Willie Soon

 Credentials

• Ph.D., aerospace engineering, University of Southern California (1991).
• M.Sc. University of Southern California (1987).
• B.Sc. University of Southern California (1985). [19]

 Background

Willie Wei-Hock Soon earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in science from the University of Southern California.  In 1991, Soon received his Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from the University of Southern California.  Currently, Dr. Soon is a physicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.  Since 1992, Dr. Soon has been an astronomer at the Mount Wilson Observatory.  Willie Soon is also a receiving editor with the journal New Astronomy.

"U.S. oil and coal companies, including ExxonMobil, the American Petroleum Institute, Koch Industries, and the world’s largest coal-burning utility, Southern Company, have contributed more than $1 million over the past decade to his research. According to Greenpeace, every grant Dr. Soon has received since 2002 has been from oil or coal interests" [13].

Stance on Climate Change

"The evidence in my paper is consistent with the hypothesis that the Sun causes climatic change in the Arctic … It invalidates the hypothesis that CO2 is a major cause of observed climate change – and raises serious questions about the wisdom of imposing cap-and-trade or other policies that would cripple energy production and economic activity, in the name of 'preventing catastrophic climate change'” [20].

Key Quotes

"I am here today to testify that the climate of the 20th century is neither unusual nor the most extreme. Around 1,000 years ago, the temperature over many parts of the world was warm. A widespread cooling then set in for several centuries, followed by a recovery to 20th century warming" [15].

Key Deeds

June 30 - July 1, 2011

Soon was a speaker at the Heartland Institute's Sixth International Conference on Climate Change [18].

July 13, 2008

Spoke at the 26th Annual Meeting of Doctors for Disaster Preparedness, a conference in Tucson Arizona co-cponsored by Access to Energy, Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine and Physicians for Civil Defense.

His speech was titled "Endangering the Polar Bear: How Environmentalists Kill" [2].

March 8-10, 2009

Speaker at the Heartland Institute's International Conference on Climate Change (2009) [2].

March 2-4, 2008

Speaker at the Heartland Institute's International Conference on Climate Change (2008) [2].

March, 2007

Willie Soon co-authored a "viewpoint" article published in the journal Ecological Complexity (Vol. 4, Issue 3, pp. 73-84) announcing that global warming was not threatening polar bear populations. Other authors included climate change skeptics Sallie Baliunas, David Legates and Tim Ball.

July 29, 2003

Testified before the U.S. Committee on Environment and Public Works on the subject of climate change [15].

January 31, 2003

Soon co-published a controversial review article titled "Proxy climatic and environmental changes of the past 1000 years" (Climate Research, 2003) with Sallie Baliunas. The article claims that the twentieth century was not the warmest century in the past 1,000 years and that the climate has not changed significantly during this time. Senator James Inhofe used this article as proof that climate change is caused by natural variability, not human activity. 

After the article was published, three of the editors of Climate Research resigned in protest, including incoming editor-in-chief Hans von Storch.  Storch declared the article was seriously flawed because "the conclusions [were] not supported by the evidence presented in the paper."  In addition to the resignations, thirteen of the scientists cited in the paper published rebuttals stating that Soon and Baliunas had misinterpreted their work. 

According to the Union of Concerned Scientists' 2007 report, "Smoke, Mirrors, and Hot Air," the National Research Council recently published research concluding that the "global mean surface temperature was higher during the last few decades of the 20th century than during any comparable period in the preceeding four centuries."

 Affiliations

• Greening Earth Society — Scientific Advisor [1].
• The Fraser Institute — Author [3].
• Science and Public Policy Institute (SPPI) — Chief Science Advisor [5].
• George C. Marshall Institute — Senior Scientist [6].
• The Heartland Institute — Writer/contributor, and "Expert" [9].
• Tech Central Station (TCS) — Author [10].
• World Climate Report (WCR) — Past contributor [12].
• Center for Science and Public Policy — "Chief Science Researcher" [8].

 Publications

According to Google Scholar [4], Willie Soon has published numerous articles on the connection between solar activity and climate change.

Key Publications

• Willie Soon and Sallie Baliunas. "Proxy climatic and environmental changes of the past 1000 years" (PDF), Climate Research, Vol. 23 (January 31, 2003) page 89–110.

