Judith Curry

Credentials

PhD, Geophysical Sciences, University of Chicago (1982).
B.S., Geography, Northern Illinois University (1974).

Source: [1]

Background

Judith A. Curry is the former chairman (2002 - 2014) and current professor at the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Judith Curry writes and speaks prolifically on the climate change issue, and runs the blog Climate Etc. [1]

Judith Curry has been invited by Republicans to testify at climate change hearings regarding alleged uncertainties regarding man-made climate change. She has also participated in a variety of blogs in the skeptical science community including Climate Audit, the Air Vent , and others. [2], [3]

Curry has been criticized by climate scientists for her climate outreach in the blogosphere based on assertions not necessarily supported by the evidence: particularly that the “climate always changes.” [4]

Scientist Mark Serreze, director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado at Boulder, points out that “Climate doesn't change all by itself for no good reason. Something has to force it.” [4]

Fossil Fuel Funding

When she was questioned about potential conflicts of interest, this was her response to the Scientific American: [5]

“I do receive some funding from the fossil fuel industry. My company…does [short-term] hurricane forecasting…for an oil company, since 2007. During this period I have been both a strong advocate for the IPCC, and more recently a critic of the IPCC, there is no correlation of this funding with my public statements.”

Stance on Climate Change

Curry writes on her blog Climate Etc. that her views on climate change are best summarized by her Congressional Testimony on the President's Climate Action Plan: [6], [7]

“Recent data and research supports the importance of natural climate variability and calls into question the conclusion that humans are the dominant cause of recent climate change:

The hiatus in global warming since 1998

Reduced estimates of the sensitivity of climate to carbon dioxide

Climate models predict much more warming than has been observed in the early 21st century”

Key Quotes

December 8, 2015

At a hearing titled “Data or Dogma? Promoting Open Inquiry in the Debate over the Magnitude of Human Impact on Earth’s Climate,” Juth Curry acknowledged that global temperatures are rising, but says the bigger question is whether humans to blame. [8]

She said temperatures have been on the rise for more than 200 years. “And that's not human,” she said, suggesting that something other than industrial greenhouse gases is causing them to climb. [8]

E&E News notes that Curry's viewpoint “is not accepted by most climate scientists. They point to corresponding rises in greenhouse gases and temperatures as evidence that human activities are a key driver of warming.” [8]

November, 2015

“The hottest topic in climate research is the observation that global average surface temperature, as well as satellite observations of temperatures in the atmosphere, has shown little or no warming during the 21st century.” [9]

July, 2015

With reference to record-breaking heat waves in Western Europe, and whether they should be blamed on man-made global warming (emphasis added):

“Does it make more sense to provide air conditioning or to limit CO2 emissions. I vote for more air conditioning in these susceptible regions.” [10]

September 2014

Below are excertps from Judith Curry's speech at the National Press Club: [11]

“The main problem is we are putting the policy cart before the scientific horse.”

[…]

“Relying on global international treaty to solve the problem – which I do not think would really solve the problem even if it was implemented – is politically unviable and economically unviable.”

[…]

“Even on the timescale of decade or two, we could end up be very surprised on how the climate plays out and it might not be getting warmer like the UN IPCC says. We don’t know what's going to happen. All other things being equal – yes – more carbon dioxide means warmer, but all other things are never equal. We just don’t know. I think we are fooling ourselves to think that CO2 control knob really influences climate on these decadal or even century time scales.” [11]

April 19, 2014

Curry, in her blog Climate Etc, publishes a post titled, “In defense of free speech.” Within it, she writes: [12]

“I am broadly concerned about the slow death of free speech, but particularly in universities and also with regards to the climate change debate.” [12]

April 25, 2013

“If all other things remain equal, it is clear that adding more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere will warm the planet. However the real difficulty is that nothing remains equal, and reliable prediction of the impact of carbon dioxide on the climate requires that we understand natural climate variability properly. Until we understand natural climate variability better, we cannot reliably infer sensitivity to greenhouse gas forcing or understand its role in influencing extreme weather events. […] While 20th century climate change is most often explained in terms of external forcing, with natural internal variability providing high frequency ‘noise,’ the role of large multidecadal oscillations is receiving increasing attention.” [13]

October 28, 2012

“The manufactured consensus of the IPCC has had the unintended consequences of distorting the science, elevating the voices of scientists that dispute the consensus, and motivating actions by the consensus scientists and their supporters that have diminished the public’s trust in the IPCC.” [14]

Key Deeds

July 4, 2016

Judith Curry criticized a letter to Congress from 31 science associations advocating policies to combat climate change, describing it as a “climate power play,” reports The Washington Times. [15]

