2014/03/13/mcphersons-evidence-that-doom-doom-doom/ McPherson's Evidence That Doom Doom Doom]. Planet 3.0</ref> shows that McPherson is wildly distorting climate change science -- especially developments about methane emissions from the Arctic -- to support his conclusions. Additionally, Tobis has pointed out that some of McPherson's statements -- such as his nonsensical predictions regarding chain nuclear meltdowns -- have literally ''nothing'' to do with climate science. |
| − | McPherson also claims that the United States government [[conspiracy theory| | + | McPherson also claims that the United States government, and virtually all high-profile scientists and activists (like [[James Hansen]]), [[conspiracy theory|know we are beyond the point of no return]], but are purposefully making conservative predictions to mislead the public. |
=== Criticism === | === Criticism === | ||
The few science bloggers who pay McPherson any attention have challenged his evidence, including scientist and blogger Michael Tobis and Fractal Planet, who have refuted his claims of runaway climate "feedbacks" as “not fast enough”, not meeting the technical description of what a positive feedback is, or else as actually constituting ''negative'' feedbacks. A blog entry entitled "How Guy McPherson Gets It Wrong" was published on February 17, 2014.<ref>[http://fractalplanet.wordpress.com/2014/02/17/how-guy-mcpherson-gets-it-wrong/ How Guy McPherson gets it wrong]. Fractal Planet.</ref> Radio host Alex Smith explored the problematic reasoning and possible motivations behind McPherson's nihilistic views<ref>[http://www.ecoshock.info/2014/09/human-extinction-not-so-much.html Human extinction? Not so much]. Ecoshock.</ref> and also researched dubious sources of the purported extinction date<ref>[http://www.ecoshock.info/2013/06/will-humans-go-extinct-soon.html Will Humans Go Extinct Soon?] Ecoshock.</ref>, on the weekly Ecoshock program. | The few science bloggers who pay McPherson any attention have challenged his evidence, including scientist and blogger Michael Tobis and Fractal Planet, who have refuted his claims of runaway climate "feedbacks" as “not fast enough”, not meeting the technical description of what a positive feedback is, or else as actually constituting ''negative'' feedbacks. A blog entry entitled "How Guy McPherson Gets It Wrong" was published on February 17, 2014.<ref>[http://fractalplanet.wordpress.com/2014/02/17/how-guy-mcpherson-gets-it-wrong/ How Guy McPherson gets it wrong]. Fractal Planet.</ref> Radio host Alex Smith explored the problematic reasoning and possible motivations behind McPherson's nihilistic views<ref>[http://www.ecoshock.info/2014/09/human-extinction-not-so-much.html Human extinction? Not so much]. Ecoshock.</ref> and also researched dubious sources of the purported extinction date<ref>[http://www.ecoshock.info/2013/06/will-humans-go-extinct-soon.html Will Humans Go Extinct Soon?] Ecoshock.</ref>, on the weekly Ecoshock program. | ||
| + | |||
| + | A quick review of any of the comments McPherson ''et al.'' make on critical articles, or the edit history of this very page, reveals that McPherson and his followers are quick to react to criticism with the predictable set of ad-hominem attacks ("white male science," etc.) rather than with rational arguments. | ||
=== Works === | === Works === | ||
Revision as of 06:08, 12 January 2015
| Some dare call it |
| Secrets revealed! |
| The revealers |
Guy McPherson is Professor Emeritus of Natural Resources and Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at the University of Arizona. An author, blogger, and parallel universe version of Bjorn Lomborg, McPherson theorizes that runaway climate change constitutes a near-term human extinction event due to species interdependence[citation needed] and the current Holocene extinction rate of 200 species per day[1][citation needed] caused by human activity. McPherson has gained a cultishly persistent following in the deep ecology/"doomer" fringe of the hard green movement, whose members occasionally vandalize this humble page. His blog is called Nature Bats Last.
According to McPherson, current climate data collected from Science, Nature, and many organizations such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Hadley Centre for Meteorological Research, United Nations Environment Programme, and International Energy Agency, demonstrates that it is far too late to cut down on carbon emissions and mitigate the 40-year[2] global warming process; accelerating climate feedbacks could cause a global average temperature increase of between >1° and >6° Celcius. This could begin to make humanity extinct by 2030 at the earliest. McPherson cites Paul Beckwith as saying that the earth could warm by 6°C in a decade. McPherson believes that warming of 4° to 6° C will result in "a dead planet".[3] However, analysis of the data by knowledgeable science educators such as Scott K. Johnson[4] and working scientists such as Michael Tobis[5] shows that McPherson is wildly distorting climate change science -- especially developments about methane emissions from the Arctic -- to support his conclusions. Additionally, Tobis has pointed out that some of McPherson's statements -- such as his nonsensical predictions regarding chain nuclear meltdowns -- have literally nothing to do with climate science.
McPherson also claims that the United States government, and virtually all high-profile scientists and activists (like James Hansen), know we are beyond the point of no return, but are purposefully making conservative predictions to mislead the public.
Criticism
The few science bloggers who pay McPherson any attention have challenged his evidence, including scientist and blogger Michael Tobis and Fractal Planet, who have refuted his claims of runaway climate "feedbacks" as “not fast enough”, not meeting the technical description of what a positive feedback is, or else as actually constituting negative feedbacks. A blog entry entitled "How Guy McPherson Gets It Wrong" was published on February 17, 2014.[6] Radio host Alex Smith explored the problematic reasoning and possible motivations behind McPherson's nihilistic views[7] and also researched dubious sources of the purported extinction date[8], on the weekly Ecoshock program.
A quick review of any of the comments McPherson et al. make on critical articles, or the edit history of this very page, reveals that McPherson and his followers are quick to react to criticism with the predictable set of ad-hominem attacks ("white male science," etc.) rather than with rational arguments.
Works
- Ecology and Management of North American Savannas (1997)
- Applied Ecology and Natural Resource Management (2003)
- Changing Precipitation Regimes and Terrestrial Ecosystems: A North American Perspective (2003)
- Killing the Natives: Has the American Dream Become a Nightmare? (2005)
- Letters to a young academic: seeking teachable moments (2006)
- Living with Fire: Fire Ecology and Policy for the Twenty-first Century (2008)
- The Planner’s Guide to Natural Resource Conservation: The Science of Land Development Beyond the Metropolitan Fringe (2009)
- Walking Away from Empire: A Personal Journey (2011)
- Going Dark (2013)
Footnotes
- ↑ UN Environment Programme: 200 Species Extinct Every Day, Unlike Anything Since Dinosaurs Disappeared 65 Million Years Ago.
- ↑ Climate Change: The 40 Year Delay Between Cause and Effect. Skeptical Science.
- ↑ Guy McPherson. "Climate-change summary and update". http://guymcpherson.com/. http://guymcpherson.com/2013/01/climate-change-summary-and-update/. Retrieved 2014-04-03.
- ↑ How Guy McPherson gets it wrong. Fractal Planet.
- ↑ McPherson's Evidence That Doom Doom Doom. Planet 3.0
- ↑ How Guy McPherson gets it wrong. Fractal Planet.
- ↑ Human extinction? Not so much. Ecoshock.
- ↑ Will Humans Go Extinct Soon? Ecoshock.