In the print edition of The Canberra Times of Saturday 15 August 2009, this letter appeared:

Danielle Cronin in her article “Flawed logic used to oppose green Bill” (August 13, p5) stated that Will Steffen declined an invitation to make a presentation along with Professor Bob Carter before the Senate.

That is not surprising, as Al Gore wouldn’t appear and debate with climate sceptic Lord Monckton before the US Senate either.

Do you see a pattern developing here?

Is Steffen afraid that he won’t be able to hold up his end in a debate?

You can bet on that.

The alarmists have only computer climate models (fantasy computing) to use as evidence and that is no evidence at all.

Is there evidence of a vested interest in supporting this foolish theory?

John McKerral
Batemans Bay, NSW

My response:

John McKerral (Letters, August 15) tries to condemn modern climate science in general because Will Steffen, an eminent climate scientist with the ANU, declined to debate the discredited Bob Carter face to face in front of the Senate. I can’t speak for Steffen, but I can understand why he wouldn’t. It’s similar to the situation with creationists: they are utterly lacking in genuine scientific evidence for their position, but they can score points through the strange compressions and distortions of face to face debate, where verbal agility, cute anecdotes and one-liners win the day. Science doesn’t work that way: conclusions are carefully built up from a large body of thoroughly documented and widely-reviewed evidence. Debating whether the world is warming, and whether humans are mainly responsible, makes about as much sense as spending Senate time on a debate over whether smoking causes cancer.

McKerral also asserts that climate science has nothing more than computer models as evidence. This is not just incorrect; it’s the diametric opposite of reality. The observational evidence supporting the conclusion that the world is warming, and that human activities are the primary cause, has moved beyond being a mountain; it is now better described as a mountain range. On the other hand, the evidence of any substance against it is, to a first approximation, non-existent. That’s the scientific picture, and it bears little resemblance to what passes for analysis in many a dingy corner of media commentary and politics.

Matt Andrews, Aranda