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Bernie Lewin
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Searching for the Catastrophe Signal: The Origins of The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Paperback – 21 Nov. 2017

by Bernie Lewin (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 43 ratings
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The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – the IPCC – the global authority on climate science, is behind some of the most important policy changes in the history of industrial society. It is therefore probably the most influential scientific body in the world.Yet the surprising story of how it came to prominence is little known. Its origins can be traced back to earlier scares over the effects of supersonic transportation and ozone layer depletion, which taught political elites that science-based scares could be powerful drivers of policy action. It was as an authority fit to deliver the required evidence on climate change that the IPCC came into being. However, in the rush towards a climate treaty, IPCC scientists continued to report that evidence of manmade climate change should not be expected for decades. Without a 'catastrophe signal' that could justify a policy response, the panel faced its imminent demise.
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  1. Print length
    386 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    21 Nov. 2017
  4. Dimensions
    15.24 x 2.21 x 22.86 cm
  5. ISBN-10
    0993118992
  6. ISBN-13
    978-0993118999
  7. See all details
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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
43 global ratings

Top reviews from United Kingdom

2101bob
5.0 out of 5 stars How on earth did we get to this?
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 7 March 2018
Verified Purchase
There have been numerous accounts of how we came to have the IPCC in its position of influence, and how AGW came to exist as a near-religion, in the West at any rate. Bernie Lewin takes us back to the start and traces the beginnings - through the original cooling and warming scares - and details the extraordinary paths which led to "climate change" becoming what it became.
Lewin lets the reader draw his own conclusions from the facts of who did what to promote the scientific and political movement, alongside the effects of the press in selecting what to report and how. One day this book will be very useful to historians unravelling the sad story of how "science" fooled us all, and pointing the fingers at key politicians and well-known scientists who enabled it.
Essential for outsiders wishing to get a grip on this baffling madness.
8 people found this helpful
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Wellers
5.0 out of 5 stars An eye-opening book if you are a scientist inspired by the true greats like Feynman and Einstein.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 20 January 2018
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This excellent book on the origins of the global warming movement tells how the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was first pressed into generating policy based evidence. It documents in forensic detail how the internal workings of the IPCC shaped its agenda so as to provide the politicians with the ‘right answers’. The book is written by a long time environmentalist and this gave him access to the key scientists in the IPCC to provide a very accurate portrait of that body.
4 people found this helpful
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J. K. Barnett
4.0 out of 5 stars Hard going but an essential read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 18 December 2020
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Took me a while to complete this book ... but it is well worth the time invested. It delivers exactly what it says on the tin. A clear and historic insight into the 'retarded intellect' that now pervades ALL conversation on climate change.
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Peter F Gill
5.0 out of 5 stars A book for the open-minded
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 June 2018
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Penetrating. Not recommended for those who get their exercise by jumping to conclusions especially that mankind has and is causing the current warm period on Earth.
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buckingham
5.0 out of 5 stars Prompt
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 20 May 2018
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Education
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Richard Tol
3.0 out of 5 stars This is a useful addition to the stable of reflections on the IPCC ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 21 May 2018
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This is a useful addition to the stable of reflections on the IPCC specifically and the science-policy interface more generally.

There are three problems, however.

First, Lewin embraces scientism, the odd belief that political action linearly and simply follows from scientific knowledge. In this case, Lewin argues that the science is insufficient for action, which is just as foolish as environmentalists arguing that the science demands action.

Second, Lewin argues that the science-policy interface for climate change was modelled on that for depletion of the ozone layer. He does not investigate alternative hypotheses. Others have argued the climate policy borrowed heavily from acidification policy.

Third, Lewin stops at the Second Assessment Report. The IPCC has substantially evolved since, for better and worse.
2 people found this helpful
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J D Gorman
4.0 out of 5 stars history of climate change science
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 October 2018
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A good detailed history from 1960 or so of the evolution of thought and knowledge culminating in the first strong suspicions in 1985 and the near universal agreement by 1995 and the setting up of the IPCC. Since then nothing has been achieved despite the increasing numbers of scientists working in the field.
One person found this helpful
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will
4.0 out of 5 stars interesting detailed insite into 'climate change'
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 16 January 2018
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very interesting book although gets somewhat bogged down in places.
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

E. Calvin Beisner
5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling history
Reviewed in the United States on 18 January 2020
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Anyone who thinks the science behind global warming alarmism it's simple, objective, empirically sound science in action needs to read this book. The political and financial forces driving toward alarmist conclusions about climate change have been powerful for generations, and that have resulted in scientific claims that go far beyond the evidence. Those in turn have led to government policies that go far beyond not only the science but also the economics, and threaten to undermine the prospects uplifting the world's remaining poor out of their poverty and suffering.
2 people found this helpful
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Anthony Burke
1.0 out of 5 stars Warning: climate denialist
Reviewed in Australia on 8 July 2022
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The book is bad faith pseudoscience that has a pro-fossil fuel, anti-climate action agenda. You will learn nothing and waste your money.
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Wayne C. Defferding
5.0 out of 5 stars The author did an amazing job explaining what went on behind the scenes at ...
Reviewed in the United States on 2 August 2018
Verified Purchase
The author did an amazing job explaining what went on behind the scenes at the UN and the IPCC in approaching the
"ozone" hole and subsequently the "global warming" issue. Great read for those interested in either but particularly the global warming issue and how the world nations approached both subjects.
3 people found this helpful
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Anthony Cummins
4.0 out of 5 stars The real Deal
Reviewed in the United States on 20 December 2019
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It explains the pattern, which the current panic is following.
One person found this helpful
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Don B
5.0 out of 5 stars Anyone who is interested in why there is such groupthink ...
Reviewed in the United States on 5 March 2018
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Anyone who is interested in why there is such groupthink in climate activism needs to read this book. The description of the years leading up to the formation of the UN's IPCC, which is a lobbying rather than a scientific body, and the early years of that activist organization, is something which needs to be understood.
9 people found this helpful
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