On June 28, 2016, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) issued the letter and a press release introducing the letter, describing it as a partnership of 31 leading nonpartisan scientific societies “reaffirming the reality of human-caused climate change, noting that greenhouse gas emissions 'must be substantially reduced' to minimize negative impacts on the global economy, natural resources, and human health.” [16]

The letter (PDF) addresses Members of Congress, writing to remind “of the consensus scientific view of climate change.” [17]

Curry describes the June 28 letter as a “blatant misuse of scientific authority to advocate for specific socioeconomic policies” and said professional societies includin gthe American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) have “damaged public trust in science.” [15]

“They claim the science is settled; in that case, they are no longer needed at the table,” Curry said on her blog Climate Etc. “If they had written a letter instead that emphasized the complexities and uncertainties of both the problem and the solutions, they might have made a case for their participation in the deliberations.

“Instead, by their dogmatic statements about climate change and their policy advocacy, they have become just another group of lobbyists, having ceded the privilege traditionally afforded to dispassionate scientific reasoning to political activists in the scientific professional societies.” [18]

According to Curry, the link between extreme weather” events like wildfires and climate change “hinges on detecting unusual events for at least the past century and then actually attributing them to human-caused warming.” [18]

May 2, 2016

Judth Curry was listed among “Key Scientists” appearing in Marc Morano's movie, Climate Hustle. The full list included the following: [19]

Marc Morano's Climate Hustle was released in U.S. theatres on May 2, 2016. Bill Nye described it as “not in our national interest and the world’s interest.” [20]

The film was produced by the Committee for Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT) and CDRCommunications. As noted at Desmog's project, ClimateHustler.org, CFACT has received funding from ExxonMobil, Chevron, as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars from foundations associated with Richard Mellon Scaife. CFACT has also received at least $7.8 million in “dark money” through DonorsTrust and Donors Capital Fund. [21], [22]

CDR Communications was behind the 2010 video by the Cornwall Alliance titled Resisting the Green Dragon, which claimed environmentalism was a “false religion” and a “global government” power grab. Chris Rogers of CDR Communictions is also chairman of The James Partnership, the umbrella arm that includes the Cornwall Alliance as one of its projects and pays the salary of Calvin Beisner, Cornwall’s founder and spokesperson. [23]

Climate Hustle initially premiered on December 7, 2015 in Paris, France during the COP21 United Nations summit on climate change. [24], [25]

“We are putting together what I think is the most comprehensive, unique, entertaining and humorous climate documentary that has ever been done or attempted,” Morano had said before the film was released. [26]

“The reason that this is a unique film,” Morano has said, “is that we are going for a pop culture-friendly… sarcastic approach and we actually give both sides in this movie.” [26]

In an interview with Ezra Levant, Morano said:

“I am not interviewing a lot of the main climate sceptical scientists because I feel like they have been interviewed by many other people and their stories have been told. I am trying to find another layer of scientist whose stories have not been out there yet. You will see a lot of new names in this.” [26]

See a preview of the film below:

At the Paris premier of the film, reporters from Desmog and the Irish Times were denied entrance after having their RSVPs accepted days earlier. [27]

December 8, 2015

Set to coincide with the Paris COP21 (Conference of the Parties), Judith Curry testified at a hearing of the Subcommittee on Space, Science, and Competitiveness convened by U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) titled “Data or Dogma? Promoting Open Inquiry in the Debate over the Magnitude of Human Impact on Earth’s Climate.” [28]

According to the event description, the hearing focused on “the ongoing debate over climate science, the impact of federal funding on the objectivity of climate research, and the ways in which political pressure can suppress opposing viewpoints in the field of climate science.”

Ars Technica summarized Curry's testimony, saying she claimed that climate science has fallen victim to “groupthink” after reading the “Climategate” emails between scientists in 2009. (Note that independent investigations have long exonerated those involved). [29]

“The rest of Curry’s testimony entailed claims that the science of anthropogenic climate change is unsettled, which she has spoken and written about at length over the years,” the magazine wrote. Curry's full testimony is available at the U.S. Senate Committee's website (PDF). [30], [31]

Other listed witnesses include:

Dr. John Christy
Dr. William Happer
Mr. Mark Steyn
Dr. David Titley (Rear Admiral, USN (ret.)

