Boris Johnson casts doubt on climate change science

The Mayor of London Boris Johnson threw a proverbial snowball into the climate debate today, arguing in his Telegraph column that solar activity drives the world’s climate.

In an entertaining article that appears to ignore the huge levels of empirical evidence that suggest climate change is driven by carbon dioxide levels, the man who is many’s favourite to be the next Prime Minister of the UK says we should consider the possibility we could be on the verge of 30 years of colder weather.

“By my calculations, this is now the fifth year in a row that we have had an unusual amount of snow; and by unusual I mean snow of a kind that I don’t remember from my childhood: snow that comes one day, and then sticks around for a couple of days, followed by more,” he writes.

“I remember snow that used to come and settle for just long enough for a single decent snowball fight before turning to slush; I don’t remember winters like this.”

Of course, one could observe that it’s the winter, so one might expect snow. But for a detailed point-by-point scientific rebuttal of Johnson’s claims check this excellent article by the Carbon Brief, which cautions any future Prime Minister making policy based on ‘fringe theories’ or indeed their own calculations.

For the best of the tweets referring to Boris’s solar theory – see below.

Read more on: Living |