Hot Wager

by Sheldon Rampton — August 21, 2005 - 10:37pm

Looking to get in on the action? Try the Climate Change Casino.

After months of trying, British climate researcher James Annan has finally found a couple of global warming skeptics willing to put their money where their mouths are. In November of last year, warming skeptic Richard Lindzen was quoted saying he'd be willing to bet that the earth's climate will be cooler in 20 years than it is today. When Annan contacted him, however, Lindzen would only agree to take the bet if Annan offered a 50-to-1 payout. Subsequent offers of a wager were also refused by Pat Michaels, Chip Knappenberger, Piers Corbyn, Myron Ebell, Zbigniew Jaworowski, Sherwood Idso and William Kininmonth. At long last, however, Annan has persuaded Russian solar physicists Galina Mashnich and Vladimir Bashkirtsev to take a $10,000 bet. "There isn't much money in climate science and I'm still looking for that gold watch at retirement," Annan says. "A pay-off would be a nice top-up to my pension."

Main Source:

Guardian (UK), August 19, 2005

Comments

Meanwhile the Siberian permaf

Submitted by Pani113 on August 22, 2005 - 8:52pm.

Meanwhile the Siberian permafrost is melting and the only places I personally saw it covered was a BBC news program carried by a local PBS station and a website whose founder believes he has been abducted by space aliens. Although this should be one of the biggest stories going it seemed to be ignored in the US. (I don't have cable though so can't comment on those stations.) Also, some places may experience cooling as weather patterns go haywire. This does not mean global warming is not happening; in fact, it could be another result of it. During a cooler than normal summer I had the misfortune of work with "educated" people in an education related position as they laughed, "So much for global warming." I wanted to slap them!!!