March, 2015

Judith Curry is one of several climate change skeptics cc'd on an email from S. Fred Singer in hopes of countering the documentary film “Merchants of Doubt,” which exposes the network of climate change skeptics and deniers trying to delay legislative action on climate change. [32]

The October, 2014 email was leaked to journalists before the documentary was released. “Can I sue for damages?” Singer asked in the email. “Can we get an injunction against the documentary?” [32]

InsideClimate News reports in their article “Leaked Email Reveals Who's Who List of Climate Denialists,” how “Many of those copied on the email thread, such as Singer and communications specialist Steven Milloy, have financial ties to the tobacco, chemical, and oil and gas industries and have worked to defend them since the 1990s.” [32]

InsideClimate News also documented all those who were cc'd on the email, including the following skeptics and groups: [32]

Ron Arnold
Timothy Ball
Joseph “Joe” Bast
Joe Bastardi
Michael Bastasch
William Briggs
Russell Cook
Judith Curry
Joe D'Aleo
James Delingpole
David Paul Driessen
James Enstrom
Steve Goddard
Pierre Gosselin
Greenie Watch
William Happer
Jim Lakely
Patrick J. Michaels
Steven J. Milloy
Christopher Monckton
Marc Morano
Joanne Nova
Roger Pielke Sr. (Or Roger Pielke Jr. - Unclear in Email)
Thomas P. Sheahen
S. Fred Singer
Wei-Hock (Willie) Soon
Roy Spencer
James Taylor
Anthony Watts

DeSmogBlog covered the emails here: “Merchants of Doubt Film Debuts, Textbook Denial Attack Campaign Led By Fred Singer Ensues” and DeSmogBlog also archived a full copy of the Singer email thread (PDF).

September 25, 2014

Judith Curry attends the “At the Crossroads; Energy & Climate Policy Summit” in Houston, Texas, hosted by the Texas Public Policy Foundation and The Heritage Foundation. Spencer presents in “Panel I: The State of the Science,” with Roy Spencer and Harold Doiron. [33]

March 9, 2014

Judith Curry publishes a post on her blog, Climate Etc, titled, “Positioning skeptics.” In the post, she declares her happiness in her decision to write the Foreword for Lewis and Krok's GWPF report, after initially “thinking twice about writing a Foreword for a GWPF (Global Warming Policy Foundation) publication,” noting that she “tries to stay away from organizations with political perspectives on global warming.” [34], [35]

January 16, 2014

Judith Curry testified before The Committee on Environment and Public Works of the U.S. Senate in a hearing titled, “Review of the President's Climate Action Plan.” [36]

According to her testimony, the “evidence reported by the IPCC AR5 weakens the case for human factors dominating climate change in the 20th and early 21st centuries.” Additionally, Curry states that she is “increasingly concerned that both the climate change problem and its solution have been vastly oversimplified.” [36]

April 25, 2013

Judith Curry testified before the Senate Subcommittee on Environment in a hearing titled “Policy Relevant Climate Issues in Context.” According to her testimony, there is still uncertainty whether carbon dioxide impacts the climate until “we better understand natural climate variability.” [13]

Prominent climate change skeptic Bjorn Lomborg also testified at the hearing. [13]

October, 2012

Judith Curry is the co-author of a paper titled “Climate change: no consensus on consensus” which provides an overview of critiques of the IPCC consensus process. [14]

According to the paper's introduction, “It is difficult to avoid concluding that the IPCC consensus is manufactured and that the existence of this consensus does not lend intellectual substance to their conclusions.” [14]

October 10, 2007

Curry publishes an opinion piece in The Washington Post titled, “Cooler Heads and Climate Change,” in response to Bjorn Lomborg's opinion piece, “Chill out,” written just three days prior. In it, she states that Lomborg “rightly notes” that climate change skepticism is “no longer focused on whether it the earth is getting warmer (it is) or whether humans are contributing to it (we are). The current debate is about whether warming matters, and whether we can afford to do anything about it.” [37]

Curry goes on to say that Lomborg has placed himself directly in the skeptics camp, but notes that “he has some of his facts wrong.” Among the incorrect facts is Lomborg's assertion that the Kangerlussuaq Glacier in Greenland is “inconveniently growing.” Curry points out that the glacier is not growing, but rather, “simply spilling into the sea,” citing NASA research. [37]

In her closing paragraph, Curry states, “There is no easy solution to this problem [global warming]… But I have yet to see an option that is worse than ignoring the risk of global warming and doing nothing.” [37]

Affiliations

Climate Forecast Applications Network (CFAN) — President and Co-Founder. [38]

Publications

Judith Curry and Peter J. Webster, “Thermodynamics of Atmospheres and Oceans,” International Geophysics Series: Volume 65, February 13, 1999. [39]
Judith Curry, “FIRE Arctic Clouds Experiment,” Journal of Geophysical Research Volume 106, Part 14, 2001. [40]