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NO. Unless you think a majority of scientists including 60 Nobel laureates lack substance? Let’s start with the climate lectures of two leading Nobel laureates -Dr. Ivar Giaever brilliantly destroys the global warming (aka climate change) scientific consensus in his Laureate speech below. He saves us from the fear mongering of Al Gore and his like.Skeptics of global warming are increasing with more than 60 other Nobel Prize winners denying human caused climate change.Nobel Laureate Dr. Kary Mullis is correct in his assessment of the current state of climate science, describing it as a "Joke".As he correctly points out, there is no scientific evidence whatever that our CO2 is, or can ever "drive" climate change.There is also no published empirical scientific evidence that any CO2, whether natural or man-made, causes warming in the troposphere.His Nobel Prize was awarded in 1993.When you step back an consider the alarmist views they do seem alot like a ‘joke’ as Professor Mullis thinks.Changing sun and oceans no longer playing a role?Today alarmist scientists would have us believe that that big bright tempestuous star up there in the sky stopped playing a role since the late 19th century, and that the oceans, which cover a puny 70% of our planet’s surface (sarc), also stopped playing a role.Instead the alarmist scientists insist that today’s climate is being 90+% driven by human-emitted CO2 and the rest of the factors have been somehow disabled. If that sound preposterous, then it might have something to do with how you perceive the your planet and how different parts are interrelated.“Human CO2 only 0.01% of atmosphereThrough the burning of fossil fuels, humans are also responsible for having boosted atmospheric CO2 emissions from some 300 ppm to 400 parts per million, which translates into a difference of 0.01% of the atmosphere. So what do the alarmists conclude from this:0.01% of the world’s biomass and 0.o1% of the atmosphere are today almost solely responsible for climate changes.The sun, oceans, volcanoes and other poorly understood major varying factors are ignored. Does all that sound plausible?Yeah right, and the price of tea in China drives the global economy.”By P. Gosselin May 26, 2018http://notrickszone.com/2018/05/26/right-tiny-0-01-of-atmosphere-and-0-01-of-earths-biomass-drive-near-100-of-climate/NOBEL PRIZE MEDAL“Partial list of 150 + scientists who do NOT support the Catastrophic Anthropogenic Climate Change Scam:(includes ~60 Nobel Prize winners)Sceptical list provided by David Harrington of leading scientists. They all have many excellent published papers on the AGW subject.A.J. Tom van Loon, PhDAaron Klug, Nobel Prize (Chemistry)Abdus Salam, Nobel Prize (Physics)Adolph Butenandt, Nobel Prize (Chemistry)Al Pekarek, PhDAlan Moran, PhDAlbrecht Glatzle, PhDAlex Robson, PhDAlister McFarquhar, PhDAmo A. Penzias, Nobel Prize (Physics)Andrei Illarionov, PhDAnthony Jewish, Nobel Prize (Physics)Anthony R. Lupo, PhDAntonino Zichichi, President of the World Federation of Scientists.Arthur L. Schawlow, Nobel Prize (Physics)Arthur Rorsch, PhDAsmunn Moene, PhDBaruj Benacerraf, Nobel Prize (Medicine)Bert Sakmann, Nobel Prize (Medicine)Bjarne Andresen, PhDBoris Winterhalter, PhDBrian G Valentine, PhDBrian Pratt, PhDBryan Leyland, International Climate Science CoalitionCesar Milstein, Nobel Prize (Physiology)Charles H. Townes, Nobel Prize (Physics)Chris C. Borel, PhDChris Schoneveld, MSc (Structural Geology)Christian de Duve, Nobel Prize (Medicine)Christopher Essex, PhDCliff Ollier, PhDSusan Crockford PhDDaniel Nathans, Nobel Prize (Medicine)David Deming, PhD (Geophysics)David E. Wojick, PhDDavid Evans, PhD (EE)David Kear, PhDDavid R. Legates, PhDDick Thoenes, PhDDon Aitkin, PhDDon J. Easterbrook, PhDDonald A. Glaser, Nobel Prize (Physics)Donald Parkes, PhDDouglas Leahey, PhDDudley R. Herschbach, Nobel Prize (Chemistry)Edwin G. Krebs, Nobel Prize (Medicine)Erwin Neher, Nobel Prize (Medicine)Frank Milne, PhDFred Goldberg, PhDFred Michel, PhDFreeman J. Dyson, PhDGarth W. Paltridge, PhDGary D. Sharp, PhDGeoff L. Austin, PhDGeorge E. Palade, Nobel Prize (Medicine)Gerald Debreu, Nobel Prize (Economy)Gerhard Herzberg, Nobel Prize (Chemistry)Gerrit J. van der Lingen, PhDHans Albrecht Bethe, Nobel Prize (Physics)Hans H.J. Labohm, PhDHarold E. Varmus, Nobel Prize (Medicine)Harry M. Markowitz, Nobel Prize (Economics)Harry N.A. Priem, PhDHeinrich Rohrer, Nobel Prize (Physics)Hendrik Tennekes, PhDHenrik Svensmark, physicistHerbert A. Hauptman, Nobel Prize (Chemistry)Horst Malberg, PhDHoward Hayden, PhDI. Prigogine, Nobel Prize (Chemistry)Ian D. Clark, PhDIan Plimer, PhDIvar Giaever, Nobel Prize (Physics)James J. O’Brien, PhDJean Dausset, Nobel Prize (Medicine)Jean-Marie Lehn, Nobel Prize (Chemistry)Jennifer Marohasy, PhDJerome Karle, Nobel Prize (Chemistry)Joel M. Kauffman, PhDJohan Deisenhofer, Nobel Prize (Chemistry)John Charles Polanyi, Nobel Prize (Chemistry)John Maunder, PhDJohn Nicol, PhDJon Jenkins, PhDJoseph Murray, Nobel Prize (Medicine)Judith Curry, PhDJulius Axelrod, Nobel Prize (Medicine)Kai Siegbahn, Nobel Prize (Physics)Khabibullo Abdusamatov, astrophysicist at Pulkovo Observatory of the Russian Academy of SciencesKlaus Von Klitzing, Nobel Prize (Physics)Gerhard Kramm: PhD (meteorology)L. Graham Smith, PhDLee C. Gerhard, PhDLen Walker, PhDLeon Lederman, Nobel Prize (Physics)Linus Pauling, Nobel Prize (ChemistryLord Alexander Todd, Nobel Prize (Chemistry)Lord George Porter, Nobel Prize (Chemistry)Louis Neel, Nobel Prize (Physics)Lubos Motl, PhDMadhav Khandekar, PhDManfred Eigen, Nobel Prize (Chemistry)Marcel Leroux, PhDMarshall W. Nirenberg, Nobel Prize (Medicine)Max Ferdinand Perutz, Nobel Prize (Chemistry)Ned Nikolov PhDNils-Axel Morner, PhDOlavi Kärner, Ph.D.Owen Chamberlain, Nobel Prize (Physics)Pierre Lelong, ProfessorPierre-Gilles de Gennes, Nobel Prize (Physics)R. Timothy Patterson, PhDR. W. Gauldie, PhDR.G. Roper, PhDRaphael Wust, PhDReid A. Bryson, Ph.D. Page on Shave and Grooming Made Simple. D.Engr.Richard Laurence Millington Synge, Nobel Prize (Chemistry)Richard Mackey, PhDRichard R. Ernst, Nobel Prize (Chemistry)Richard S. Courtney, PhDRichard S. Lindzen, PhDRita Levi-Montalcini, Nobel Prize (Medicine)Roald Hoffman, Nobel Prize (Chemistry)Robert H. Essenhigh, PhDRobert Huber, Nobel Prize (Chemistry)Robert M. Carter, PhDRobert W. Wilson, Nobel Prize (Physics)Roger Guillemin, Nobel Prize (Medicine)Ross McKitrick, PhDRoy W. Spencer, PhDS. Fred Singer, PhDSallie Baliunas, astrophysicist HarvardSalomon Kroonenberg, PhDSherwood B. Idso, PhDSimon van der Meer, Nobel Prize (Physics)Sir Andrew Fielding Huxley, Nobel Prize (Medicine)Sir James W. Black, Nobel Prize (Medicine)Sir John Kendrew, Nobel Prize (Chemistry)Sir John R. Vane , Nobel Prize (Medicine)Sir John Warcup Cornforth, Nobel Prize (Chemistry)Sir. Nevil F. Mott, Nobel Prize Winner (Physics)Sonja A. Boehmer-Christiansen, PhDStanley Cohen, Nobel Prize (Medicine)Stephan Wilksch, PhDStewart Franks, PhDSyun-Ichi Akasofu, PhDTadeus Reichstein, Nobel Prize (Medicine)Thomas Huckle Weller, Nobel Prize (Medicine)Thomas R. Cech, Nobel Prize (Chemistry)Timothy F. Ball, PhDTom V. Segalstad, PhDTorsten N. Wiesel, Nobel Prize (Medicine)Vincent Gray, PhDWalter Starck, PhD (marine science; specialization in coral reefs and fisheries)Wibjorn Karlen, PhDWillem de Lange, PhDWilliam Evans, PhDWilliam Happer, physicist PrincetonWilliam J.R. Alexander, PhDWilliam Kininmonth Page on http://m.sc., Head of Australia’s National Climate Centre and a consultant to the World Meteorological organization’s Commission for ClimatologyWilliam Lindqvist, PhDWilliam N. Lipscomb, Nobel Prize Winner (Chemistry)Willie Soon, astrophysicist HarvardYuan T. Lee, Nobel Prize (Chemistry)Zbigniew Jaworowski, PhDKarl ZellerZichichi, PhD“Here is a partial list of science and other economic organizations who are on record with their doubts.“Skeptical Scientific Organizations:American Association of Petroleum Geologists (31,000+ Members)“The Climate Scientists' Register“We, the undersigned, having assessed the relevant scientific evidence, do not find convincing support for the hypothesis that human emissions of carbon dioxide are causing, or will in the foreseeable future cause, dangerous global warming."Click on country name in the following list to see endorsers from that nation: Algéria (1 endorser), Australia (8), Bulgaria (1), Canada (17), Denmark (1), Estonia (1), Finland(1), France (1), Germany (4), Greece (1), India (3), Italy (3), Luxembourg (1), Mexico (1), New Zealand (6), Norway (5), Poland (3), Russia (5), South Africa (1), Sweden(8), United Kingdom (6), United States of America (64).Complete Endorser List:Habibullo I. Abdussamatov, Dr. Sci., mathematician and astrophysicist, Head of the Russian-Ukrainian Astrometria project on the board of the Russian segment of the ISS, Head of Space Research Laboratory at the Pulkovo Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, RussiaSyun-Ichi Akasofu, PhD, Professor of Physics, Emeritus and Founding Director, International Arctic Research Center of the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska, U.S.A.J.R. Alexander, Professor Emeritus, Dept. of Civil Engineering, University of Pretoria, South Africa; Member, UN Scientific and Technical Committee on Natural Disasters, 1994-2000, Pretoria, South AfricaBjarne Andresen, Dr. Scient., physicist, published and presents on the impossibility of a "global temperature", Professor, Niels Bohr Institute (areas of specialization: fundamental physics and chemistry, in particular thermodynamics), University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, DenmarkTimothy F. Ball, PhD, environmental consultant and former climatology professor, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Manitoba, CanadaRomuald Bartnik, PhD (Organic Chemistry), Professor Emeritus, Former chairman of the Department of Organic and Applied Chemistry, climate work in cooperation with Department of Hydrology and Geological Museum, University of Lodz, Lodz, PolandColin Barton, http://B.Sc., PhD (Earth Science), Principal research scientist (retd), Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Melbourne, Victoria, AustraliaFranco Battaglia, PhD (Chemical Physics), Professor of Environmental Chemistry (climate specialties: environmental chemistry), University of Modena, ItalyDavid Bellamy, OBE, PhD, English botanist, author, broadcaster, environmental campaigner, Hon. Professor of Botany (Geography), University of Nottingham, Hon. Prof. Faculty of Engineering and Physical Systems, Central Queensland University, Hon. Prof. of Adult and Continuing Education, University of Durham, United Nations Environment Program Global 500 Award Winner, Dutch Order of The Golden Ark, Bishop Auckland County, Durham, United KingdomRichard Becherer, BS (Physics, Boston College), MS (Physics, University of Illinois), PhD (Optics, University of Rochester), former Member of the Technical Staff - MIT Lincoln Laboratory, former Adjunct Professor - University of Connecticut, Areas of Specialization: optical radiation physics, coauthor - standard reference book Optical Radiation Measurements: Radiometry, Millis, MA, U.S.A.Ernst-Georg Beck, Dipl. Biology (University of Freiburg), biologist (area of specialization: CO2 record in the last 150 years – see paper “Accurate estimation of CO2 background level from near ground measurements at non-mixed environments”), see http://www.biomind.de/realCO2/ for more from Mr. Beck, Biesheim, FranceEdwin Berry, PhD (Atmospheric Physics, Nevada), MA (Physics, Dartmouth), BS (Engineering, Caltech), President, Climate Physics LLC, Bigfork, MT, U.S.A.Sonja A. Boehmer-Christiansen, PhD, Reader Emeritus, Dept. of Geography, Hull University, Editor - Energy&Environment, Multi-Science (www.multi-science.co.uk), Hull, United KingdomM. I. Bhat, PhD, formerly Scientist at the Wadia institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehra, currently Professor & Head, Department of Geology & Geophysics, University of Kashmir (areas of specialization: Geochemistry, Himalayan and global tectonics & tectonics and climate (Prof Bhat: “Arguing for deepening the climate frontiers by considering interaction between solar flares and core-mantle boundary processes. Clue possibly lies in exploring the tectonics of regions that underlies high and low pressure cells of the three global oscillations (SO, NAO, NPO)”), Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir, IndiaAhmed Boucenna, PhD, Professor of Physics, Physics Department, Faculty of Science, Ferhat Abbas University, Setif, Algéria. Author of The Great Season Climatic Oscillation, I. RE. PHY. 1(2007) 53, The Great Season Climatic Oscillation and the Global Warming, Global Conference On Global Warming, July 6-10, 2008, Istanbul, Turkey and Pseudo Radiation Energy Amplifier (PREA) and the Mean Earth's Ground Temperature, arXiv:0811.0357 (November 2008)Antonio Brambati, PhD, Emeritus Professor (sedimentology), Department of Geological, Environmental and Marine Sciences (DiSGAM), University of Trieste (specialization: climate change as determined by Antarctic marine sediments), Trieste, ItalyStephen C. Brown, PhD (Environmental Science, State University of New York), District Agriculture Agent, Assistant Professor, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Ground Penetrating Radar Glacier research, Palmer, Alaska, U.S.A.Mark Lawrence Campbell, PhD (chemical physics; gas-phase kinetic research involving greenhouse gases (nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide)), Professor, United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland, U.S.A.Robert M. Carter, PhD, Professor, Marine Geophysical Laboratory, James Cook University, Townsville, AustraliaArthur Chadwick, PhD (Molecular Biology), Research Professor, Department of Biology and Geology, Southwestern Adventist University, Climate Specialties: dendrochronology (determination of past climate states by tree ring analysis), palynology (same but using pollen as a climate proxy), paleobotany and botany; Keene, Texas, U.S.A.George V. Chilingar, PhD, Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering of Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.Antonis Christofides, Dipl. Civil Engineering, MSc Computing Science, Climate Specialties: co-author of relevant papers: here and here, author of http://hk-climate.org/, Athens, GreecePetr Chylek, PhD, Laboratory Fellow, Remote Sensing Team Leader, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, U.S.A.Ian D. Clark, PhD, Professor (isotope hydrogeology and paleoclimatology), Dept. of Earth Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, CanadaPaul Copper, BSc, MSc, PhD, DIC, FRSC, Professor Emeritus, Department of Earth Sciences, Laurentian University Sudbury, Ontario, CanadaCornelia Codreanova, Diploma in Geography, Researcher (Areas of Specialization: formation of glacial lakes) at Liberec University, Czech Republic, Zwenkau, GermanyMichael Coffman, PhD (Ecosystems Analysis and Climate Influences), CEO of Sovereignty International, President of Environmental Perspectives, Inc., Bangor, Maine, U.S.A.Piers Corbyn, MSc (Physics (Imperial College London)), ARCS, FRAS, FRMetS, astrophysicist (Queen Mary College, London), consultant, founder WeatherAction long range forecasters, London, United KingdomRichard S. Courtney, PhD, energy and environmental consultant, IPCC expert reviewer, Falmouth, Cornwall, United KingdomJoseph D’Aleo, BS, MS (Meteorology, University of Wisconsin), Doctoral Studies (NYU), Executive Director - ICECAP (International Climate and Environmental Change Assessment Project), Fellow of the AMS, College Professor Climatology/Meteorology, First Director of Meteorology The Weather Channel, Hudson, New Hampshire, U.S.A.David Deming, PhD (Geophysics), Associate Professor, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, U.S.A.James E Dent; http://B.Sc., FCIWEM, C.Met, FRMetS, C.Env., Independent Consultant, Member of WMO OPACHE Group on Flood Warning, Hadleigh, Suffolk, England, United KingdomChris R. de Freitas, PhD, climate Scientist, School of Environment, The University of Auckland, New ZealandWillem de Lange, MSc (Hons), DPhil (Computer and Earth Sciences), Senior Lecturer in Earth and Ocean Sciences, The University of Waikato, Hamilton, New ZealandGeoff Duffy, DEng (Dr of Engineering), PhD (Chemical Engineering), BSc, ASTCDip., FRSNZ (first chemical engineer to be a Fellow of the Royal Society in NZ), FIChemE, wide experience in radiant heat transfer and drying, chemical equilibria, etc. Has reviewed, analysed, and written brief reports and papers on climate change, Auckland, New ZealandRobert W. Durrenberger, PhD, former Arizona State Climatologist and President of the American Association of State Climatologists, Professor Emeritus of Geography, Arizona State University; Sun City, Arizona, U.S.A.Don J. Easterbrook, PhD, Emeritus Professor of Geology, Western Washington, University, Bellingham, Washington, U.S.A.Willis Eschenbach, Independent Climate Researcher, Climate Specialties: Tropical tropospheric amplification, constructal theories of climate, See sample of scientific writings in Nature here, Occidental, CA, U.S.A.Christopher Essex, PhD, professor of applied mathematics, and Associate Chair, Department of Applied Mathematics, Former Director, Program in Theoretical Physics, University of Western Ontario, Former NSERC postdoc at the Canadian Climate Centre's Numerical Modelling Division (GCM), London, Ontario, CanadaPer Engene, MSc, Biologist, Bø i Telemark, Norway, Co-author - The Climate, Science and Politics (2009)Terrence F. Flower, PhD, Professor of Physics and Astronomy, St. Catherine University, studied and taught physics of climate (focus on Arctic and Antarctic), took students to study physics of climate change in the Antarctic and Costa Rica, St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S.A.Stewart Franks, BSci. (Hons, Environmental Science), PhD (Landsurface-atmosphere interactions), Associate Professor and Dean of Students, University of Newcastle, Climate Specialties: hydro-climatology, flood/drought risk, Newcastle, AustraliaLars Franzén, PhD (Physical Geography), Professor, Physical Geography at Earth Sciences Centre, University of Gothenburg, Areas of Specialization: Palaeoclimate from global peatland and Chinese loess studies - see related scientific paper by Franzén et al, Gothenburg, Vastra Gotaland, SwedenGordon Fulks, PhD (Physics, University of Chicago), cosmic radiation, solar wind, electromagnetic and geophysical phenomena, Corbett, Oregon, U.S.A.Robert. W. Gauldie, PhD, Research Professor (retired), Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, School of Ocean Earth Sciences and Technology, University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Hawaii, U.S.A.Katya Georgieva, MSc (Physics of the Earth, Atmosphere, and Space, specialty Meteorology), PhD (Solar-Terrestrial Physics - PhD thesis on solar influences on global climate changes), Associate Professor, Head of group "Solar dynamics and global climate change" in the Solar-Terrestrial Influences