Bjørn Lomborg is an associate professor of statistics at Denmark's University of Aarhus. He has been widely criticized for his book The Skeptical Environmentalist. The presigeous scientific journal Nature described Lomborgs work as 'employs the strategy of those who argue that... Jews weren't singled out by the Nazis'. The Danish Committee for Scientific Dishonesty was called to evaluate his work. Their analysis of Lomborg's book concluded the following: "the publication is deemed clearly contrary to the standards of good scientific practice" "there has been such perversion of the scientific message in the form of systematically biased representation that the objective criteria for upholding scientific dishonesty ... have been met".1,2,3 Scientific American has a 12 page article titled "Misleading Math about the Earth" dedicated solely to debunking his book. Grist Mill certainly didn't treat Lomborg kindly. And National Academy of Science member Norman Myers says Lomborg has not done "a fraction of the homework that could give him a preliminary understanding of the science in question."
In his book Lomborg claims:
| We will not lose our forests; we will not run out of energy, raw materials, or water. We have reduced atmospheric pollution in the cities of the developed world and have good reason to believe that this will also be achieved in the developing world. Our oceans have not been defiled, our rivers have become cleaner and support more life. ... Nor is waste a particularly big problem. ... The problem of the ozone layer has been more or less solved. The current outlook on the development of global warming does not indicate a catastrophe. ... And, finally, our chemical worries and fear of pesticides are misplaced and counterproductive. |
The National Acadamies of 18 countries do think we are headed for a climate change catastrophe. Lomborg says the oceans haven't been defiled yet 90% of the big fish are gone. If you still don't believe you should watch this video about fisherman running out of fish to catch. Many fishermen are now supporting their business by going after jellyfish and krill instead. Then there is fireweed and ocean acidification. The National Geographics special Strange Days: Troubled Waters certainly does a good job of explaining why we need to be careful with certain chemicals and pesticides.
For more information on Bjorn Lomborg please go to:
- Extinction, Biologist E.O. Wilson -- two-time Pulitzer prize winner, discoverer of hundreds of new species, and one of the world's greatest living scientists -- debunks Lomborg's analysis of extinction rates.
- Species diversity Norman Myers, an Honorary Visiting Fellow of Oxford University, a member of the U.S. National Academy of the Sciences, and a recipient of several of the world's most prestigious environmental awards, looks at Lomborg on biodiversity and concludes that he lacks even "a preliminary understanding of the science in question."
- Pimm, S & Harvey, J. Review Nature 414, 149 (2001), Correspondence by Trewavas, A. Nature 414 , 581-582 (2001) and Budiansky, S. Nature 415, 364 (2002), Commentary by Pielke Jr, R.A. Nature 416, 367-368 (2002).
- "The man they love to hate". A background to the Skeptical Environmentalist and why Lomborg has come under so much attack. 15.5.03
- Scientific American, Skepticism toward The Skeptical Environmentalist, January 2002 issue, Scientific American published the feature "Misleading Math about the Earth," in which four environmental experts—Stephen Schneider, John Holdren, John Bongaarts and Thomas Lovejoy—criticized The Skeptical Environmentalist’s arguments on global warming, energy, overpopulation and biodiversity. Lomborg has since written a detailed online rebuttal to [Scientific Americans] feature; [Scientific America] also has some responses to that rebuttal.
- The Guardian Online Glum greens vs eco-optimists in global mudfight
- Grist Magazine, Something Is Rotten in the State of Denmark, 12 Dec 2001
- Union of Concerned Scientists, UCS examines The Skeptical Environmentalist by Bjørn Lomborg
- World Resources Institute, MEDIA KIT: Debunking Pseudo-Scholarship: Things a journalist should know about The Skeptical Environmentalist
- U.S. Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works, Hearing Statements Date: 09/20/2006
- Guardian Science Podcast, Podcast: short,
- Lomborg Errors - Dr. Kåre Fog, http://www.lomborg-errors.dk/
http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2006/07/the-copenhagen-consensus/
http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2006/08/the-missing-repertoire/
http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2005/03/ipcc-model-evaluation/
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