The combative, thin-skinned and dishonest Dr. Tim Ball has launched a very personal attack on a Prince George, B.C. academic who has had the temerity to question Ball's grasp of climate science.

Here's a breathless email sent to me today by an anonymous source.

It's penned by NRSP's Tom "I can't disclose my funding sources " Harris in reaction to a CBC rebroadcasting of the Fifth Estate's "The Denial Machine" documentary last night:

From: Tom Harris [mailto:tom.harris@nrsp.com]
Sent: Wednesday, October 24, 2007 4:22 PM
To: Tom Harris
Subject: Global Warming Propaganda continues on CBC TV tonight - at least the sixth rebroadcast of "The Denial Machine"

In very predictable form, Noel Sheppard at the oil-industry-friendly Newsbuster's, takes to task NASA scientist Jim Hansen's rebuttal to the misinformation and media hype around the minor adjustments to NASA's US temperature records.

Sheppard writes: "So, folks like McIntyre, Fred Singer, Richard Lindzen, Tim Ball, Benny Peiser, Robert Carter, Anthony Watts, and all those around the world including myself who are exposing the flaws in the anthropogenic global warming myth are jesters deceiving the public."

Well, yes, in fact that would be true if you consider that within the context of science, there are those who are actually doing research and publishing their findings in the peer-reviewed literature.

There is nothing particularly unusual about current weather and climate change – it is generally well within long-term normal patterns. — Tim Ball, CFP, July 20, 2007

While the "cosmic ray" theory of climate change will probably still continue to be put forward by the persistent little army of global warming deniers, there's a new study to be published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society that appears to put the myth to rest once and for all.

Researchers have found that the Sun's output has actually fallen over the past 20 years, while temperatures continue to rise.

Any global warming denier who continues to defend this myth is more than welcome to send their scientific findings to the Proceedings of the Royal Society or any other peer-reviewed scientific journal for review and possible publication.