Laboratory at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, head of project "Solar activity influences of weather and climate" of the scientific plan of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, member of the "Climate changes" council of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Regional coordinator of the Balkan, Black sea and Caspian sea countries and member of the European Steering Committee for the International Heliophysical Year 2007-2008, deputy editor-in-chief of the international scientific journal "Sun and Geosphere", BulgariaLee C. Gerhard, PhD, Senior Scientist Emeritus, University of Kansas, past director and state geologist, Kansas Geological Survey, U.S.A.Gerhard Gerlich, Dr.rer.nat. (Mathematical Physics: Magnetohydrodynamics) habil. (Real Measure Manifolds), Professor, Institut für Mathematische Physik, Technische Universität Carolo-Wilhelmina zu Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany, Co-author of “Falsification Of The Atmospheric CO2 Greenhouse Effects Within The Frame Of Physics”, Int.J.Mod.Phys.,2009Fred Goldberg, PhD, Adj Professor, Royal Institute of Technology (Mech, Eng.), Secretary General KTH International Climate Seminar 2006 and Climate analyst (NIPCC), Lidingö, SwedenStanley B. Goldenberg, Research Meteorologist, NOAA, AOML/Hurricane Research Division, Miami, Florida, U.S.A.Wayne Goodfellow, PhD (Earth Science), Ocean Evolution, Paleoenvironments, Adjunct Professor, Senior Research Scientist, University of Ottawa, Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, CanadaThomas B. Gray, MS (Meteorology, California Institute of Technology and Florida State University), 23 years as Meteorologist with the U.S. Army and Air Force (retired) and 15 years experience with NOAA Environmental Research Laboratories. Assignments include Chief, Analysis and Forecast Division, Global Weather Center, Omaha, Nebraska and Chief, Solar Forecast Center, Boulder Colorado, maintains active interest in paleoclimate and atmospheric physics, Yachats, Oregon, U.S.A.Vincent Gray, PhD, New Zealand Climate Coalition, expert reviewer for the IPCC, author of The Greenhouse Delusion: A Critique of Climate Change 2001, Wellington, New ZealandWilliam M. Gray, PhD, Professor Emeritus, Dept. of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University, Head of the Tropical Meteorology Project, Fort Collins, Colorado, U.S.A.Kenneth P. Green, Doctor of Environmental Science and Engineering (UCLA, 1994), Resident Scholar, Interim Director, Center for Regulatory Studies, American Enterprise Institute, Washington D.C., U.S.A.Charles B. Hammons, PhD (Applied Mathematics), climate-related specialties: applied mathematics, modeling & simulation, software & systems engineering, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Management, University of Dallas; Assistant Professor, North Texas State University (Dr. Hammons found many serious flaws during a detailed study of the software, associated control files plus related email traffic of the Climate Research Unit temperature and other records and “adjustments” carried out in support of IPCC conclusions), Coyle, OK, U.S.A.William Happer, PhD, Professor, Department of Physics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, U.S.A.Howard Hayden, PhD, Emeritus Professor (Physics), University of Connecticut, The Energy Advocate, Pueblo West, Colorado, U.S.A.Warren T. Hinds, B.S. (Engineering), M.S. (Atmospheric Sciences), PhD (Physical Ecology, U. Washington, Seattle), Sr. Scientist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; consultant for USA EPA research on Global Climate Change Program, Specialist for Defense Programs, Department of Energy, Climate Specialties: atmospheric physics and quantitative empirical analyses regarding climatological, meteorological, and ecological responses to environmental stresses, Gainesville, Georgia, U.S.A.Art Horn, Meteorologist (honors, Lyndon State College, Lyndonville, Vermont), operator, The Art of Weather, U.S.A.Douglas Hoyt, B.S. (Physics, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute), M.S. (Astro-Geophysics, University of Colorado), co-author of the book The Role of the Sun in climate Change, previously senior scientist at Raytheon (MODIS instrument development), with earlier employment at NOAA, NCAR, World Radiation Center and the Sacramento Peak Observatory, Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, U.S.A.Warwick Hughes, MSc Hons (Geology), Founder of the "Errors in IPCC Climate Science" Blog - http://www.warwickhughes.com/blog/, Areas of Specialization: Jones et al temperature data, Canberra, AustraliaOle Humlum, PhD, Professor of Physical Geography, Department of Physical Geography, Institute of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, NorwayCraig D. Idso, PhD, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change, Tempe, Arizona, U.S.A.Sherwood B. Idso, PhD, President, Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change, Tempe, Arizona, U.S.A.Larry Irons, BS (Geology), MS (Geology), Sr. Geophysicist at FairfieldNodal (Areas of Specialization: Paleoclimate), Lakewood, Colorado, U.S.A.Terri Jackson, MSc (plasma physics), MPhil (energy economics), Director, Independent Climate Research Group, Northern Ireland and London (Founder of the energy/climate group at the Institute of Physics, London), United KingdomAlbert F. Jacobs, Geol.Drs., P. Geol., Calgary, Alberta, CanadaZbigniew Jaworowski, PhD, DSc, professor of natural sciences, Senior Science Adviser of Central Laboratory for Radiological Protection, researcher on ice core CO2 records, Warsaw, PolandBill Kappel, BS (Physical Science-Geology), BS (Meteorology), Storm Analysis, Climatology, Operation Forecasting, Vice President/Senior Meteorologist, Applied Weather Associates, LLC, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, U.S.A.Olavi Kärner, Ph.D., Extraordinary Research Associate; Dept. of Atmospheric Physics, Tartu Observatory, Toravere, EstoniaMadhav L. Khandekar, PhD, consultant meteorolgist, (former) Research Scientist, Environment Canada, Editor "Climate Research” (03-05), Editorial Board Member "Natural Hazards, IPCC Expert Reviewer 2007, Unionville, Ontario, CanadaLeonid F. Khilyuk, PhD, Science Secretary, Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, Professor of Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.William Kininmonth MSc, MAdmin, former head of Australia’s National Climate Centre and a consultant to the World Meteorological organization’s Commission for Climatology, Kew, Victoria, AustraliaGerhard Kramm, Dr. rer. nat. (Theoretical Meteorology), Research Associate Professor, Geophysical Institute, Associate Faculty, College of Natural Science and Mathematics, University of Alaska Fairbanks, (climate specialties: Atmospheric energetics, physics of the atmospheric boundary layer, physical climatology - seeinteresting paper by Kramm et al), Fairbanks, Alaska, U.S.A.Leif Kullman, PhD (Physical geography, plant ecology, landscape ecology), Professor, Physical geography, Department of Ecology and Environmental science, Umeå University, Areas of Specialization: Paleoclimate (Holocene to the present), glaciology, vegetation history, impact of modern climate on the living landscape, Umeå, SwedenDouglas Leahey, PhD, meteorologist and air-quality consultant, President - Friends of Science, Calgary, Alberta, CanadaJay Lehr, BEng (Princeton), PhD (environmental science and ground water hydrology), Science Director, The Heartland Institute, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.Edward Liebsch, B.A. (Earth Science, St. Cloud State University); M.S. (Meteorology, The Pennsylvania State University), former Associate Scientist, Oak Ridge National Laboratory; former Adjunct Professor of Meteorology, St. Cloud State University, Environmental Consultant/Air Quality Scientist (Areas of Specialization: micrometeorology, greenhouse gas emissions), Maple Grove, Minnesota, U.S.A.Richard S. Lindzen, PhD, Alfred P. Sloan professor of meteorology, Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A.William Lindqvist, PhD (Applied Geology), Independent Geologic Consultant, Areas of Specialization: Climate Variation in the recent geologic past, Tiburon, California, U.S.A.Peter Link, BS, MS, PhD (Geology, Climatology), Geol/Paleoclimatology, retired, Active in Geol-paleoclimatology, Tulsa University and Industry, Evergreen, Colorado, U.S.A.Anthony R. Lupo, Ph.D., Professor of Atmospheric Science, Department of Soil, Environmental, and Atmospheric Science, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, U.S.A.Qing-Bin Lu, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy, cross-appointed to Departments of Biology and Chemistry, Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) New Investigator, University of Waterloo, Ontario, CanadaHorst Malberg, PhD, Professor (emeritus) for Meteorology and Climatology and former director of the Institute for Meteorology at the Free University of Berlin, GermanyBjörn Malmgren, PhD, Professor Emeritus in Marine Geology, Paleoclimate Science, Goteborg University, retired, Norrtälje, SwedenOliver Manuel, BS (Chem), MS (Geo-Chem), PhD (Nuclear Chem), Post-Doc (Space Physics), Fulbright Scholar (Astrophysics), NSF Post-Doc Fellow (UC-Berkeley), Associate - Climate & Solar Science Institute, Professor (now Emeritus)/Dept Chair, College of Arts & Sciences University of Missouri-Rolla, Fulbright Scholar (Tata Institute- Mumbai), previously Research Scientist (US Geological Survey-Denver) and NASA Principal Investigator for Apollo, Climate Specialties: Earth's heat source, sample of relevant papers: "Earth's heat source - the Sun", Energy and Environment 20 131-144 (2009); “The sun: a magnetic plasma diffuser that controls earth's climate”, paper presented at the V. International Conference on Non-accelerator New Physics, Dubna, Russia, 20 June 2005; "Super-fluidity in the solar interior: Implications for solar eruptions and climate", Journal of Fusion Energy 21, 193-198 (2002), Cape Girardeau, Missouri, U.S.A.David Manuta, Ph.D. (Inorganic/Physical Chemistry, SUNY Binghamton), FAIC, Climate Specialties: Gas Phase Infrared Studies, Thermodynamics of Small Molecule Formation (e.g., CO2, HF, and H2O), President, Manuta Chemical Consulting, Inc., Chairman of the Board, The American Institute of Chemists, Past Positions include Adjunct Professor of Physics, Ohio University-Chillicothe, Ohio, Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Physical Science at Shawnee State University, Ohio, Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Physical Science at Upper Iowa University and US Enrichment Corp. (nuclear), Waverly, Ohio, USAFrancis Massen, PhD, Physics Lab and meteoLCD, Lycée Classique de Diekirch, 32 av. de la gare L-9233, (see interesting scientific paper by Massen et al), Diekirch, LuxembourgIrina Melnikova, PhD (Physics & Mathematics), Head of the Laboratory for Physics of the Atmosphere INENCO RAN, specialization: radiative regime of the cloudy atmosphere - see interesting paper on this topic by Dr. Melnikova, St. Petersburg, RussiaPatrick J. Michaels, A.B., S.M., Ph.D. (ecological climatology, Senior Fellow in Environmental Studies, CATO Institute, Distinguished Senior Fellow in the School of Public Policy, George Mason University, a past president of the American Association of State Climatologists, past program chair for the Committee on Applied Climatology of the American Meteorological Society, past research professor of Environmental Sciences at University of Virginia, contributing author and reviewer of the UN IPCC, Washington, D.C., U.S.A.Fred Michel, PhD, Director, Institute of Environmental Sciences, Associate Professor of Earth Sciences, Carleton University (article by Dr. Michel: “Climatic hubris: The Ellesmere Island ice shelves have been disappearing since they were first mapped in 1906”, January 16, 2007, National Post), Ottawa, Ontario, CanadaFerenc Mark Miskolczi, PhD, atmospheric physicist, formerly of NASA's Langley Research Center, (in his 2010 paper, Dr. Miskolczi writes, "The data negate increase in CO2 in the atmosphere as a hypothetical cause for the apparently observed global warming. A hypothesis of significant positive feedback by water vapor effect on atmospheric infrared absorption is also negated by the observed measurements. Apparently major revision of the physics underlying the greenhouse effect is needed."), Hampton, Virginia, U.S.A.Asmunn Moene, PhD, MSc (Meteorology), former head of the Forecasting Centre, Meteorological Institute, Oslo, NorwayNils-Axel Mörner, PhD (Sea Level Changes and Climate), Emeritus Professor of Paleogeophysics & Geodynamics, Stockholm University, Stockholm, SwedenNasif Nahle, BSc (Biology), C-1L on Scientific Research, climatology and meteorology, physics, and paleobiology, Director of Scientific Research at Biology Cabinet (Areas of Specialization: Climatology and Meteorology (certification), San Nicolas de los Garza, Nuevo Leon, MexicoDavid Nowell, http://M.Sc., Fellow of the Royal Meteorological Society, former chairman of the NATO Meteorological Group, Ottawa, Ontario, CanadaJames J. O'Brien, PhD., Emeritus Professor, Meteorology and Oceanography, Florida State University, Florida, U.S.A.Peter Oliver, BSc (Geology), BSc (Hons, Geochemistry & Geophysics), MSc (Geochemistry), PhD (Geology), specialized in NZ quaternary glaciations, Geochemistry and Paleomagnetism, previously research scientist for the NZ Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Upper Hutt, New ZealandCliff Ollier, http://D.Sc., Professor Emeritus (School of Earth and Environment - see his Copenhagen Climate Challenge sea level article here), Research Fellow, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, W.A., AustraliaR. Timothy Patterson, PhD, Professor, Dept. of Earth Sciences (paleoclimatology), Carleton University, Chair - International Climate Science Coalition, Ottawa, Ontario, CanadaAlfred H. Pekarek, PhD, Associate Professor of Geology, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Deptartment, St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, Minnesota, U.S.A.Stanley Penkala, BS (Chemical Engineering, Univ. of PA), PhD (Chemical Engineering, Univ. of PA.), Asst. Prof. Air Engineering and Industrial Hygiene, University of Pittsburgh GSPH (1970-1973), Environmental Scientist, DeNardo & McFarland Weather Services (1973-1980), Air Science Consultants, Inc. (VP 1980-1995, President 1995-Present), Areas of Specialization: Air Dispersion Modeling, Anthropogenic Sources of Global CO2, Quality Assurance in Air Pollution Measurements, Pittsburgh, PA, U.S.A.Ian Plimer, PhD, Professor of Mining Geology, The University of Adelaide; Emeritus Professor of Earth Sciences, The University of Melbourne, AustraliaOleg M. Pokrovsky, BS, MS, PhD (mathematics and atmospheric physics - St. Petersburg State University, 1970), Dr. in Phys. and Math Sciences (1985), Professor in Geophysics (1995), principal scientist, Main Geophysical Observatory (RosHydroMet), St. Petersburg, Russia. Note: Dr. Pokrovsky carried out comprehensive analysis of many available long climate time series and cam e to conclusion that anthropogenic CO2 impact is not main contributor in climate change as declared by IPCC.Daniel Joseph Pounder, BS (Meteorology, University of Oklahoma), MS (Atmospheric Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign); Meteorological/Oceanographic Data Analyst for the National Data Buoy Center, formerly Meteorologist, WILL AM/FM/TV, Urbana, U.S.A.Brian Pratt, PhD, Professor of Geology (Sedimentology), University of Saskatchewan (see Professor Pratt's article for a summary of his views), Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, CanadaTom Quirk, MSc (Melbourne), D Phil (physics), MA (Oxford), SMP (Harvard), Member of the Scientific Advisory Panel of the Australian climate Science Coalition, Member Board Institute of Public Affairs, Melbourne, Areas of Specialization: Methane, Decadal Oscillations, Isotopes, Victoria, AustraliaVijay Kumar Raina, Ex. Deputy Director General, Geological Survey of India, author of 2010 MoEF Discussion Paper, “Himalayan Glaciers - State-of-Art Review of Glacial Studies, Glacial Retreat and Climate Change”, the first comprehensive study on the region. Mr. Raina’s field activities covered extensive research on the geology and the glaciers of the Himalayas, Andaman Islands that included research on the volcanoes in the Bay of Bengal. He led two Indian Scientific Expeditions to Antarctica that earned him the National Mineral Award and the Antarctica Award. He has authored over 100 scientific papers and three books: ‘Glacier Atlas of India’ dealing with various aspects of glacier studies under taken in the Himalayas; ‘Glaciers, the rivers of ice’ and ‘Images Antarctica, Reminiscences’, Chandigarh, IndiaDenis Rancourt, http://B.Sc., http://M.Sc., Ph.D. (Physics), Former physics professor, University of Ottawa (then funded by NSERC in both physics and environmental science), Climate Specialties: global carbon cycle and environmental nanoparticles science, statistical physics, as well as the politics, sociology and psychology of the climate debate, current research includes radiative effects and phenomena (albedo, greenhouse effect), Ottawa, Ontario, CanadaOleg Raspopov, Doctor of Science and Honored Scientist of the Russian Federation, Professor - Geophysics, Senior Scientist, St. Petersburg Filial (Branch) of N.V.Pushkov Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism, Ionosphere and Radiowaves Propagetion of RAS (climate specialty: climate in the past, particularly the influence of solar variability), Editor-in-Chief of journal "Geomagnetism and Aeronomy" (published by Russian Academy of Sciences), St. Petersburg, RussiaS. Jeevananda Reddy, http://M.Sc. (Geophysics), Post Graduate Diploma (Applied Statistics, Andhra University), PhD (Agricultural Meteorology, Australian University, Canberra), Formerly Chief Technical Advisor -- United Nations World Meteorological Organization (WMO) & Expert-Food and Agriculture Organization (UN), Convenor - Forum for a Sustainable Environment, author of 500 scientific articles and several books - here is one: "Climate Change - Myths & Realities", Hyderabad, IndiaGeorge A. Reilly, PhD (Geology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor), areas of specialization: Geological aspects of paleoclimatology, Retired, Winnipeg, Manitoba, CanadaRobert G. Roper, PhD, DSc (University of Adelaide, South Australia), Emeritus Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A.Nicola Scafetta, PhD (Physics, 2001, University of North Texas), Laurea (Dottore in Physics, 1997, Universita’ di Pisa, Italy), Active Cavity Radiometer Irradiance Monitor Experiment (ACRIM), Climate Specialties: solar and astronomical causes of climate change, see intresting paper by Scafetta on this), Research Scientist - Physics, Duke University, Durham, NC, U.S.A.Rob Scagel, MSc (forest microclimate specialist), Principal Consultant - Pacific Phytometric Consultants, Surrey, British Columbia, CanadaTom V. Segalstad, PhD (Geology/Geochemistry), secondary Web