cc: schlesin@atmos.uiuc.edu date: Sun, 14 Oct 2007 13:45:58 -0500 from: Michael Schlesinger subject: Re: singer etc to: Andrew Revkin Andy: I am delighted that Singer did not make the final cut in your article about the Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to the IPCC and Al Gore. Good on you! Indeed we are living on thin and thinning ice - glaciers, sea ice and ice sheets - and time is running out to do anything useful about it. This is due to the fact that the time required to reach 95% of equilibrium temperature change on Earth is 1000 years, a result of the downward transport of heat by Earth's oceans. On an all-land Earth - a true earth - this time would be only 10 years. On such an Earth we could have afforded to wait-and-see before taking action, as such action would have an almost immediate effect. On our real Earth, however, we do not have the luxury of waiting and seeing, but must instead ACT NOW! Somehow, this should be communicated to the "Great Uniter, not-Divider", who is fiddling while Earth burns, and melts. I do not understand how Singer et al. fail to comprehend this. Perhaps they are living on a different Planet Earth from the one on which you and I live, perhaps on an all-land Earth. Yet, since their (Singer & Avery) argument is all wet, as I can easily demonstrate, this cannot be so. In any case, I am very pleased that you removed Singer's pejorative remark about Mr. Gore and the Nobel Peace Prize. It was a remark one would expect to find on a stall wall of a public toilet. Regards, Michael belated response. been on road 48 hrs nonstop. Singer didn't make final cut. that was an early-day version of story and -- true to type -- he was quick with a pithy remark. thanks for exploring my book (a thin one, about thin ice). i'll track yours down (but won't use as a doorstop). best, andy At 08:23 PM 10/12/2007, you wrote: Andy: Upset with you again am I, as at the beginning of this year. Why quote Fred Singer in your article today about the Nobel Peace Prize to Al Gore and the IPCC? Otherwise your article was excellent. I have quantitatively evaluated the hypothesis of Fred & Dennis Avery in their book, Unstoppable Global Warming - Every 1500 Years, http://www.amazon.com/Unstoppable-Global-Warming-Every-Years/dp/0742551172/ref=pd_bbs_s r_1/104-4387152-0427966?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1192201730&sr=8-1 namely, that the observed warming is due to a natural 1500-year cycle, not we humans, hence we humans need do nothing to mitigate it. Nothing could be further from the truth. Perhaps you could write an article on my quantitative evaluation and rejection of their hypothesis, which analysis is exceedingly straight-forward, of course giving Singer and Avery the opportunity to counter if they wish. Shall we do so or will you continue to give voice to those who deserve the Ig Nobel Prize for Nonsense? Michael P.S. Since I purchased your book, The North Pole Was Here, wherein you kindly quoted me, http://www.amazon.com/North-Pole-Was-Here-Nyt/dp/0753413299/ref=sr_1_3/104-4387152-0427 966?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1192234551&sr=1-3 to give my son, Sam, so should you purchase my book, Human-induced Climate Change: An Interdisciplinary Assessment, ( http://www.amazon.com/Human-Induced-Climate-Change-Interdisciplinary-Assessment/dp/05218 66030/ref=sr_1_1/104-4387152-0427966?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1192234378&sr=1-1 ) which can serve not only as an up-to-date tutorial on global warming, but also as a doorstop. Beat that, Thin Man! Michael [1]ANDREW C. REVKIN The New York Times / Environment 620 Eighth Ave., NY, NY 10018-1405 phone: 212-556-7326 fax: 509 -357-0965 mobile: 914-441-5556