David Evans

 Credentials

• Ph.D. Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California.
• M.S. Electrical Engineering, Stanford University.
• M.S. Statistics, Stanford University.
• M.A. Applied Mathematics, University Of Sydney.
• B.E. Electrical Engineering, University Of Sydney, Sydney Australia, University Medal (1983).
• B.Sc. Applied Mathematics and Physics, University Of Sydney. [2]

According to his bio, Evans claims to be a "Rocket Scientist," and one article describes him as a "Top Rocket Scientist." While Evans's background does show that he has a Ph.D. in electrical engineering, there is no evidence that he was ever employed as a rocket scientist.

When DeSmogBlog contacted Evans regarding his claim of being a rocket scientist, Evans replied that "In US academic and industry parlance, 'rocket scientist' means anyone who has completed a PhD in one of the hard sciences at one of the top US institutions." [1]

Evans also claims to be "building a word processor for Windows." DeSmogBlog contacted Microsoft and they have confirmed that he does not work for them.

 Background

Evans is an editor for the Australian edition of GoldNerds, a company that sells information about gold companies to investors. He also does private mathematics research. [2]

David Evans gained media attention after an article he wrote titled, "No smoking hot spot," which was published in The Australian in June, 2008. The article claims that climate change is not caused by C02 emissions because there is no evidence of "a hot spot about 10km up in the atmosphere over the tropics." Evan's claim has been thoroughly debunked by Tim Lambert, a computer scientist at the University of New South Wales.

From 1999 to 2006, Evans worked for the Australian Greenhouse Office designing a carbon accounting system that is used by the Australian Government to calculate its land-use carbon accounts for the Kyoto Protocol. While Evans says that "[he] know[s] a heck of a lot about modeling and computers," he states clearly that he is "not a climate modeler."

Stance on Climate Change

"The evidence supporting the idea that CO2 emissions were the main cause of global warming reversed itself from 1995 to 2006, causing Evans to move from being a warmist to a skeptic." [3]

Key Quotes

"If there is no hot spot then an increased greenhouse effect is not the cause of global warming. So we know for sure that carbon emissions are not a significant cause of the global warming…" [4]

"I am the rocket scientist who wrote the carbon accounting model (FullCAM) that measures Australia's compliance with the Kyoto Protocol, in the land use change and forestry sector." [5]

Key Deeds

March 8-10, 2009

Evans made a presentation titled "Carbon Dioxide Not Responsible for 20th Century Warming" at the Heartland Institute's 2009 International Conference on Climate Change. [8]

 Affiliations

• Australian Climate Science Coalition (ACSC) — Scientific Advisor. [6]

• Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT) — "Team Member" at UN climate conference in Bali. [7]

• The Lavoisier Group — Contributor.

• The Ludwig von Mises Institute — Contributor.

• The Australian Greenhouse Office — Consultant. [5]

 Publications

According to his resume, Evans has not published any peer-reviewed research papers on the subject of climate change. Evans published one paper in 1987, but it was unrelated to climate change.

 Resources

1. "Who is 'Rocket Scientist' David Evans?" DeSmogBlog, July 22, 2008.

2. "David Evans: Mathematician and Engineer" (PDF), Sciencespeak.com. Accessed December 8, 2011.

3. "Summary Speech on Global Warming, 2011: Dr David Evans" (PDF), sciencespeak.com, March 23, 2011.

4. "Top Rocket Scientist: No Evidence CO2 Causes Global Warming," Prison Planet, July 22, 2008.

5. David Evans, "No smoking hot spot", The Australian, July 18, 2008.

6. "About Us," Australian Climate Science Coalition. Accessed December 8, 2011.

7. "Special report from UN climate conference in Bali," Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow, December 27, 2007.

8. "Heartland Institute/International Conference on Climate Change (2009)," SourceWatch.

9. ExxonSecrets Factsheet: David Evans.