page here, Head of the Geological Museum, Natural History Museum and Associate Professor of Resource and Environmental Geology, University of Oslo, NorwayGary Sharp, PhD, Center for Climate/Ocean Resources Study, Salinas, California, U.S.A.Thomas P. Sheahen, PhD (Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology), specialist in renewable energy, research and publication (applied optics) in modeling and measurement of absorption of infrared radiation by atmospheric CO2, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (2005-2008); Argonne National Laboratory (1988-1992); Bell Telephone labs (1966-73), National Bureau of Standards (1975-83), Oakland, Maryland, U.S.A.S. Fred Singer, PhD, Professor Emeritus (Environmental Sciences), University of Virginia, former director, U.S. Weather Satellite Service, Science and Environmental Policy Project, Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S.A.Jan-Erik Solheim, MSc (Astrophysics), Professor, Institute of Physics, University of Tromso, Norway (1971-2002), Professor (emeritus), Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Oslo, Norway (1965-1970, 2002- present), climate specialties: sun and periodic climate variations, scientific paper by Professor Solheim "Solen varsler et kaldere tiår", Baerum, NorwayRoy W. Spencer, PhD, climatologist, Principal Research Scientist, Earth System Science Center, The University of Alabama, Huntsville, Alabama, U.S.A.H. Leighton Steward, Master of Science (Geology), Areas of Specialization: paleoclimates and empirical evidence that indicates CO2 is not a significant driver of climate change, Chairman, PlantsNeedCO2.org and CO2IsGreen.org, Chairman of the Institute for the Study of Earth and Man (geology, archeology & anthropology) at SMU in Dallas, Texas, Boerne, TX, U.S.A.Peter Stilbs, TeknD, Professor of Physical Chemistry, Research Leader, School of Chemical Science and Engineering, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), member of American Chemical Society and life member of American Physical Society, Chair of "Global Warming - Scientific Controversies in Climate Variability", International seminar meeting at KTH, 2006, Stockholm, SwedenEdward (Ted) R. Swart, http://D.Sc. (physical chemistry, University of Pretoria), http://B.Sc. (chem eng.) and Ph.D. (math/computer science, University of Witwatersrand). Dean of the Faculty of Science, Professor and Head of the Department of Computer Science, University of Rhodesia and past President of the Rhodesia Scientific Association. Set up the first radiocarbon dating laboratory in Africa with funds from the Gulbenkian Foundation. Professor in the Department of Combinatorics and Optimization at the University of Waterloo and Chair of Computing and Information Science and Acting Dean at the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada. Now retired in Kelowna, British Columbia, CanadaRoger Tanner, PhD (Analytical Chemistry, University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana), 40-yr career in atmospheric chemistry and air quality measurement science at Tennessee Valley Authority, Desert Research Institute, Reno, and Brookhaven National Lab, Climate Specialties: atmospheric chemistry and air quality measurement science, Florence, Alabama, U.S.A.George H. Taylor, B.A. (Mathematics, U.C. Santa Barbara), M.S. (Meteorology, University of Utah), Certified Consulting Meteorologist, Applied Climate Services, LLC, Former State Climatologist (Oregon), President, American Association of State Climatologists (1998-2000), Corvallis, Oregon, U.S.A.Frank Tipler, PhD, Professor of Mathematical Physics, astrophysics, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.A.Edward M. Tomlinson, MS (Meteorology), Ph.D. (Meteorology, University of Utah), President, Applied Weather Associates, LLC (leader in extreme rainfall storm analyses), 21 years US Air Force in meteorology (Air Weather Service), Monument, Colorado, U.S.A.Ralf D. Tscheuschner, Dr.rer.nat. (Theoretical physics: Quantum Theory), Freelance Lecturer and Researcher in Physics and Applied Informatics, Hamburg, Germany. Co-author of “Falsification of The Atmospheric CO2 Greenhouse Effects Within The Frame Of Physics, Int.J.Mod.Phys. 2009Göran Tullberg, Civilingenjör i Kemi (equivalent to Masters of Chemical Engineering), Co-author - The Climate, Science and Politics (2009) (see here for a review), formerly instructor of Organic Chemistry (specialization in “Climate chemistry”), Environmental Control and Environmental Protection Engineering at University in Växjö; Falsterbo, SwedenBrian Gregory Valentine, PhD, Adjunct professor of engineering (aero and fluid dynamics specialization) at the University of Maryland, Technical manager at US Department of Energy, for large-scale modeling of atmospheric pollution, Technical referee for the US Department of Energy's Office of Science programs in climate and atmospheric modeling conducted at American Universities and National Labs, Washington, DC, U.S.A.Gerrit J. van der Lingen, PhD (Utrecht University), geologist and paleoclimatologist, climate change consultant, Geoscience Research and Investigations, Christchurch, New ZealandA.J. (Tom) van Loon, PhD, Professor of Geology (Quaternary Geologyspecialism: Glacial Geology), Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan, Poland; former President of the European Association of Science EditorsMichael G. Vershovsky, Ph.D. in meteorology (macrometeorology, long-term forecasts, climatology), Senior Researcher, Russian State Hydrometeorological University, works with, as he writes, “Atmospheric Centers of Action (cyclons and anticyclones, such as Icelandic depression, the South Pacific subtropical anticyclone, etc.). Changes in key parameters of these centers strongly indicate that the global temperature is influenced by these natural factors (not exclusively but nevertheless)”, St. Petersburg, RussiaGösta Walin, Professor, i oceanografi, Earth Science Center, Göteborg University, Göteborg, SwedenHelen Warn, PhD (Meteorology, specialized in atmospheric fluid dynamics at McGill University), Vancouver, BC, CanadaAnthony Watts, ItWorks/IntelliWeather, Founder, surfacestations.org, Watts Up With That, Chico, California, U.S.A.Charles L. Wax, PhD (physical geography: climatology, LSU), State Climatologist – Mississippi, past President of the American Association of State Climatologists, Professor, Department of Geosciences, Mississippi State University, U.S.A.Forese-Carlo Wezel, PhD, Emeritus Professor of Stratigraphy (global and Mediterranean geology, mass biotic extinctions and paleoclimatology), University of Urbino, Urbino, ItalyBoris Winterhalter, PhD, senior marine researcher (retired), Geological Survey of Finland, former professor in marine geology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, FinlandDavid E. Wojick, PhD, PE, energy and environmental consultant, Technical Advisory Board member - Climate Science Coalition of America, Star Tannery, Virginia, U.S.A.Dr. Bob Zybach, PhD (Oregon State University (OSU), Environmental Sciences Program, EPA-sponsored peer-reviewed research on carbon sequestration in coniferous forests -- mostly in relation to climate history and quality of climate predictive models), MAIS (OSU, Forest Ecology, Cultural Anthropology, Historical Archaeology), BS (OSU College of Forestry), President, NW Maps Co., Program Manager, Oregon Websites and Watersheds Project, Inc., Cottage Grove, Oregon, U.S.A.American Association of State Climatologists” http://www.climatescienceinterna...American Geological InstituteAmerican Institute of Professional GeologistsGeological Sciences of the Polish Academy of SciencesJapan Society of Energy and Resources (1791 Members)Russian Academy of Scienceshttp://www.populartechnology.net...THE SCIENCE IS FAR FROM SETTLED -What historians will definitely wonder about in futurecenturies is how deeply flawed logic, obscured by shrewdand unrelenting propaganda, actually enabled a coalition ofpowerful special interests to convince nearly everyone inthe world that carbon dioxide from human industry was adangerous, planet-destroying toxin.It wlll be remembered as the greatest mass delusion in thehistory of the world - that carbon dioxide, the life of plants,was considered for a time to be a deadly poison.(Ed Ring,)No science consensus that global warming caused by humans .And according to a study of 1,868 scientists working in climate-related fields, conducted just this year by the PBL Netherlands Environment Assessment Agency, three in ten respondents said that less than half of global warming since 1951 could be attributed to human activity, or that they did not know. Given the politics of modern academia and the scientific community, it’s not unlikely that most scientists involved in climate-related studies believe in anthropogenic global warming, and likely believe, too, that it presents a problem. However, there is no consensus approaching 97 percent. A vigorous, vocal minority exists. The science is far from settled. –Ian Tuttle is a William F. Buckley Jr. Fellow in Political Journalism at the National Review Institute.Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/425232/climate-change-no-its-not-97-percent-consensus-ian-tuttle

No, science is not decided by commissions or consensus, just the opposite. Doubt and skepticism are the primary drivers of scientific advances. My opinion is Al Gore and Obama have distorted the climate science for political gain and they have been very successful with their partisan crusade. They have vilified life giving nontoxic CO2 as a pollution which is rubbish. Co2 is the elixir of life on this planet. We need more as the atomophere is starved at current levels. See -THE DANGERS OF CONSENSUS SCIENCEGalileo - Darwin - Einstein"Let's be clear: the work of science has nothing whatever to do with consensus. Consensus is the business of politics. Science, on the contrary, requires only one investigator who happens to be right, which means that he or she has results that are verifiable by reference to the real world. In science consensus is irrelevant. What is relevant is reproducible results. The greatest scientists in history are great precisely because they broke with the consensus..." - Michael Crichton, A.B. Anthropology, M.D. HarvardNO 'Consensus' on "Man-Made" Global WarmingFurther there is no consensus on man-made climate change in the science community. A vast majority of organizations and scientists more than 100 are skeptical.National Post, 17 May 2005By Benny Peiser“Six eminent researchers from the Russian Academy of Science and the IsraelSpace Agency have just published a startling paper in one of the world'sleading space science journals. The team of solar physicists claims to havecome up with compelling evidence that changes in cosmic ray intensity andvariations in solar activity have been driving much of the Earth's climate.They even provide a testable hypothesis, predicting that amplified cosmicray intensity will lead to an increase of the global cloud cover which,according to their calculations, will result in "some small global coolingover the next couple of years."I remain decidedly skeptical of such long-term climate predictions.Nevertheless, it is quite remarkable that the global mean temperature, asrecorded by NASA's global Land-Ocean Temperature Index, has actually droppedslightly during the last couple of years -- notwithstanding increased levelsof CO2 emissions. Two more years of cooling and we may even see thereappearance of a new Ice Age scare.Whatever one may think of these odd developments, the idea that the sun isthe principal driver of terrestrial climate has been gaining ground inrecent years. Last month, Jan Veizer, one of Canada's top Earth scientists,published a comprehensive review of recent findings and concluded that"empirical observations on all time scales point to celestial phenomena asthe principal driver of climate, with greenhouse gases acting only aspotential amplifiers."What the Russian, Israeli and Canadian researchers have in common is thatthey allocate much of the climate change to solar variability rather thanhuman causes. They also publish their papers in some of the world's leadingscientific journals. So why is it that a recent study published in theleading U.S. journal Science categorically claims that skeptical papersdon't exist in the peer-reviewed literature?http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=b93c1368-27b7-4f55-a60e-5b5d1b1ff38bHere is a partial list of science and other economic organizations who are on record with their doubts.“Skeptical Scientific Organizations:American Geological InstituteAmerican Institute of Professional GeologistsGeological Sciences of the Polish Academy of SciencesJapan Society of Energy and Resources (1791 Members)Russian Academy of SciencesAmerican Association of Petroleum Geologists (31,000+ Members)“The Climate Scientists' Register“We, the undersigned, having assessed the relevant scientific evidence, do not find convincing support for the hypothesis that human emissions of carbon dioxide are causing, or will in the foreseeable future cause, dangerous global warming."Click on country name in the following list to see endorsers from that nation: Algéria (1 endorser), Australia (8), Bulgaria (1), Canada (17), Denmark (1), Estonia (1), Finland(1), France (1), Germany (4), Greece (1), India (3), Italy (3), Luxembourg (1), Mexico (1), New Zealand (6), Norway (5), Poland (3), Russia (5), South Africa (1), Sweden(8), United Kingdom (6), United States of America (64).Complete Endorser List:•Habibullo I. Abdussamatov, Dr. Sci., mathematician and astrophysicist, Head of the Russian-Ukrainian Astrometria project on the board of the Russian segment of the ISS, Head of Space Research Laboratory at the Pulkovo Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia•Syun-Ichi Akasofu, PhD, Professor of Physics, Emeritus and Founding Director, International Arctic Research Center of the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska, U.S.A.•J.R. Alexander, Professor Emeritus, Dept. of Civil Engineering, University of Pretoria, South Africa; Member, UN Scientific and Technical Committee on Natural Disasters, 1994-2000, Pretoria, South Africa•Bjarne Andresen, Dr. Scient., physicist, published and presents on the impossibility of a "global temperature", Professor, Niels Bohr Institute (areas of specialization: fundamental physics and chemistry, in particular thermodynamics), University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark•Timothy F. Ball, PhD, environmental consultant and former climatology professor, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada•Romuald Bartnik, PhD (Organic Chemistry), Professor Emeritus, Former chairman of the Department of Organic and Applied Chemistry, climate work in cooperation with Department of Hydrology and Geological Museum, University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland•Colin Barton, http://B.Sc., PhD (Earth Science), Principal research scientist (retd), Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Melbourne, Victoria, Australia•Franco Battaglia, PhD (Chemical Physics), Professor of Environmental Chemistry (climate specialties: environmental chemistry), University of Modena, Italy•David Bellamy, OBE, PhD, English botanist, author, broadcaster, environmental campaigner, Hon. Professor of Botany (Geography), University of Nottingham, Hon. Prof. Faculty of Engineering and Physical Systems, Central Queensland University, Hon. Prof. of Adult and Continuing Education, University of Durham, United Nations Environment Program Global 500 Award Winner, Dutch Order of The Golden Ark, Bishop Auckland County, Durham, United Kingdom•Richard Becherer, BS (Physics, Boston College), MS (Physics, University of Illinois), PhD (Optics, University of Rochester), former Member of the Technical Staff - MIT Lincoln Laboratory, former Adjunct Professor - University of Connecticut, Areas of Specialization: optical radiation physics, coauthor - standard reference book Optical Radiation Measurements: Radiometry, Millis, MA, U.S.A.•Ernst-Georg Beck, Dipl. Biology (University of Freiburg), biologist (area of specialization: CO2 record in the last 150 years – see paper “Accurate estimation of CO2 background level from near ground measurements at non-mixed environments”), see http://www.biomind.de/realCO2/ for more from Mr. Beck, Biesheim, France•Edwin Berry, PhD (Atmospheric Physics, Nevada), MA (Physics, Dartmouth), BS (Engineering, Caltech), President, Climate Physics LLC, Bigfork, MT, U.S.A.•Sonja A. Boehmer-Christiansen, PhD, Reader Emeritus, Dept. of Geography, Hull University, Editor - Energy&Environment, Multi-Science (www.multi-science.co.uk), Hull, United Kingdom•M. I. Bhat, PhD, formerly Scientist at the Wadia institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehra, currently Professor & Head, Department of Geology & Geophysics, University of Kashmir (areas of specialization: Geochemistry, Himalayan and global tectonics & tectonics and climate (Prof Bhat: “Arguing for deepening the climate frontiers by considering interaction between solar flares and core-mantle boundary processes. Clue possibly lies in exploring the tectonics of regions that underlies high and low pressure cells of the three global oscillations (SO, NAO, NPO)”), Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir, India•Ahmed Boucenna, PhD, Professor of Physics, Physics Department, Faculty of Science, Ferhat Abbas University, Setif, Algéria. Author of The Great Season Climatic Oscillation, I. RE. PHY. 1(2007) 53, The Great Season Climatic Oscillation and the Global Warming, Global Conference On Global Warming, July 6-10, 2008, Istanbul, Turkey and Pseudo Radiation Energy Amplifier (PREA) and the Mean Earth's Ground Temperature, arXiv:0811.0357 (November 2008)•Antonio Brambati, PhD, Emeritus Professor (sedimentology), Department of Geological, Environmental and Marine Sciences (DiSGAM), University of Trieste (specialization: climate change as determined by Antarctic marine sediments), Trieste, Italy•Stephen C. Brown, PhD (Environmental Science, State University of New York), District Agriculture Agent, Assistant Professor, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Ground Penetrating Radar Glacier research, Palmer, Alaska, U.S.A.•Mark Lawrence Campbell, PhD (chemical physics; gas-phase kinetic research involving greenhouse gases (nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide)), Professor, United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland, U.S.A.•Robert M. Carter, PhD, Professor, Marine Geophysical Laboratory, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia•Arthur Chadwick, PhD (Molecular Biology), Research Professor, Department of Biology and Geology, Southwestern Adventist University, Climate Specialties: dendrochronology (determination of past climate states by tree ring analysis), palynology (same but using pollen as a climate proxy), paleobotany and botany; Keene, Texas, U.S.A.•George V. Chilingar, PhD, Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering of Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.