The ongoing assault on climate science in the United States has
never been more aggressive, more blatant, or more widely publicized
than in the case of the Hockey Stick graph -- a clear and
compelling visual presentation of scientific data, put together by
MichaelE. Mann and his colleagues, demonstrating that global
temperatures have risen in conjunction with the increase in
industrialization and the use of fossil fuels. Here was an
easy-to-understand graph that, in a glance, posed a threat to major
corporate energy interests and those who do their political
bidding. The stakes were simply too high to ignore the Hockey Stick
-- and so began a relentless attack on a body of science and on the
investigators whose work formed its scientific basis.
The Hockey Stick achieved prominence in a 2001 UN report on
climate change and quickly became a central icon in the "climate
wars." The real issue has never been the graph's data but rather
its implied threat to those who oppose governmental regulation and
other restraints to protect the environment and planet. Mann, lead
author of the original paper in which the Hockey Stick first
appeared, shares the story of the science and politics behind this
controversy. He reveals key figures in the oil and energy
industries and the media frontgroups who do their bidding in
sometimes slick, sometimes bare-knuckled ways. Mann concludes with
the real story of the 2009 "Climategate" scandal, in which climate
scientists' emails were hacked. This is essential reading for all
who care about our planet's health andour own well-being.
eISBN: 978-0-231-52638-8
Subjects: Environmental Science, Political Science, Physics
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