Reporter’s Notebook 1999: “CO2 levels in decline last five years”

CO2 levels have been in decline the last five years said Tim Ball, a retired Professor of Geography, on Nov 24, 1999, at the Riverview Center, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

That statement was completely false then and laughable now, but Ball continues to spew similar lies and misinformation to this day. Just last week Ball was a leading speaker in New York City at last week’s climate change denial festival.

I happened across my notes from the 1999 conference and was stunned at the outrageous comments Ball presented as “facts” to about 200 to 300 business types at a time when people knew little about carbon dioxide or global warming. No doubt many were convinced as Ball claimed (wrongly in every case) that:

+ “the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) has only 13 climatologists and the rest are government hacks”

+ Global cooling is actually underway — the IPCC “fixed the data” to show otherwise

+ Sea levels dropped 35 cm and will continue to fall

+ Melting ice caps won’t cause the sea level to rise

+ No evidence that CFC’s cause ozone depletion –“they’re too heavy to get up there”

My notes indicate that the audience loved Ball’s confident delivery of these absurd statements. In essence, he was telling them there was nothing to worry about and we could all continue as usual. And that’s what we all want to hear in spite of the fact that the climate train is about to run us over. That’s the only possible explanation for why anyone continues to listen to Ball or publish his many op-ed articles. Surprise, surprise, Ball is also a paid ‘consultant’ for the energy industry.