•Antonis Christofides, Dipl. Civil Engineering, MSc Computing Science, Climate Specialties: co-author of relevant papers: here and here, author of http://hk-climate.org/, Athens, Greece•Petr Chylek, PhD, Laboratory Fellow, Remote Sensing Team Leader, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, U.S.A.•Ian D. Clark, PhD, Professor (isotope hydrogeology and paleoclimatology), Dept. of Earth Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada•Paul Copper, BSc, MSc, PhD, DIC, FRSC, Professor Emeritus, Department of Earth Sciences, Laurentian University Sudbury, Ontario, Canada•Cornelia Codreanova, Diploma in Geography, Researcher (Areas of Specialization: formation of glacial lakes) at Liberec University, Czech Republic, Zwenkau, Germany•Michael Coffman, PhD (Ecosystems Analysis and Climate Influences), CEO of Sovereignty International, President of Environmental Perspectives, Inc., Bangor, Maine, U.S.A.•Piers Corbyn, MSc (Physics (Imperial College London)), ARCS, FRAS, FRMetS, astrophysicist (Queen Mary College, London), consultant, founder WeatherAction long range forecasters, London, United Kingdom•Richard S. Courtney, PhD, energy and environmental consultant, IPCC expert reviewer, Falmouth, Cornwall, United Kingdom•Joseph D’Aleo, BS, MS (Meteorology, University of Wisconsin), Doctoral Studies (NYU), Executive Director - ICECAP (International Climate and Environmental Change Assessment Project), Fellow of the AMS, College Professor Climatology/Meteorology, First Director of Meteorology The Weather Channel, Hudson, New Hampshire, U.S.A.•David Deming, PhD (Geophysics), Associate Professor, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, U.S.A.•James E Dent; http://B.Sc., FCIWEM, C.Met, FRMetS, C.Env., Independent Consultant, Member of WMO OPACHE Group on Flood Warning, Hadleigh, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom•Chris R. de Freitas, PhD, climate Scientist, School of Environment, The University of Auckland, New Zealand•Willem de Lange, MSc (Hons), DPhil (Computer and Earth Sciences), Senior Lecturer in Earth and Ocean Sciences, The University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand•Geoff Duffy, DEng (Dr of Engineering), PhD (Chemical Engineering), BSc, ASTCDip., FRSNZ (first chemical engineer to be a Fellow of the Royal Society in NZ), FIChemE, wide experience in radiant heat transfer and drying, chemical equilibria, etc. Has reviewed, analysed, and written brief reports and papers on climate change, Auckland, New Zealand•Robert W. Durrenberger, PhD, former Arizona State Climatologist and President of the American Association of State Climatologists, Professor Emeritus of Geography, Arizona State University; Sun City, Arizona, U.S.A.•Don J. Easterbrook, PhD, Emeritus Professor of Geology, Western Washington, University, Bellingham, Washington, U.S.A.•Willis Eschenbach, Independent Climate Researcher, Climate Specialties: Tropical tropospheric amplification, constructal theories of climate, See sample of scientific writings in Nature here, Occidental, CA, U.S.A.•Christopher Essex, PhD, professor of applied mathematics, and Associate Chair, Department of Applied Mathematics, Former Director, Program in Theoretical Physics, University of Western Ontario, Former NSERC postdoc at the Canadian Climate Centre's Numerical Modelling Division (GCM), London, Ontario, Canada•Per Engene, MSc, Biologist, Bø i Telemark, Norway, Co-author - The Climate, Science and Politics (2009)•Terrence F. Flower, PhD, Professor of Physics and Astronomy, St. Catherine University, studied and taught physics of climate (focus on Arctic and Antarctic), took students to study physics of climate change in the Antarctic and Costa Rica, St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S.A.•Stewart Franks, BSci. (Hons, Environmental Science), PhD (Landsurface-atmosphere interactions), Associate Professor and Dean of Students, University of Newcastle, Climate Specialties: hydro-climatology, flood/drought risk, Newcastle, Australia•Lars Franzén, PhD (Physical Geography), Professor, Physical Geography at Earth Sciences Centre, University of Gothenburg, Areas of Specialization: Palaeoclimate from global peatland and Chinese loess studies - see related scientific paper by Franzén et al, Gothenburg, Vastra Gotaland, Sweden•Gordon Fulks, PhD (Physics, University of Chicago), cosmic radiation, solar wind, electromagnetic and geophysical phenomena, Corbett, Oregon, U.S.A.•Robert. W. Gauldie, PhD, Research Professor (retired), Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, School of Ocean Earth Sciences and Technology, University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Hawaii, U.S.A.•Katya Georgieva, MSc (Physics of the Earth, Atmosphere, and Space, specialty Meteorology), PhD (Solar-Terrestrial Physics - PhD thesis on solar influences on global climate changes), Associate Professor, Head of group "Solar dynamics and global climate change" in the Solar-Terrestrial Influences Laboratory at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, head of project "Solar activity influences of weather and climate" of the scientific plan of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, member of the "Climate changes" council of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Regional coordinator of the Balkan, Black sea and Caspian sea countries and member of the European Steering Committee for the International Heliophysical Year 2007-2008, deputy editor-in-chief of the international scientific journal "Sun and Geosphere", Bulgaria•Lee C. Gerhard, PhD, Senior Scientist Emeritus, University of Kansas, past director and state geologist, Kansas Geological Survey, U.S.A.•Gerhard Gerlich, Dr.rer.nat. (Mathematical Physics: Magnetohydrodynamics) habil. (Real Measure Manifolds), Professor, Institut für Mathematische Physik, Technische Universität Carolo-Wilhelmina zu Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany, Co-author of “Falsification Of The Atmospheric CO2 Greenhouse Effects Within The Frame Of Physics”, Int.J.Mod.Phys.,2009•Fred Goldberg, PhD, Adj Professor, Royal Institute of Technology (Mech, Eng.), Secretary General KTH International Climate Seminar 2006 and Climate analyst (NIPCC), Lidingö, Sweden•Stanley B. Goldenberg, Research Meteorologist, NOAA, AOML/Hurricane Research Division, Miami, Florida, U.S.A.•Wayne Goodfellow, PhD (Earth Science), Ocean Evolution, Paleoenvironments, Adjunct Professor, Senior Research Scientist, University of Ottawa, Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada•Thomas B. Gray, MS (Meteorology, California Institute of Technology and Florida State University), 23 years as Meteorologist with the U.S. Army and Air Force (retired) and 15 years experience with NOAA Environmental Research Laboratories. Assignments include Chief, Analysis and Forecast Division, Global Weather Center, Omaha, Nebraska and Chief, Solar Forecast Center, Boulder Colorado, maintains active interest in paleoclimate and atmospheric physics, Yachats, Oregon, U.S.A.•Vincent Gray, PhD, New Zealand Climate Coalition, expert reviewer for the IPCC, author of The Greenhouse Delusion: A Critique of Climate Change 2001, Wellington, New Zealand•William M. Gray, PhD, Professor Emeritus, Dept. of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University, Head of the Tropical Meteorology Project, Fort Collins, Colorado, U.S.A.•Kenneth P. Green, Doctor of Environmental Science and Engineering (UCLA, 1994), Resident Scholar, Interim Director, Center for Regulatory Studies, American Enterprise Institute, Washington D.C., U.S.A.•Charles B. Hammons, PhD (Applied Mathematics), climate-related specialties: applied mathematics, modeling & simulation, software & systems engineering, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Management, University of Dallas; Assistant Professor, North Texas State University (Dr. Hammons found many serious flaws during a detailed study of the software, associated control files plus related email traffic of the Climate Research Unit temperature and other records and “adjustments” carried out in support of IPCC conclusions), Coyle, OK, U.S.A.•William Happer, PhD, Professor, Department of Physics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, U.S.A.•Howard Hayden, PhD, Emeritus Professor (Physics), University of Connecticut, The Energy Advocate, Pueblo West, Colorado, U.S.A.•Warren T. Hinds, B.S. (Engineering), M.S. (Atmospheric Sciences), PhD (Physical Ecology, U. Washington, Seattle), Sr. Scientist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; consultant for USA EPA research on Global Climate Change Program, Specialist for Defense Programs, Department of Energy, Climate Specialties: atmospheric physics and quantitative empirical analyses regarding climatological, meteorological, and ecological responses to environmental stresses, Gainesville, Georgia, U.S.A.•Art Horn, Meteorologist (honors, Lyndon State College, Lyndonville, Vermont), operator, The Art of Weather, U.S.A.•Douglas Hoyt, B.S. (Physics, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute), M.S. (Astro-Geophysics, University of Colorado), co-author of the book The Role of the Sun in climate Change, previously senior scientist at Raytheon (MODIS instrument development), with earlier employment at NOAA, NCAR, World Radiation Center and the Sacramento Peak Observatory, Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, U.S.A.•Warwick Hughes, MSc Hons (Geology), Founder of the "Errors in IPCC Climate Science" Blog - http://www.warwickhughes.com/blog/, Areas of Specialization: Jones et al temperature data, Canberra, Australia•Ole Humlum, PhD, Professor of Physical Geography, Department of Physical Geography, Institute of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway•Craig D. Idso, PhD, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change, Tempe, Arizona, U.S.A.•Sherwood B. Idso, PhD, President, Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change, Tempe, Arizona, U.S.A.•Larry Irons, BS (Geology), MS (Geology), Sr. Geophysicist at FairfieldNodal (Areas of Specialization: Paleoclimate), Lakewood, Colorado, U.S.A.•Terri Jackson, MSc (plasma physics), MPhil (energy economics), Director, Independent Climate Research Group, Northern Ireland and London (Founder of the energy/climate group at the Institute of Physics, London), United Kingdom•Albert F. Jacobs, Geol.Drs., P. Geol., Calgary, Alberta, Canada•Zbigniew Jaworowski, PhD, DSc, professor of natural sciences, Senior Science Adviser of Central Laboratory for Radiological Protection, researcher on ice core CO2 records, Warsaw, Poland•Bill Kappel, BS (Physical Science-Geology), BS (Meteorology), Storm Analysis, Climatology, Operation Forecasting, Vice President/Senior Meteorologist, Applied Weather Associates, LLC, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, U.S.A.•Olavi Kärner, Ph.D., Extraordinary Research Associate; Dept. of Atmospheric Physics, Tartu Observatory, Toravere, Estonia•Madhav L. Khandekar, PhD, consultant meteorolgist, (former) Research Scientist, Environment Canada, Editor "Climate Research” (03-05), Editorial Board Member "Natural Hazards, IPCC Expert Reviewer 2007, Unionville, Ontario, Canada•Leonid F. Khilyuk, PhD, Science Secretary, Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, Professor of Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.•William Kininmonth MSc, MAdmin, former head of Australia’s National Climate Centre and a consultant to the World Meteorological organization’s Commission for Climatology, Kew, Victoria, Australia•Gerhard Kramm, Dr. rer. nat. (Theoretical Meteorology), Research Associate Professor, Geophysical Institute, Associate Faculty, College of Natural Science and Mathematics, University of Alaska Fairbanks, (climate specialties: Atmospheric energetics, physics of the atmospheric boundary layer, physical climatology - seeinteresting paper by Kramm et al), Fairbanks, Alaska, U.S.A.•Leif Kullman, PhD (Physical geography, plant ecology, landscape ecology), Professor, Physical geography, Department of Ecology and Environmental science, Umeå University, Areas of Specialization: Paleoclimate (Holocene to the present), glaciology, vegetation history, impact of modern climate on the living landscape, Umeå, Sweden•Douglas Leahey, PhD, meteorologist and air-quality consultant, President - Friends of Science, Calgary, Alberta, Canada•Jay Lehr, BEng (Princeton), PhD (environmental science and ground water hydrology), Science Director, The Heartland Institute, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.•Edward Liebsch, B.A. (Earth Science, St. Cloud State University); M.S. (Meteorology, The Pennsylvania State University), former Associate Scientist, Oak Ridge National Laboratory; former Adjunct Professor of Meteorology, St. Cloud State University, Environmental Consultant/Air Quality Scientist (Areas of Specialization: micrometeorology, greenhouse gas emissions), Maple Grove, Minnesota, U.S.A.•Richard S. Lindzen, PhD, Alfred P. Sloan professor of meteorology, Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A.•William Lindqvist, PhD (Applied Geology), Independent Geologic Consultant, Areas of Specialization: Climate Variation in the recent geologic past, Tiburon, California, U.S.A.•Peter Link, BS, MS, PhD (Geology, Climatology), Geol/Paleoclimatology, retired, Active in Geol-paleoclimatology, Tulsa University and Industry, Evergreen, Colorado, U.S.A.•Anthony R. Lupo, Ph.D., Professor of Atmospheric Science, Department of Soil, Environmental, and Atmospheric Science, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, U.S.A.•Qing-Bin Lu, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy, cross-appointed to Departments of Biology and Chemistry, Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) New Investigator, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada•Horst Malberg, PhD, Professor (emeritus) for Meteorology and Climatology and former director of the Institute for Meteorology at the Free University of Berlin, Germany•Björn Malmgren, PhD, Professor Emeritus in Marine Geology, Paleoclimate Science, Goteborg University, retired, Norrtälje, Sweden•Oliver Manuel, BS (Chem), MS (Geo-Chem), PhD (Nuclear Chem), Post-Doc (Space Physics), Fulbright Scholar (Astrophysics), NSF Post-Doc Fellow (UC-Berkeley), Associate - Climate & Solar Science Institute, Professor (now Emeritus)/Dept Chair, College of Arts & Sciences University of Missouri-Rolla, Fulbright Scholar (Tata Institute- Mumbai), previously Research Scientist (US Geological Survey-Denver) and NASA Principal Investigator for Apollo, Climate Specialties: Earth's heat source, sample of relevant papers: "Earth's heat source - the Sun", Energy and Environment 20 131-144 (2009); “The sun: a magnetic plasma diffuser that controls earth's climate”, paper presented at the V. International Conference on Non-accelerator New Physics, Dubna, Russia, 20 June 2005; "Super-fluidity in the solar interior: Implications for solar eruptions and climate", Journal of Fusion Energy 21, 193-198 (2002), Cape Girardeau, Missouri, U.S.A.•David Manuta, Ph.D. (Inorganic/Physical Chemistry, SUNY Binghamton), FAIC, Climate Specialties: Gas Phase Infrared Studies, Thermodynamics of Small Molecule Formation (e.g., CO2, HF, and H2O), President, Manuta Chemical Consulting, Inc., Chairman of the Board, The American Institute of Chemists, Past Positions include Adjunct Professor of Physics, Ohio University-Chillicothe, Ohio, Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Physical Science at Shawnee State University, Ohio, Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Physical Science at Upper Iowa University and US Enrichment Corp. (nuclear), Waverly, Ohio, USA•Francis Massen, PhD, Physics Lab and meteoLCD, Lycée Classique de Diekirch, 32 av. de la gare L-9233, (see interesting scientific paper by Massen et al), Diekirch, Luxembourg•Irina Melnikova, PhD (Physics & Mathematics), Head of the Laboratory for Physics of the Atmosphere INENCO RAN, specialization: radiative regime of the cloudy atmosphere - see interesting paper on this topic by Dr. Melnikova, St. Petersburg, Russia•Patrick J. Michaels, A.B., S.M., Ph.D. (ecological climatology, Senior Fellow in Environmental Studies, CATO Institute, Distinguished Senior Fellow in the School of Public Policy, George Mason University, a past president of the American Association of State Climatologists, past program chair for the Committee on Applied Climatology of the American Meteorological Society, past research professor of Environmental Sciences at University of Virginia, contributing author and reviewer of the UN IPCC, Washington, D.C., U.S.A.•Fred Michel, PhD, Director, Institute of Environmental Sciences, Associate Professor of Earth Sciences, Carleton University (article by Dr. Michel: “Climatic hubris: The Ellesmere Island ice shelves have been disappearing since they were first mapped in 1906”, January 16, 2007, National Post), Ottawa, Ontario, Canada•Ferenc Mark Miskolczi, PhD, atmospheric physicist, formerly of NASA's Langley Research Center, (in his 2010 paper, Dr. Miskolczi writes, "The data negate increase in CO2 in the atmosphere as a hypothetical cause for the apparently observed global warming. A hypothesis of significant positive feedback by water vapor effect on atmospheric infrared absorption is also negated by the observed measurements. Apparently major revision of the physics underlying the greenhouse effect is needed."), Hampton, Virginia, U.S.A.•Asmunn Moene, PhD, MSc (Meteorology), former head of the Forecasting Centre, Meteorological Institute, Oslo, Norway•Nils-Axel Mörner, PhD (Sea Level Changes and Climate), Emeritus Professor of Paleogeophysics & Geodynamics, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden•Nasif Nahle, BSc (Biology), C-1L on Scientific Research, climatology and meteorology, physics, and paleobiology, Director of Scientific Research at Biology Cabinet (Areas of Specialization: Climatology and Meteorology (certification), San Nicolas de los Garza, Nuevo Leon, Mexico•David Nowell, http://M.Sc., Fellow of the Royal Meteorological Society, former chairman of the NATO Meteorological Group, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada•James J. O'Brien, PhD., Emeritus Professor, Meteorology and Oceanography, Florida State University, Florida, U.S.A.•Peter Oliver, BSc (Geology), BSc (Hons, Geochemistry & Geophysics), MSc (Geochemistry), PhD (Geology), specialized in NZ quaternary glaciations, Geochemistry and Paleomagnetism, previously research scientist for the NZ Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Upper Hutt, New Zealand•Cliff Ollier, http://D.Sc., Professor Emeritus (School of Earth and Environment - see his Copenhagen Climate Challenge sea level article here), Research Fellow, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, W.A., Australia•R. Timothy Patterson, PhD, Professor, Dept. of Earth Sciences (paleoclimatology), Carleton University, Chair - International Climate Science Coalition, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada•Alfred H. Pekarek, PhD, Associate Professor of Geology, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Deptartment, St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, Minnesota, U.S.A.