On June 23, 1988, a young and previously unknown NASA computer modeller, James Hansen, appeared before a United States Congressional hearing on climate change. On that occasion, Dr. Hansen used a graph to convince his listeners that late 20th century warming was taking place at an accelerated rate, which, it being a scorching summer's day in Washington, a glance out of the window appeared to confirm.

He wrote later in justification, in the Washington Post (February 11, 1989), that "the evidence for an increasing greenhouse effect is now sufficiently strong that it would have been irresponsible if I had not attempted to alert political leaders"

The Institute is pleased to submit its views to inform the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee’s inquiry, ‘The disclosure of climate data from the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia’. The attached annex details our response to the questions listed in the call for evidence, which was prepared with input from the Institute’s Science Board, and its Energy Sub-group.

Human exposure to mercury (Hg) emitted from utility units is not harmful. To become a potential human health hazard, mercury must undergo a complex chain of bioprocessing and reprocessing (biomethylation) into the compound methylmercury (MeHg), which must be ingested, primarily through fish, in a sufficiently large dose to cause harm.

The Goddard Institute for Space science (GISS), the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), and centers processing satellite data, such as the University of Alabama at Huntsville (UAH), have published temperature and rate of temperature change for the Contiguous United States, or ‘Lower 48’.  Both GISS and NCDC have been criticized for their station selections and the protocols they use for adjusting raw data.

• Joe Boston and Christopher Monckton explain why the world warmed from 1983-2001, and what it means. Pages 4-6.
• IPCC assumes CO2 concentration will reach 836 ppmv by 2100, but, for nine years, CO2 concentration has headed straight for only 570 ppmv by 2100. This factor alone almost halves all of the IPCC’s temperature projections. Pages 7-9.
• Since 1980 global temperature has risen at only 2.5 °F (1.4 °C)/century, not 7 F° (3.9 C°) as IPCC predicts. Pages 10-12.
• Sea level rose just 8 inches in the 20th century, and has been rising since 1993 at a very modest 1 ft/century. Page 13.
• Arctic sea-ice extent is normal for the time of year, but there was more summer ice than there was in 2007 or 2008. In the Antarctic, sea ice extent reached a record high in 2007. Global sea ice extent shows little trend for 30 years. Pages 14-17.
• Hurricane and tropical-cyclone activity is almost at its lowest since satellite measurement began. Page 18.
• Sunspot activity is back to normal: but, looking back it was a long – and cool – solar minimum. Page 19.
• The (very few) benefits and the (very large) costs of the Waxman/Markey Bill are illustrated at Pages 20-23.
• Warming? What warming?: This month’s Science Focus looks at Tammanrasset, in the Sahara. Page 24.
• As always, there’s our “global warming” ready reckoner, and our monthly selection of scientific papers. Pages 25-31.
• The medieval warm period was real, global, and warmer than the present, as our global map shows. Page 32.
• And finally ... a cartoon that makes a sharp point about how little we humans can do to affect the climate. Page 33.

Professor Phil Jones unwittingly(?) reveals that the global warming emperor is, if not naked, scantily clad, vindicating key skeptic arguments.