•Stanley Penkala, BS (Chemical Engineering, Univ. of PA), PhD (Chemical Engineering, Univ. of PA.), Asst. Prof. Air Engineering and Industrial Hygiene, University of Pittsburgh GSPH (1970-1973), Environmental Scientist, DeNardo & McFarland Weather Services (1973-1980), Air Science Consultants, Inc. (VP 1980-1995, President 1995-Present), Areas of Specialization: Air Dispersion Modeling, Anthropogenic Sources of Global CO2, Quality Assurance in Air Pollution Measurements, Pittsburgh, PA, U.S.A.•Ian Plimer, PhD, Professor of Mining Geology, The University of Adelaide; Emeritus Professor of Earth Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Australia•Oleg M. Pokrovsky, BS, MS, PhD (mathematics and atmospheric physics - St. Petersburg State University, 1970), Dr. in Phys. and Math Sciences (1985), Professor in Geophysics (1995), principal scientist, Main Geophysical Observatory (RosHydroMet), St. Petersburg, Russia. Note: Dr. Pokrovsky carried out comprehensive analysis of many available long climate time series and came to conclusion that anthropogenic CO2 impact is not main contributor in climate change as declared by IPCC.•Daniel Joseph Pounder, BS (Meteorology, University of Oklahoma), MS (Atmospheric Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign); Meteorological/Oceanographic Data Analyst for the National Data Buoy Center, formerly Meteorologist, WILL AM/FM/TV, Urbana, U.S.A.•Brian Pratt, PhD, Professor of Geology (Sedimentology), University of Saskatchewan (see Professor Pratt's article for a summary of his views), Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada•Tom Quirk, MSc (Melbourne), D Phil (physics), MA (Oxford), SMP (Harvard), Member of the Scientific Advisory Panel of the Australian climate Science Coalition, Member Board Institute of Public Affairs, Melbourne, Areas of Specialization: Methane, Decadal Oscillations, Isotopes, Victoria, Australia•Vijay Kumar Raina, Ex. Deputy Director General, Geological Survey of India, author of 2010 MoEF Discussion Paper, “Himalayan Glaciers - State-of-Art Review of Glacial Studies, Glacial Retreat and Climate Change”, the first comprehensive study on the region. Mr. Raina’s field activities covered extensive research on the geology and the glaciers of the Himalayas, Andaman Islands that included research on the volcanoes in the Bay of Bengal. He led two Indian Scientific Expeditions to Antarctica that earned him the National Mineral Award and the Antarctica Award. He has authored over 100 scientific papers and three books: ‘Glacier Atlas of India’ dealing with various aspects of glacier studies under taken in the Himalayas; ‘Glaciers, the rivers of ice’ and ‘Images Antarctica, Reminiscences’, Chandigarh, India•Denis Rancourt, http://B.Sc., http://M.Sc., Ph.D. (Physics), Former physics professor, University of Ottawa (then funded by NSERC in both physics and environmental science), Climate Specialties: global carbon cycle and environmental nanoparticles science, statistical physics, as well as the politics, sociology and psychology of the climate debate, current research includes radiative effects and phenomena (albedo, greenhouse effect), Ottawa, Ontario, Canada•Oleg Raspopov, Doctor of Science and Honored Scientist of the Russian Federation, Professor - Geophysics, Senior Scientist, St. Petersburg Filial (Branch) of N.V.Pushkov Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism, Ionosphere and Radiowaves Propagetion of RAS (climate specialty: climate in the past, particularly the influence of solar variability), Editor-in-Chief of journal "Geomagnetism and Aeronomy" (published by Russian Academy of Sciences), St. Petersburg, Russia•S. Jeevananda Reddy, http://M.Sc. (Geophysics), Post Graduate Diploma (Applied Statistics, Andhra University), PhD (Agricultural Meteorology, Australian University, Canberra), Formerly Chief Technical Advisor -- United Nations World Meteorological Organization (WMO) & Expert-Food and Agriculture Organization (UN), Convenor - Forum for a Sustainable Environment, author of 500 scientific articles and several books - here is one: "Climate Change - Myths & Realities", Hyderabad, India•George A. Reilly, PhD (Geology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor), areas of specialization: Geological aspects of paleoclimatology, Retired, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada•Robert G. Roper, PhD, DSc (University of Adelaide, South Australia), Emeritus Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A.•Nicola Scafetta, PhD (Physics, 2001, University of North Texas), Laurea (Dottore in Physics, 1997, Universita’ di Pisa, Italy), Active Cavity Radiometer Irradiance Monitor Experiment (ACRIM), Climate Specialties: solar and astronomical causes of climate change, see intresting paper by Scafetta on this), Research Scientist - Physics, Duke University, Durham, NC, U.S.A.•Rob Scagel, MSc (forest microclimate specialist), Principal Consultant - Pacific Phytometric Consultants, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada•Tom V. Segalstad, PhD (Geology/Geochemistry), secondary Web page here, Head of the Geological Museum, Natural History Museum and Associate Professor of Resource and Environmental Geology, University of Oslo, Norway•Gary Sharp, PhD, Center for Climate/Ocean Resources Study, Salinas, California, U.S.A.•Thomas P. Sheahen, PhD (Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology), specialist in renewable energy, research and publication (applied optics) in modeling and measurement of absorption of infrared radiation by atmospheric CO2, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (2005-2008); Argonne National Laboratory (1988-1992); Bell Telephone labs (1966-73), National Bureau of Standards (1975-83), Oakland, Maryland, U.S.A.•S. Fred Singer, PhD, Professor Emeritus (Environmental Sciences), University of Virginia, former director, U.S. Weather Satellite Service, Science and Environmental Policy Project, Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S.A.•Jan-Erik Solheim, MSc (Astrophysics), Professor, Institute of Physics, University of Tromso, Norway (1971-2002), Professor (emeritus), Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Oslo, Norway (1965-1970, 2002- present), climate specialties: sun and periodic climate variations, scientific paper by Professor Solheim "Solen varsler et kaldere tiår", Baerum, Norway•Roy W. Spencer, PhD, climatologist, Principal Research Scientist, Earth System Science Center, The University of Alabama, Huntsville, Alabama, U.S.A.•H. Leighton Steward, Master of Science (Geology), Areas of Specialization: paleoclimates and empirical evidence that indicates CO2 is not a significant driver of climate change, Chairman, PlantsNeedCO2.org and CO2IsGreen.org, Chairman of the Institute for the Study of Earth and Man (geology, archeology & anthropology) at SMU in Dallas, Texas, Boerne, TX, U.S.A.•Peter Stilbs, TeknD, Professor of Physical Chemistry, Research Leader, School of Chemical Science and Engineering, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), member of American Chemical Society and life member of American Physical Society, Chair of "Global Warming - Scientific Controversies in Climate Variability", International seminar meeting at KTH, 2006, Stockholm, Sweden•Edward (Ted) R. Swart, http://D.Sc. (physical chemistry, University of Pretoria), http://B.Sc. (chem eng.) and Ph.D. (math/computer science, University of Witwatersrand). Dean of the Faculty of Science, Professor and Head of the Department of Computer Science, University of Rhodesia and past President of the Rhodesia Scientific Association. Set up the first radiocarbon dating laboratory in Africa with funds from the Gulbenkian Foundation. Professor in the Department of Combinatorics and Optimization at the University of Waterloo and Chair of Computing and Information Science and Acting Dean at the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada. Now retired in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada•Roger Tanner, PhD (Analytical Chemistry, University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana), 40-yr career in atmospheric chemistry and air quality measurement science at Tennessee Valley Authority, Desert Research Institute, Reno, and Brookhaven National Lab, Climate Specialties: atmospheric chemistry and air quality measurement science, Florence, Alabama, U.S.A.•George H. Taylor, B.A. (Mathematics, U.C. Santa Barbara), M.S. (Meteorology, University of Utah), Certified Consulting Meteorologist, Applied Climate Services, LLC, Former State Climatologist (Oregon), President, American Association of State Climatologists (1998-2000), Corvallis, Oregon, U.S.A.•Frank Tipler, PhD, Professor of Mathematical Physics, astrophysics, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.A.•Edward M. Tomlinson, MS (Meteorology), Ph.D. (Meteorology, University of Utah), President, Applied Weather Associates, LLC (leader in extreme rainfall storm analyses), 21 years US Air Force in meteorology (Air Weather Service), Monument, Colorado, U.S.A.•Ralf D. Tscheuschner, Dr.rer.nat. (Theoretical physics: Quantum Theory), Freelance Lecturer and Researcher in Physics and Applied Informatics, Hamburg, Germany. Co-author of “Falsification of The Atmospheric CO2 Greenhouse Effects Within The Frame Of Physics, Int.J.Mod.Phys. 2009•Göran Tullberg, Civilingenjör i Kemi (equivalent to Masters of Chemical Engineering), Co-author - The Climate, Science and Politics (2009) (see here for a review), formerly instructor of Organic Chemistry (specialization in “Climate chemistry”), Environmental Control and Environmental Protection Engineering at University in Växjö; Falsterbo, Sweden•Brian Gregory Valentine, PhD, Adjunct professor of engineering (aero and fluid dynamics specialization) at the University of Maryland, Technical manager at US Department of Energy, for large-scale modeling of atmospheric pollution, Technical referee for the US Department of Energy's Office of Science programs in climate and atmospheric modeling conducted at American Universities and National Labs, Washington, DC, U.S.A.•Gerrit J. van der Lingen, PhD (Utrecht University), geologist and paleoclimatologist, climate change consultant, Geoscience Research and Investigations, Christchurch, New Zealand•A.J. (Tom) van Loon, PhD, Professor of Geology (Quaternary Geologyspecialism: Glacial Geology), Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan, Poland; former President of the European Association of Science Editors•Michael G. Vershovsky, Ph.D. in meteorology (macrometeorology, long-term forecasts, climatology), Senior Researcher, Russian State Hydrometeorological University, works with, as he writes, “Atmospheric Centers of Action (cyclons and anticyclones, such as Icelandic depression, the South Pacific subtropical anticyclone, etc.). Changes in key parameters of these centers strongly indicate that the global temperature is influenced by these natural factors (not exclusively but nevertheless)”, St. Petersburg, Russia•Gösta Walin, Professor, i oceanografi, Earth Science Center, Göteborg University, Göteborg, Sweden•Helen Warn, PhD (Meteorology, specialized in atmospheric fluid dynamics at McGill University), Vancouver, BC, Canada•Anthony Watts, ItWorks/IntelliWeather, Founder, surfacestations.org, Watts Up With That, Chico, California, U.S.A.•Charles L. Wax, PhD (physical geography: climatology, LSU), State Climatologist – Mississippi, past President of the American Association of State Climatologists, Professor, Department of Geosciences, Mississippi State University, U.S.A.•Forese-Carlo Wezel, PhD, Emeritus Professor of Stratigraphy (global and Mediterranean geology, mass biotic extinctions and paleoclimatology), University of Urbino, Urbino, Italy•Boris Winterhalter, PhD, senior marine researcher (retired), Geological Survey of Finland, former professor in marine geology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland•David E. Wojick, PhD, PE, energy and environmental consultant, Technical Advisory Board member - Climate Science Coalition of America, Star Tannery, Virginia, U.S.A.•Dr. Bob Zybach, PhD (Oregon State University (OSU), Environmental Sciences Program, EPA-sponsored peer-reviewed research on carbon sequestration in coniferous forests -- mostly in relation to climate history and quality of climate predictive models), MAIS (OSU, Forest Ecology, Cultural Anthropology, Historical Archaeology), BS (OSU College of Forestry), President, NW Maps Co., Program Manager, Oregon Websites and Watersheds Project, Inc., Cottage Grove, Oregon, U.S.A.American Association of State Climatologists” http://www.climatescienceinterna...http://www.populartechnology.net...

Q. If an established surgeon developed a medical condition that caused their hands to uncontrollably shake, would that be the end of their career as a surgeon? What would happen, once someone found out or it was self-reported?A. Two articles about Dr. Morton Doran, a surgeon with Tourette’s and two about when physicians should retire.The Problem of the Aging Surgeon: When Surgeon Age Becomes a Surgical Risk Factor (Abstract)The question of when a surgeon should retire has been the subject of debate for decades. Both anecdotal evidence and objective testing of surgeons suggest age causes deterioration in physical and cognitive performance. Medical education, residency and fellowship training, and technology evolve at a rapid pace, and the older a surgeon is, the more likely it is he or she is remote from his or her initial education in his or her specialty. Research also shows surgeons are reluctant to plan for retirement. Although there is no federally mandated retirement age for surgeons in the United States, surgeons must realize their skills will decline, a properly planned retirement can be satisfying, and the retired surgeon has much to offer the medical and teaching community.Summary: There Is a Problem!Anecdotes suggest many surgeons lack insight into the gradual degradation of their own skills. Research has repeatedly documented that age causes deterioration in physical and cognitive performance. In general, older surgeons have had less education, at a more remote time, which is less applicable to present technology. There is weak evidence from clinical studies that links older surgeon age with more complications and less adoption of modern technology. Other occupations (aviation) have statutorily mandated retirement ages. Other nations (United Kingdom) have statutorily mandated retirement ages for surgeons. There is no present outcry for a statutory-mandated retirement age for surgeons in the United States. Various American surgical societies have been coming to grips with this question for more than a decade now, but there has been no effective progress toward a solution. Educating surgeons to three facts may reduce the problem: (1) The surgeon’s skills will fade; (2) planning may make retirement quite satisfying; and (3) retirement does not have to bring the loss of all self-worth and an imminent death. Finally, educating surgeons, colleagues of surgeons, hospital administrators, patients, and the plaintiff’s bar may bring about changes that will induce surgeon retirement at an appropriate time.'Hope' Inspired by Surgeon With Tourette'sMorton Doran says he didn't discover he had the neurological disorder Tourette's syndrome until he was 37; by then, Doran, a general surgeon practicing in northwest Canada, was living a double life. At home, with his wife and children, he displayed the symptoms of full-blown Tourette's--motor tics, obsessive-compulsive rituals and uncontrolled, expletive-laden outbursts known as coprolalia.But in the operating room, hovering over a patient, a different person emerged, one with a focused gaze and steady hands.The striking dichotomy in Doran's personal and professional life prompted neurologist and writer Dr. Oliver Sacks to include Doran's story in his 1995 book "An Anthropologist on Mars." Now Doran's story visits the small screen, in tonight's episode of the CBS medical drama "Chicago Hope" at 10 p.m."When I'm operating I'm absolutely rock-steady," says Doran, now 59 and still practicing in British Columbia. "But it's not that I have no tics. When you're operating, you might dissect and cut something. And then, what I do is, I'll just stand back for a second and then I'll go back and work again."Though not exactly the model for the episode of "Chicago Hope," the show, written by consulting producer Marjorie David, does use Sacks' story as the leaping-off point for an episode in which a young couple must decide whether to allow a heart surgeon with Tourette's to perform a radical procedure on their newborn baby. It's a decision made more problematic by the doctor, played by Rene Auberjonois, who alternately reassures the couple about the surgery and horrifies them by blurting out "Dead duck!" "Dead duck!"--a verbal tic that Doran sweepingly calls "disinhibition."A neurological disorder caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain, Tourette's syndrome has made brief appearances in the public consciousness--the subject of an acclaimed documentary ("Twitch and Shout"), a recent independent movie ("Niagara, Niagara") and the real-life backstory of two professional athletes, former baseball player Jim Eisenreich and current NBA guard Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf.Television has tackled Tourette's, typically using the more gaudy symptoms as a window onto the disorder, though this time the setting is a hospital where even the staff grapples with the spectacle of Auberjonois' Dr. Walter Kerry."[The episode] was well done," says Doran, in Los Angeles this week to speak before the Tourette's Syndrome Assn. "It was a little strong, but I guess that's Hollywood. There was nothing that was unrealistic or phony."For former "Chicago Hope" producer Jeffrey Kramer, who consulted with David on the episode, Tourette's syndrome is all too real. Not only has Kramer lived with it all his life, but two of his sons, 16-year-old Jordan and 12-year-old Jackson, have Tourette's as well."Growing up, I just thought I was weird," says Kramer, whose symptoms included head tics and obsessive-compulsive behaviors. Still, the motor and verbal tics exhibited by Kramer and his children are nowhere near as pronounced as the behaviors of Kerry. To be sure, while depictions of Tourette's on TV and in films have by dramatic impulse highlighted the most eye-catching and disturbing manifestations of the syndrome, many with TS learn to cope with far less obtrusive symptoms, including mild tics and attention deficit disorder.But Kramer says he's tried to instill in his kids a sense that they're lucky to have Tourette's, stressing how the syndrome has been linked to intelligence and creativity. In the meantime, he has tried to raise awareness--and money--in a Hollywood community where "it's very hard to raise money for a disease that doesn't kill you."For Doran, Tourette's never seemed like a blessing. He describes a childhood spent largely in hiding. In school, he says, he would wait for the other kids to clear the halls before walking to class, ashamed of the uncontrollable movements of his limbs. Later, as a young doctor, Doran's outbursts at the slightest provocation earned him a reputation as a hothead. Today, sitting down for an interview, Doran's right arm flails out repeatedly, as if he's conducting an imaginary orchestra."I'm very ingrained as a loner. I quite like it," he says. "I like to have friends for short times, maybe to go out to dinner. And then I want to go back to my own place where . . . I don't have to try and hold anything back."Calgary surgeon and educator retires, leaving generation of inspired medical studentsDr. Morton Doran isn’t your everyday surgeon. Most surgeons pride themselves on their ability to perform finely controlled, precise hand movements. Dr. Doran’s hands sometimes have minds of their own, jerking uncontrollably in uncoordinated movements called ‘tics’. Most surgeons take pride in their ability to focus on one task for long periods at a time. Dr. Doran’s condition, however, makes him highly impulsive and prone to distraction. When many surgeons retire from surgical practice, they retreat into their own personal lives. But when Dr. Doran retired from practice, he spent the next eight years at the University of Calgary medical school, sharing his intimate knowledge of anatomy with his future colleagues. This July, though, he is – as he puts it – “retiring for good”.Operating beyond an afflictionThe fact that Dr. Doran suffers from Tourette syndrome is now relatively well-known. Many news articles have been written about his affliction. The famous writer and neurologist, Dr. Oliver Sacks, even wrote a short story about a surgeon with Tourette’s, based on the life of Dr. Doran. All of these writers, and indeed all who have known Dr. Doran, have found his story fascinating and inspiring. Especially since Tourette’s never once affected Dr. Doran when he was working in the operating room.A lesser known fact about Dr. Doran, however, is that Tourette’s has never affected him when teaching at the medical school, either. Indeed, the spry, silver-haired professor loves teaching just as much as operating, if not more so.“My favorite thing about working here is all the students”, says Dr. Doran, “all the keen, bright, interested, motivated students. Association with young people is what keeps me going all these years, and it’s what I will miss the most when I’m officially retired.”Inspired by students to teachIndeed, Dr. Doran embodies the spirit of these “young people” – biking at least 50 kilometres every day and ensuring he stays fit as a fiddle. The jersey name (a school tradition of nicknaming) that the graduating medical class of 2014 gave him was, appropriately, “Gun Show”.Dr. Doran started teaching at the University of Calgary 26 years ago in 1988, while he was still in practice. He initially taught physiology and anatomy part-time for the nursing course. Gradually he began to teach medical students, and for the last eight years has been teaching at the Faculty of Medicine nearly full time as a retired surgeon.“What got me interested in teaching was when I was in my surgery residency, my preceptors asked me to teach small groups while they were busy. And you don’t say no! But I liked it. I told myself, one day, I’m going to do this full time.”The phrase “full time” in Dr. Doran’s case is the understatement of the decade. The energetic ex-surgeon can readily be found in the anatomy lab on evenings and weekends, helping students learn new concepts and prepare for exams. When he is asked how he pulls this off, he simply states, “I have the time to do it, so why not?”Keeping it simple and going beyondDr. Doran’s teaching style is also quite special. In contrast to the teachers who unabashedly “embrace technology”, Dr. Doran remains old-school. His preferred teaching tools, aside from cadavers and skeletons, are lab aprons, pipe-cleaners, and old-fashioned black boards and colored chalk.“I like simple!” exclaims Dr. Doran. “My tools allow you to see things in 3D in a simple, clear way. I guess I’m a dinosaur, but I like it.” Truth be told, however, Dr. Doran is no Troglodyte. A few years ago, Dr. Doran began recording podcasts of his lectures, accessible through the medical school’s online student portal, and these are treasured by his students as bona fide educational material. His pipe cleaners and chalk drawings have become the stuff of legend for medical students, and have attained their own special place in this era of information technology.Indeed, Dr. Doran’s passion for simplifying medical concepts has clearly made a difference for his students.“What I found particularly special about Dr. Doran is that he loved to devote time to students,” says Amanda Eslinger, a third-year Calgary medical student who spent several weeks doing an elective with Dr. Doran. “He was one of those teachers that was able to make each of us feel like special individuals. He tailored his teaching to my own learning needs and he made me feel like I was worth the extra time.”“Dr. Doran is a teacher and physician many of us look up towards,” states Dr. Jennifer Au, a former medical student beginning her family medicine residency this summer. “I will never forget how he went above and beyond with your time and efforts for us. We are forever grateful for his passion towards medicine, teaching, and students.”Giving back (even more)Speaking of grateful, just last month, students from the Class of 2016 coordinated a farewell celebration for Dr. Doran, and raised money to donate to the Tourette Syndrome Foundation of Canada in his name. Students have also created a website in tribute to their beloved professor. At the time of publication, this website is still accepting donations for the Tourette Syndrome Foundation.As the Foundation’s former director, Dr. Doran remains involved in raising awareness about Tourette’s Syndrome. He has informed healthcare providers and advocated for families. His work has even been recognized by the Order of Canada. “I help put it out there,” describes Dr. Doran, forever humble. “I explain what Tourette’s is and how to manage it, and for the kids and their parents, I let them know that it’s not the end of the world, that life isn’t going to be miserable forever.”Indeed, if there is one message that Dr. Doran would like to leave behind, it’s to re-emphasize the fact that the symptoms and behaviors of Tourette Syndrome patients are not volitional, and for people to avoid discriminating. “I was teased a lot by the other kids. Especially because I had weird behaviors. But people tease more out of ignorance than anything. If you can provide a little bit of an explanation, that Tourette’s is just another medical disorder, no different than diabetes or broken bones, people will understand.”“People aren’t judgmental if someone has a broken leg, but people do very much judge others whose behaviors are outside the norm. But these are not volitional. So don’t be so judgmental as to push us away, call us various names, or dismiss us.”Dr. Doran’s life and advocacy work are truly inspirational. His dedication to helping his students is equally praiseworthy. A role model for students and staff alike, he has spent his entire life helping others better understand both Tourette Syndrome and human anatomy. A surgeon par excellence, a teacher merging the best of old and new academic traditions, and an advocate for a widely misunderstood disease – future physicians will have much to learn from Dr. Doran’s legacy.Dr. Yan Yu is a new graduate of the University of Calgary Faculty of Medicine, and will be specializing in family medicine. He is passionate about healthcare leadership and medical education, is the founder of The Calgary Guide to Understanding Disease, and a Rhodes Scholar-elect.Dr. Aravind Ganesh is a neurology resident-physician and co-founder of the Calgary-based mHealth venture SnapDx. He is also a clinical researcher, public health advocate, medical educator, and a Rhodes Scholar-elect. This is a deeply personal article for both writers, having been students under Dr. Doran.The Problem of the Aging Surgeon: When Surgeon Age Becomes a Surgical Risk FactorRalph B. Blasier, MD, JDAbstractThe question of when a surgeon should retire has been the subject of debate for decades. Both anecdotal evidence and objective testing of surgeons suggest age causes deterioration in physical and cognitive performance. Medical education, residency and fellowship training, and technology evolve at a rapid pace, and the older a surgeon is, the more likely it is he or she is remote from his or her initial education in his or her specialty. Research also shows surgeons are reluctant to plan for retirement. Although there is no federally mandated retirement age for surgeons in the United States, surgeons must realize their skills will decline, a properly planned retirement can be satisfying, and the retired surgeon has much to offer the medical and teaching community.IntroductionIs there an age beyond which the surgeon’s age becomes an unacceptable part of the risk of surgery?“‘I would not mind being operated on by a surgeon of 91.’ —Dr. Michael DeBakey at 91”.michael-debakeySurgeons age. Everyone ages. Is there a problem? Observation during daily living discloses that, with advancing age, human physical prowess declines. For a while, advancing age is accompanied by increasing wisdom; however, eventually, even mentation declines. However, is there evidence that increasing surgeon age makes difficult surgery more difficult or risky surgery riskier? Consider the following true anecdotes.An elderly surgeon, after a day performing surgery, turns to his younger colleague and asks, “Bill, please take me to my office. I don’t know where it is”.A pioneer of joint replacement surgery, in his late 80 s, continues to expound about his great surgical skills to all who will listen and continues to perform surgery, but routinely his younger colleagues must be called in to finish his operations when he cannot finish them himself [this is a case I personally observed]. He experiences technical difficulty as a result of his own age-impaired vision, and he displays occasional serious lapses in judgment.At a major Midwest university hospital, a universally revered mentor of a generation of surgeons never really progressed in his skills from open abdominal surgery to laparoscopic abdominal surgery. He continued to operate, however, including performing operations laparoscopically. One day, he got into more trouble than he could get out of, and a patient bled to death on the operating table during a routine gallbladder operation. The hospital investigated the situation. Investigators found that for 6 years, the clerks who schedule surgery had routinely been ordering extra blood to be set up for possible transfusion on this surgeon’s laparoscopic surgeries, because they knew his operations were abnormally bloody. Similarly, investigators found that for years, the anesthesia department had been routinely adjusting their schedules so as to put the most experienced anesthesiologists in this surgeon’s operating room because they knew his surgical risks were greater. However, no one had ever pointed this out to the surgeon or to other hospital officials. The reverence that all observers had for this icon of surgical education was too great for anyone to point out the obvious until a death ensued.Only Wine and Cheese Improve With AgeThe anecdotes recounted here are all true. The fact that these events occurred suggests there is a problem posed by the loss of skills by aging surgeons. However, this problem has attracted only scant interest and little study. A notable exception is Lazar J. Greenfield, Chair of the Department of Surgery at the University of Michigan from 1987 to 2002, who has had a teaching and research interest in the problem of the aging surgeon.Greenfield and Proctor summarize the physiological processes of aging as (1) wear and tear or (2) programmed cell death. Wear and tear can include mechanical damage to structures that are only imperfectly repaired. Programmed cell death refers to the emerging understanding that the somatic cells are limited from the time of fertilization to only approximately six to 15 generations of mitoses. After that limit, further cell division is impossible, and injured or worn out cells no longer can be replaced.Knowledge and experience remain for a long time. First to go is strength, then eyesight, then dexterity, and finally cognition. Knowledge, experience, and reputation can compensate for a long time. The declines are gradual. The surgeon and his or her colleagues may not notice the changes until the deficits become serious.Remoteness of EducationWhen contemplating the effect of age on surgeons, quantity of education, remoteness of education, and obsolescence of the content of the education are all at least theoretical concerns. As an example of quantitative difference, orthopaedic surgeons entering postdoctorate specialty education before 1979 obtained an average of 4 years of residency education after medical school. Now, the average postdoctorate specialty education in orthopaedic surgery is 5.5 years. Before 1979, an accredited allopathic residency in orthopaedic surgery was 4 years, and postresidency fellowship education was distinctly rare. Now, an accredited allopathic residency in orthopaedic surgery must be 5 years, and postresidency fellowship education is quite common with approximately half of residency graduates taking a 1-year fellowship after residency. Other surgical specialties have changed in similar ways. To generalize, the older a surgeon is, the more likely he or she is to have had a shorter initial education in his or her specialty.To generalize again, the older a surgeon is, the more likely it is that he or she is remote from his or her initial education in his or her specialty. For many decades, the typical medical student has begun his or her doctoral education at age 22 years. Only a few medical schools really encourage nontraditional students, and it is very rare for a male candidate to be admitted to medical school beyond the age of 26 years. Medical school typically lasts 4 years, so the surgeon must have started his specialty education around age 26 to 31 years, and probably closer to 26 years. Typically, surgery residency education lasts 5 years, with approximately half taking a subspecialty fellowship after residency, so the initial specialty education ends at approximately 31 to 37 years of age, probably closer to 31 years of age. The remoteness of any surgeon’s initial education can be estimated as his age minus 31 years.The lesser quantity of education and greater remoteness of education are not the most profound age-related effects. Because the chronologic era when the education was obtained differs, the content of the education differs. To consider orthopedic surgery as an example, essentially every treatment technique taught 25 years ago has been abandoned and replaced. To give examples in two areas, the treatment of almost all traumatic fractures is different and the treatment of all degenerative joint disease is different.Twenty-five years ago, all fractures of the femoral shaft were treated by 6 weeks in the hospital in traction followed by at least another 6 weeks in a plaster cast. Twenty years ago, there was a brief period when fractures of the shaft of the femur were treated with plate fixation. Now, almost all femoral shaft fractures are treated with locked intramedullary nailing. So a typical orthopedic surgeon who is today 56 years old or older could not have been taught the technique of locked intramedullary fixation of femoral fractures during his or her residency education. If he or she has learned the technique, he or she learned it outside of formal education.A similar change has affected the treatment of tibial fractures. Twenty-five years ago, almost all fractures of the tibial shaft were treated by casting. Now, nearly all are fixed with a locked intramedullary nailing. Twenty-five years ago, it was heresy to place metallic fixation hardware in an open fracture any sooner than approximately 1 week after the injury. To do so was thought to invariably cause infection. Now, open fractures are fixed using hardware everywhere in the nation, every night, as soon as possible after the injury.Thirty-five years ago, prosthetic arthroplasty was unheard of. Treatment of arthritis was by osteotomy or tenotomy-myotomy. Twenty-five years ago, arthroplasty of the hip was established, and arthroplasty of the knee followed closely behind. At that time, the saw cuts were made by the surgeon by hand and eyeball. Eyeball alignment of knee replacement resulted in many a malaligned knee. Since that time, all hip and knee replacement systems include complex and precise jigs to guide the saw blade while cutting the bone, and problems of wrong limb length and joint alignment are in the past. So a typical orthopedic surgeon who is today 66 years old or older could not have been taught anything at all about joint replacement during his or her formal residency education, and a present surgeon older than approximately 40 years old could not have been taught modern joint replacement techniques during his or her formal residency education. Femoral Shaft Fracture Antegrade Intramedullary NailingTreatment methods in the following list of orthopaedic conditions have been completely changed in the last 25 to 35 years: (1) fixation of fractures of all long bones; (2) fixation of fractures of the flat bones; (3) fixation of fractures of almost every joint, except the hip; (4) arthroscopic treatment of cartilaginous and ligamentous conditions of all major joints; (5) treatment of fractures and deformities of the spine; (6) treatment of pediatric foot deformities; (7) treatment of cancers without amputations; and (8) reattachment of severed thumbs, fingers, hands, and arms. Femoral shaft - AO Surgery ReferenceAll surgical specialties have had similar turnover of treatment methods. In the field of general surgery, laparoscopy is progressing to replace open abdominal surgery. “In surgery, …[c]hanging skills are required. The cut-feel-stitch needed for an open surgery is quite different than those needed for operating on images on a television screen as is the case with laparoscopic surgery”.Only a few research projects have studied the relationship between surgeon age or remoteness of surgeon education and the results of surgery. O’Neill et al. studied the relationship between years since licensure of the surgeon (and other factors) and death, or complications short of death, for the procedure of carotid endarterectomy. The study included 12,725 operations in 284 hospitals. Increased years since surgeon licensure predicted increased rate of patient death but did not predict nonfatal complications. Another study reported no physician age-related difference in treatment of certain cancers, but the study was methodologically flawed; this study depended on self-reporting of practice behaviors and was subject to severe selection bias with less than 37% of those surveyed answering. In a similar study of members of the American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons, 395 surgeons provided evaluable responses to a survey about their practice patterns pertaining to recurrent melanoma. This study found definite age-related differences in the ordering of certain tests to detect the possible spread of cancer in patients who had an operation to remove their tumor. Older surgeons ordered the most modern imaging studies (positron emission tomography [PET] scans) to a greater extent, but the older surgeons also ordered more of a chemical test no longer believed to be helpful (5-S-cysteinyl dopa). Younger surgeons ordered fewer PET scans and more chemical tests currently believed to be helpful (selected serum transaminases). It is not possible to say that the methods used by either the older or younger surgeons are actually preferable.In a meta-analysis, Choudhry et al. searched the medical literature for evidence of a relationship between physician age and quality of medical care. They initially found 245 potentially helpful articles, but after rejecting the irrelevant, they ended up with 59 articles for study. Their study did not concentrate on surgeons; all types of physicians were included. Of the articles found, half (52%) reported all measures of quality of care declining with increasing physician years in practice. For the other half of the articles, the results were less clear, but only 7% reported increasing quality of medical care with increasing years in practice.Experience versus SkillClosely related to the problem of remoteness of education is the need to maintain old skills, develop new skills, and grow through experience. Experience alone can substitute for a lot of mechanical skills. It is generally agreed that the deterioration of purely physical skills begins near the end of the third decade of life (around age 28). Cognitive skills diminish later. Yet it is widely agreed that most surgeons reach their peak of overall performance around the second half of the fifth decade (45–50 years of age). What appears to be happening is that, for more than two decades, growing experience can and does more than compensate for diminishing physical skills.An experienced surgeon may have seen many patients with a certain diagnosis. If a patient comes anew with this diagnosis, the experienced surgeon, having seen it so often before, will far more easily and accurately recognize the problem than a novice would. An experienced surgeon will have seen patients with many, many diagnoses. When a patient with a rare condition comes, the experienced surgeon, having seen so many conditions before, will have a far better chance of recognizing the problem than a novice would. The novice may learn in theory how patients should respond to treatment, whereas the experienced surgeon will have learned in fact how actual patients have responded to operations actually performed on them. The theory and the practice may not coincide.Physical DeclineGreenfield and Proctor identified vision, hearing, motion, and dexterity as physical attributes of a surgeon that inevitably decline with age. Reaction time, the time needed to move in response to a stimulus, has been found to decline only slowly. Rovit lists other physical attributes that decline with age. “Maximum strength is generally achieved during the third decade of life, with a 25% loss of strength by age 65 years. … As we age, visual acuity and accommodation decrease in association with hardening and yellowing of the lens [of the eye]…and pupillary shrinkage. Optimal performance requires…100% more [illumination] in workers older than 55 years”.Cognitive DeclineTrunkey and Botney have developed a series of tests, together named the “MicroCog,” designed to detect “impaired competence occurring late in a physician’s career.” The tests measure “reactivity, attention, numeric recall, verbal memory, visiospatial facility, reasoning, and mental calculation”. According to the overall MicroCog scores, at all ages, physicians (not necessarily surgeons) perform better than nonphysicians, but even physicians by age 75 lose 25% of their starting score. The decline is very rapid by age 60. The data also show a decline in overall MicroCog scores for older physicians (not necessarily surgeons), both working and retired. At all ages, but especially at older ages, retired physicians score lower than working physicians.Trunkey and Botney assert that the MicroCog has been validated, but they are no more than partly correct. The subtests of the MicroCog arguably should measure surgeon competency and skills. For example, surely a better score on reaction time would be a good thing for a surgeon; surely a good score on “visiospatial facility” would be a good thing for a surgeon. Indeed, the scores on the MicroCog do decline with age. However, there has not been any showing that a good score on the MicroCog correlates with good performance of surgery or that a low score on the MicroCog correlates with incompetency or lack of skill. These correlations may exist in fact, but they have not been demonstrated to exist.The game of chess is not surgery. However, the cognitive part of the game has some parallels to surgery. Both involve making decisions in a complex system. In both, the system is too complex to be thoroughly analyzed. In both, there are adverse consequences for making suboptimal decisions, and there are rewards for choosing well. The “chess rating” is a well-defined, objective scoring system based on actual wins and losses and based on the scores of opponents beaten and beaten by. The decline after approximately age 35 is similar to the declines seen in the MicroCog scores. Interestingly, the peak performance seems to be from approximately age 28 to 45 or 50 years.Greenfield and Proctor identify (1) the ability to focus attention; (2) the ability to process and correlate information; and (3) native intelligence as cognitive attributes of a surgeon that must decline with age. In a study of 468 Australian and New Zealand psychiatrists (none surgeons) aged 55 years and over who were queried, 281 responded to a survey of the influences on and of the effects of age and retirement. Of these, 223 were still working full time after age 55. Of these 223, 22% believed age conferred greater credibility and respect, 21% a more mature life perspective, and 49% greater actual confidence and competence. However, 27% reported fatigue interfering with work, 12% difficulty keeping up with advances in knowledge, and 10% poor memory.Breast reconstruction immediately after extirpative surgery for cancer is a relatively modern development. Callaghan et al. surveyed 498 specialized breast surgeons in the United Kingdom. More than three-fourths answered. They reported “older surgeons were significantly less likely to perform immediate reconstruction (…Odds ratio = 5.18), and were significantly more likely to believe that immediate breast reconstruction has disadvantages”.Heck et al. studied 563 patients from Indiana who had surgical replacement of a knee. Patients were followed for a minimum of 2 years. In the end, the study group consisted of 291 patients (330 knees). Younger surgeon age was correlated with fewer complications.Wang and Winfield surveyed the 1450 members of the North Central section of the American Urological Association about their use of laparoscopic surgery. Laparoscopy is believed to reduce bleeding, reduce scar formation, reduce pain, and reduce the patient’s time to recovery. Approximately half (49%) of the surgeons responding to the survey did not do laparoscopy at all, and only 21% used laparoscopy in more than 5% of their practice. Only 15% believed they were adequately trained in residency to perform laparoscopy. “There was an inverse correlation between time in practice and amount of laparoscopy performed”. Ahmad et al. confirmed a relationship between older surgeon age and a predilection against the use of laparoscopy. Neumayer et al. found surgeon age older than 45 years heralded an increased rate of recurrence (failure of the repair) in laparoscopic hernia repairs.Why Is the Surgeon the Last to Know When It Is Time to Retire?“As long ago as 1792, Dr. Thomas Percival addressed the duty of physicians to retire…, stating that physicians should consider retirement when…experience[ing] the ‘wonted confidence of their peers.’ Medicine is a fiduciary profession, and it is the duty of each practitioner to give up the task when his or her skills have deteriorated. How to recognize this point may constitute a significant problem”.“Honest, balanced surgeons apprehensively await…warnings [that say], ‘This was not an impeccable performance!’ … And when [the warnings] arrive, they become demons of the night. At first, while you are sleepless, staring into the dark, they will be a secret that you will keep from your wife at your side; but soon she will know”.Rovit has put forth three reasons why surgeons resist retiring: (1) lack of self-esteem; (2) fear of death; and (3) resistance to change. The layperson cannot easily understand how lack of self-esteem can possibly be a factor in a surgeon’s reasoning. The external persona exhibited by the typical surgeon is one of utmost confidence. For the most part, this is an artifice. Merely to get the job done, it is necessary for a surgeon to put on a show of confidence to the patient and the patient’s family. The placebo effect is strong, both positively and negatively. There will be a strong tendency for a patient to fail to improve if he or she perceives his or her surgeon to lack confidence in the procedure or in his or her own surgical skills. In my opinion, surgeons tend to be very introspective and self-critical. They analyze their failings alone or in small groups of trusted colleagues. A good surgeon is always only one or two bad operations away from a complete loss of self-respect. Finally, many surgeons see their own value in performing surgery. If a surgeon stops doing surgery, he or she runs a risk he or she will no longer value him- or herself. On the other hand, some have little insight into when their skills decline.A large fraction of surgeons fear death and disease. There is a common saying among surgeons, “Surgery is for patients, not for surgeons.” When expounded, this means patients are those who need surgery, surgeons do not need surgery, and moreover, surgeons should not have surgery. Some believe surgeons enter the occupation of surgery out of a need to struggle with and defeat death and disease. When a surgeon stops doing surgery, he or she becomes more like a patient, susceptible to death and disease. This fear is heightened in that the decision for retirement comes at the same time that the surgeon’s physical and cognitive skills are waning, and surely, death cannot follow too far behind. So, the decision to retire resembles the decision to die.Resistance to change is an impediment to the decision to retire. It would be very difficult to imagine two occupations more different than that of a busy surgeon as compared with that of a retiree. How different must it be to arrange flowers to impress one’s wife compared with rearranging internal organs to save the life of a deathly ill patient? How different can it be to arrive at work at 6 am to bark limb-preserving orders to a highly educated and highly paid staff who execute the orders instantly compared with sleeping in late so as not to wake the dogs and make them bark? It must be very frightening to embark on such a large change not knowing if one can tolerate the new circumstances and knowing that the decision to retire is, for all practical purposes, irrevocable.Assuring Competence in SurgeryThere is no uniform or widespread method to assure the competence of surgeons. Each state government has a mechanism for the discipline or suspension of so-called incompetent physicians. These mechanisms are often put to good use in cases of substance abuse, financial fraud and abuse, and sexual impropriety with patients. However, there is no evidence that such mechanisms work to identify or intervene in cases of the gradual failing of surgeons’ competence resulting from aging.Each hospital has a duty to recruit and retain only competent physicians, and this certainly includes surgeons. However, there is no evidence that hospitals are able to detect a gradual decline in surgeon competence. Error alone cannot be used to determine incompetence, because all surgeons err occasionally. Furthermore, error is often a failure of the treatment system and not necessarily the result of a single person. In some cases, when a hospital knows it has a problem with a bad surgeon, it will not take action for financial reasons. In one illustrative case, an attorney had finished defending a hospital against a malpractice claim based on the agency of a surgeon, and he noticed that the same surgeon had been named in more than 30 malpractice suits. The attorney wrote to warn the hospital president that he had a “bad doctor” on staff and that he should do something. The hospital president said, “Don’t ever write me anything like that again. That surgeon’s business is all that keeps our surgical wing afloat!”.The closest that surgery now gets to an assurance of competence is individual certification by one of the boards of the American Board of Medical Specialties. Each surgical specialty has its own certifying board. Each specialty board has different, but similar, requirements for a surgeon to become certified. Typical requirements are: (1) degree from an accredited medical school; (2) medical licensure in a state; (3) completion of an accredited postgraduate specialty residency; (4) written declaration by the Residency Program Director of attainment of academic, procedural, and ethical competence; (5) passage of a written examination; (6) 2 years of post-residency practice in a single geographic location with no disciplinary action or peer complaint; and (7) passage of a battery of oral examinations. Before 1986, orthopedic board certification endured for the life of the surgeon. Since then, certification has been time-limited, and now orthopedic surgeons must recertify every 10 years or lose certification.The initial certification is difficult to achieve, and it is very unlikely that a surgeon with a major impairment or incompetency could achieve certification. Indeed, the overall failure rate for graduates of domestic medical schools is approximately 10% (30% for international graduates), even allowing for multiple attempts at the examinations. Some large hospital systems are beginning to require board certification within a certain time (4 years is common) after the end of residency education. Smaller hospitals and rural hospitals are generally not now requiring board certification to gain staff privileges.As good as the initial certification process is at assuring competency, the recertification process is very much weaker. To recertify, the surgeon must show evidence of a certain minimum number of hours of continuing medical education and take a test. Using orthopedic surgery as an example, three tests are available: (1) a written test, very much like the initial written certification test; (2) an oral examination with questions based on the surgeon’s own cases; and (3) a practice inventory. It is telling that no orthopedic surgeon who has ever attempted to recertify has ultimately failed to do so (some have taken a test more than once but ultimately passed; Patsy Furr, Executive Secretary, American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery, personal communication). This means one of the following three propositions is true: (1) all surgeons are remaining competent; (2) surgeons lacking competency are choosing not to attempt recertification; or (3) the scores necessary to recertify are set too low. In any case, the recertification process can test knowledge and may test cognition, but it cannot test manual dexterity, coordination, or reaction time. Whatever the reason, it is apparent the present recertification process is not able to deal with the problem of diminishing skills in the aging surgeon.Before 1993, the American College of Surgeons Board of Governors’ Committee on Physicians’ Health was charged with the task of studying and making recommendations about the admittedly “controversial issue of credentialing the aging surgeon”. This seemed to be a promising step in the right direction. However, a search of the literature has located no evidence of any publication of the results of this charge in the decade and a half since the committee was so charged.Assuring Competence in Commercial AviationCommercial airline pilots are not permitted to act as pilot-in-command past a certain age. The maximum age limit to act as pilot in command in Europe and the United States is 65 years. On both continents, pilots under the maximum allowable age are subjected to frequent medical examinations and performance retesting to assure retention of a safe level of skills.Trunkey and Botney calculated that if surgeons failed a hypothetical medical test at the same rate that US commercial pilots fail their semiannual medical tests, then 39 surgeons per year would lose privileges in the United States attributable solely to medical problems. Admittedly, their calculation is a gross oversimplification, and an argument can be made that they are very high or very low in their estimate, but the fact remains that some surgeons become incompetent as a result of loss of capabilities with aging; there presently is no systematic method to accurately identify such individuals, and surely some must be continuing to practice.RecommendationsThe possible methods to prevent decreasing surgical skills resulting from age from becoming a major risk to patients naturally fall into (1) mandatory measures (external forces that compel surgeons to cease operating) and (2) education (increasing surgeon and societal awareness of this potential problem and encouraging surgeons to use heightened insight into their own limitations). Neither method is effectively in use in this nation at this time, and both approaches have substantial drawbacks.Mandatory MeasuresFor many decades, federal laws forbidding age discrimination have made it impossible to mandate surgeon retirement based mainly on age and have made it impossible for hospitals and other medical facilities to withdraw surgical privileges based solely on age. Consider the following: The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), 29 U.S.C. § 621, et seq, “Congressional statement of findings and purpose (a) The Congress hereby finds and declares that—(1) …older workers find themselves disadvantaged in their efforts to retain employment…; (2) the setting of arbitrary age limits regardless of potential for job performance has become a common practice…; (3) …; (4) … . (b) It is, therefore, the purpose of this chapter…; to prohibit arbitrary age discrimination in employment; … .”For employed surgeons, use of the surgeon’s chronologic age as a determinant of when he or she must retire is clearly in violation of the ADEA.Paul H. Gates v John H. Flood, 785 NE2d 1289, (2003): “It is no defense to a discharge based solely on age that the employer mistakenly believed that age was a bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ) for the employee’s job.”Zipp, EK: Proving that Discharge was because of Age, for Purposes of Age Discrimination in Employment Act (29 USC §§ 621 et seq), 58 ALR Fed 94. “When plaintiff alleges unlawful discharge based on age, [a] prima facie case requires proof that (1) plaintiff was a member of protected class, ie, was 40 years of age or older, (2) that plaintiff was discharged, (3) that plaintiff was qualified for [the] job, and (4) that plaintiff was replaced by [a] sufficiently younger person to create [an] inference of age discrimination.”When surgeon age is the actual determinant of retirement from employment, an unassailable prima fascia case should be easy to make.Even when there is no employer-employee relationship such as in a corporation-shareholder relationship in which the shareholder is a working surgeon, the definition of “employee” for purposes of ADEA has been broadened to give the working shareholder protection from discrimination based on age.Betty Gorman v North Pittsburgh Oral Surgery Associates: LTD. (1987). 664 FSupp 212 “Employee who was allegedly forced to retire from professional oral surgery corporation filed suit under Age Discrimination in Employment Act against corporation, which moved for summary judgment. The District Court, Ziegler, J., held that: (1) doctors who were shareholders in corporation were “employees” under ADEA; (2) corporation was “employer” as it employed 16 full-time and six part-time employees during period in question; and (3) genuine issue of material fact, as to whether employee had met the burden of showing that proffered reasons for termination were pretext for discrimination, precluded summary judgment.”In cases in which there is no employment relationship at all, there are not many cases to give precedential guidance. However, it appears that “unequal accommodation, based on age discrimination” should be an effective cause of action under many state constitutions and under the federal constitution. It seems quite clear then that any private action to mandate retirement of surgeons or curtailment of surgical privileges based solely or mainly on age will be found unlawful when contested.In the United Kingdom, the law is different. There, at age 65 years, surgeons must stop performing surgery in the Public Health Service. There, at age 70, a surgeon must retire also from private practice, ending his or her surgical career. There is controversy over the issue of whether an arbitrary age limit is a good way to decide when a surgeon must retire, but the system has been pretty well accepted. Many surgeons get greater satisfaction, and certainly greater recompense, from their private practice than they do from the Public Health Service, and although many resent having to depart the Public Health Service at age 65, many are mollified by being allowed to continue their private practice to age 70.The law concerning aged surgeons in the United States could be changed. In the field of aviation, pilots and first officers (copilots) for the major airlines may not, by statute, act as pilot or first officer after age 65 years. There is no provision for any exception to this law. Every challenge to this law has failed. It is obvious these pilots are not being given equal protection under that law, but the inequality is being imposed on them to further a compelling state interest, and therefore, the unequal treatment of pilots based on their age has always been found not unconstitutional. It has been shown again and again that the physical capabilities of pilots (and everyone else) decline with age. Protecting the safety of the flying public is a compelling state interest. To date, there has been no showing that there exists any test or battery of tests that can be applied in a practical sense to pilots to ascertain which pilots are safe to fly at age older than 65 years. As such, mandatory retirement of commercial airline pilots at age 65 remains the law in the United States.Congress could enact similar legislation concerning surgeons. Protecting the safety of patients could be a substantial state interest. To date, there has been no showing that there exists any test or battery of tests that could be applied to surgeons to ascertain which retain their surgical skills with aging. Mandatory retirement of surgeons at an arbitrary age could become the law in the United States. There is presently no groundswell of enthusiasm to accomplish this, however.Rovit summarized some of the difficulties in identifying when a surgeon has lost skills to a degree that he or she should stop operating. First, Rovit wrongly asserts that one often performs surgery under the observation of one’s colleagues. To the extent that he intends “colleagues” to include “other surgeons,” he is incorrect. It is distinctly rare to have more than one attending surgeon in an operation. There may be surgeon-trainees, nurses, and technicians in the operating room, but almost never two attending surgeons. So the opportunity for one attending surgeon to critique the performance of another is almost nonexistent. Furthermore, trainees, nurses, and technicians are not empowered or encouraged to officially criticize the technical skills of the attending surgeon. Gross negligence may be observed and reported, but anything less will be missed, and small lapses in judgment are far more likely than gross deviations, especially early in the surgeon’s decline.Hospitals universally have quality assurance departments and quality improvement activities. These activities are able to detect grossly aberrant outcomes such as death and surgical infection. However, such activities are completely unable to detect important substandard outcomes such as less pain relief than should have been possible, less restoration of patient function than should have been possible, and so on. These types of criteria are impossible for a hospital-based activity to monitor. It would be possible to invent a system of proctoring of the operations of an elder surgeon. However, colleagues, especially former trainees of the proctored surgeon, might be too deferential, whereas competitors might be too harsh.Trunkey and Botney take the opposite view. They recommend testing conducted by the American Board of Surgery under the supervision of the American College of Surgeons. They do not consider the fact that there is no agreement on what skills to test or how to test them.“[I]t is clear that we need better data on the performance of aging surgeons… . Both cognitive and functional test results should be evaluated under controlled circumstances… . Above all, we need to remove the stigma associated with retirement and construct ways for productive members of our society…to retain their self-esteem as they enter the final chapters of their career”.Some commentators have recommended legislation to protect the public from aging surgeons. Baratham has suggested a rigid, fixed upper age limit as the only criterion for a statute terminating the operating privileges of the elder surgeon. In advocating such a rigid standard, he acknowledges that whatever age is chosen, some would have been competent past that age, and some would have lost necessary skills before that age. However, he believes a rigid cutoff would be fairer and more effective than either peer review or relying on the surgeon’s own insight.Education and Appeal to ConscienceBeing a surgeon is perhaps the most privileged of all occupations. The sick, the pained, and the frightened—patients and their families—hand over in trust their most intimate matters of life and limb, life and death, vigor and disease. To be so burdened and simultaneously so honored is a privilege like no other. One reason surgeons may persist in their craft after their skills are gone is there is no other activity that is nearly so rewarding. R. M. Kirk points out this problem and suggests an acceptable substitute for surgery would be teaching. Mr. Kirk does not suggest continuing in teaching technical surgery to registrars (British for “residents”). Rather, he suggests retired surgeons could offer valuable teaching in four areas: (1) preclinical teaching to medical students, particularly anatomy and physiology; (2) clinical teaching to medical students, particularly coaching them in learning to take a patient history and perform a physical examination; (3) acting as an experienced surgical assistant to a registrar in training; and (4) teaching basic surgical skills in workshops. The common thread connecting these four areas is they all require a lot of time, pay little or nothing, and place the teacher in a position where his or her actions cannot cause harm. Perhaps if the elder surgeon realized there are ways to continue making valuable contributions after retirement from performing surgery, he or she might be more inclined to retire before his or her skills are gone.It is apparent that surgeons are not aware that each should be planning retirement rather than ignoring retirement. Greenfield and Proctor conducted a survey of the members of the American Surgical Association. Of 882 members surveyed about their attitudes toward the inevitable end of their careers, approximately three-fourths responded (659 of 882). Fewer than half of those answering had made any retirement plans at all, and three-fourths of those planned to “retire” to medical activities. Of surgeons aged younger than 50 years, only 6.5% had made any plans for what they would do after retirement. Most of the responders older than 70 years old had retired, but strikingly, of surgeons aged older than 70 years who had not yet retired, only 40% had made any retirement plans, and more than half were performing operations at a rate self-estimated to be their “normal” workload. The lack of retirement planning and the high rate of continuing to perform operations suggest at least the possibility that these surgeons are lacking in insight. Another explanation, although one that should not be accepted without more evidence, is that these elite-level members of the American Surgical Association are so superior that they may safely continue performing surgery without the need to consider retirement.In 1990, Rovit conducted a non-scientific survey of 29 distinguished retired neurosurgical colleagues and friends to inquire of their thoughts about retirement and reasons for retirement. He received 22 answers. Half of the 22 addressed the question of why each retired. Half of those wanted to retire “at the top of their game”, before their abilities declined, whereas the other half retired when demoted from department chairmanship as a result of age. Of the 22, half continued in nonsurgical medical practice, usually limited to part-time work. The other half performed a wide variety of hobbies or charity work. All who responded expressed positive thoughts about the decision to retire.Virshup and Coombs surveyed 238 retired physicians in Los Angeles County about their adjustment to retirement, receiving a 42% response. Seventy-five percent of the respondents enjoyed retirement. Forty-nine percent found life was improved after retirement. Only 7% were definitely unhappy, most of those for reasons of diminished intellectual stimulation, diminished income, and missing colleagues.The American College of Surgeons Board of Governors’ Committee on Physicians’ Health in 1993 conducted a survey of retired members of the College on their attitudes toward retirement. The survey questionnaire was sent to 2132 members who had retired between 1983 and 1988, and 40% (850 members) responded. Reasons for retirement included: (1) an adverse malpractice experience; (2) “just wanted to retire”; (3) “age”; and (4) “fear of loss of competence.” Age was the third most common reason given, whereas loss of competence was far down the list. Concerning overall satisfaction, the majority (47%) found retirement about as good as expected, many (42%) found retirement better than expected, and a few (9%) found retirement worse than expected. The unsatisfied retirees listed “poor health, insufficient income and…‘nothing to do’” as the reasons for their dissatisfaction. The average gross income declined 36% on retirement, but 90% of the survey responders believed their income was at least adequate. When asked what would have made retirement better, the majority answers were: (1) “saved/invested/earned more money”; (2) “planned better/earlier”; and (3) “spent more time with family.” In fact, 11% of these retired surgeons had made no preretirement plans at all; 59% had instituted financial retirement plans; and 9% had taken on new hobbies, new interests, or a new occupation. This study reported retired surgeons who had taken up postretirement activities outside of medicine were more likely to be satisfied than those who remained in medicine in some nonsurgical capacity. Finally, in noting that poor health was associated with dissatisfaction, the authors concluded that preretirement planning should include measures aimed at better health: (1) controlling weight and diet; (2) reducing or eliminating smoking, drinking, and illicit drugs; (3) exercising; and (4) practicing safe sex. Their survey did not demonstrate that these behaviors would actually improve health or increase postretirement satisfaction, but the advice rings true.Summary: There Is a Problem!Anecdotes suggest many surgeons lack insight into the gradual degradation of their own skills. Research has repeatedly documented that age causes deterioration in physical and cognitive performance. In general, older surgeons have had less education, at a more remote time, which is less applicable to present technology. There is weak evidence from clinical studies that links older surgeon age with more complications and less adoption of modern technology. Other occupations (aviation) have statutorily mandated retirement ages. Other nations (United Kingdom) have statutorily mandated retirement ages for surgeons. There is no present outcry for a statutory-mandated retirement age for surgeons in the United States. Various American surgical societies have been coming to grips with this question for more than a decade now, but there has been no effective progress toward a solution. Educating surgeons to three facts may reduce the problem: (1) The surgeon’s skills will fade; (2) planning may make retirement quite satisfying; and (3) retirement does not have to bring the loss of all self-worth and an imminent death. Finally, educating surgeons, colleagues of surgeons, hospital administrators, patients, and the plaintiff’s bar may bring about changes that will induce surgeon retirement at an appropriate time.Putting the Scalpel Down: When Should Physicians Retire?By Chuck Dinerstein — August 20, 2017Can you hear me?When is it time to put the scalpel (or stethoscope) down? In an era of rising life expectancies and changing attitudes towards the when and if of retirement; when 23% of physicians are over 65, and there are physician shortages, are there guidelines for what a doctor can or should do? Much about the current state of the ‘aging’ physician is discussed in an article The Aging Physician and the Medical Profession A Review in JAMA Surgery by Dellinger, Pelligrini, and Gallagher.The two graphs, taken from the article, effectively summarize the science. 1002 physicians and 581 age-matched controls were given a simple test of cognition. While physicians scored better than the controls, it is clear that both groups suffered cognitive declines over time. There should be no surprise to any of us. But it is the second graph that is more important. The variability of the cognitive scores increased dramatically with increasing age for the physicians – that is, as doctors age, many remain competent, some not so much. How do you manage this variability? Mandatory retirement, as is required of airline pilots, law enforcement officers and my favorite, ‘nuclear weapons couriers,’ would deprive many excellent physicians of an opportunity to continue to practice and potentially exacerbate the physician shortage. The American College of Surgeons (ACS) has recommended “voluntary and confidential baseline physical examination and visual testing for overall health assessment, with regular re-evaluation thereafter.” Interestingly, the ACS suggests that evaluating cognitive function be done “using online tools” and reminds surgeons of their professional obligations to disclose “concerning findings.” Cognitive decline continues to stigmatize even among health professionals.The cognitive studies mentioned do help guide policy, given the large variability of cognitive decline, a blanket rule-based on age would be inappropriate. Also, with increasing numbers of physician employees, the Age Discrimination In Employment Act prohibits mandatory retirement based on age. While we might develop national guidelines for when to begin testing physicians’ health, cognition, and competence, the considerable variability in the changes requires a more nuanced, local determination of what should be done for a particular physician. At this juncture, only three hospital systems have instituted mandatory health and cognitive evaluations. The difficulty in any such program and perhaps part of the reason that the ACS treated cognitive decline differently from physical or visual decline is “[Physicians] see their role as physicians as a treasured element of their identity.” Mandatory or “nudged” retirement can create a hole in a doctor’s life that golf cannot fill. I agree with the author's recommendation:“…mandatory wellness testing and peer evaluation has the benefit of potentially identifying physicians whose competence is declining before patients are harmed and also connecting these physicians with programs that could restore their ability to practice safely. A local focus of such programs also makes sense given that institutions have much more robust information about a physician’s day-to-day practice performance than national organizations would.”Having retired from clinical practice (neither mandated or nudged) I understand the anxiety and loss inherent in giving up a thirty-year calling. Many physicians still have the ability to contribute; they want to give back. It is incumbent upon the profession to find ways for retired physicians to continue to participate within their new limits. Peer review of patient care, helping patients navigate the health system, mentoring medical students and residents are all activities that require more physicians. The professional and the national societies have an obligation to the public to identify when physicians no longer “practice safely,” they have an equal responsibility to their colleagues to help them maintain their abilities and find meaningful ways to continue to contribute.Related articlesThe Quandary of Competency Testing for Senior Doctors