• J. Scott Armstrong, Kesten C. Green, Willie Soon. "Polar Bear Population Forecasts: A Public-Policy Forecasting Audit," Marketing Papers (2008).

• M.G. Dyck,  W. Soon, R.K. Baydack, D.R. Legates, S. Baliunas, T.F. Ball, L.O. Hancock. "Polar bears of western Hudson Bay and climate change: Are warming spring air temperatures the 'ultimate' survival control factor?" (Viewpoint Article) Ecological Complexity, Volume 4, Issue 3, September 2007, Pages 73-84.

Books

• Willie Soon, Sallie L. Baliunas, Arthur B. Robinson, Zachary W. Robinson, Global Warming: A Guide to the Science, Fraser Institute, November 30, 2002.

• Willie Soon and Steven H Yaskell. The Maunder Minimum and the Variable Sun-Earth Connection. World Scientific Publishing Company, 2004.

Other Publications

There is a list of Soon's Publications at the Marshall Institute, and SourceWatch also maintains a list of Soon's presentations and publications.

• Sallie Baliunas and Willie Soon. "The Sun-Climate Connection." Sky and Telescope, volume 92, number 6 (1996), page 38.

• Arthur B. Robinson, Sallie L. Baliunas, Willie Soon, and Zachary W. Robinson."Environmental Effects of Increased Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide" (PDF), Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine, January 1998.

• Willie W.-H. Soon. "Solar Arctic-Mediated Climate Variation on Multidecadal to Centennial Timescales: Empirical Evidence, Mechanistic Explanation, and Testable Consequences," Physical Geography, Volume 30, Number 2 (March-April 2009).

• Sallie Baliunas and Willie Soon. "Are Variations in the Length of the Activity Cycle Related to Changes in Brightness in Solar-Type Stars?", Astrophysical Journal v.450, p.896.

• Willie W. -H Soon. "Variable solar irradiance as a plausible agent for multidecadal variations in the Arctic-wide surface air temperature record of the past 130 years" (PDF), Geophysical Research Letters, Vol 32 (August 2005).
    

Related DeSmogBlog Posts

• "RealClimate Reveals Willie Soon’s 'Scientific Sleight of Hand'," 8 July, 2011.

• "Denial For Hire: Willie Soon’s Career Fueled by Big Oil, Coal and Koch Money," 28 June 2011.

• "Greenpeace Releases 20-Year History of Climate Denial Industry," 26 March 2010.

• "Exxon attacked by polar bears!" 18 October 07.

 Resources

1.  "Scientific Advisors," The Greening Earth Society. Archived February 20, 1999.
2. "Willie Soon," SourceWatch.
3. "Author Details: Willie Soon," The Fraser Institute. Archived April 11, 2009. 
4. Google Scholar search of articles for keyword "Climate," written by "Willie Soon," completed November 17, 2011.
5. "Personnel," The Science and Public Policy Institute. Accessed November 17, 2011. http://scienceandpublicpolicy.org/personnel.html.
6. "About the Authors," P. 29 of "Lessons & Limits of Climate History: Was the 20th Century Climate Unusual?" (PDF), The George C. Marshall Institute, 2003.
7. "ExxonSecrets Factsheet: Willie Soon."
8. "CASE STUDY: Dr. Willie Soon, a Career Fueled by Big Oil and Coal," Greenpeace.
9. "Heartland Experts: Willie Soon," Accessed November 17, 2011. http://heartland.org/willie-soon.
10. "TCS Daily: Authors: Willie Soon," TCS Daily. Archived April 9, 2009.
11. "Articles by Willie Soon," TCS Daily.
12. "Editors and Contributors," World Climate Report. Archived July 3, 2003.
13. David Suzuki. "Investigation hits at climate change denier's 'science'," Canoe.ca, July 13, 2007.
14. Willie Soon and Paul Driessen. "The myth of killer mercury," The Wall Street Journal (opinion), May 25, 2011.
15. "Climate History and the Science Underlying Fate, Transport, and Health Effects of Mercury Emissions," Summary (PDF) of Hearing Before the Committee on Environment and Public Works, July 29, 2003. Page 6.
16. John Vidal. "Climate sceptic Willie Soon received $1m from oil companies, papers show," The Guardian, June 28, 2011.
17. "How Soon is now?" RealClimate.org, July 7, 2011.
18. "Willie Soon" ICCC6 website, courtesy of the Heartland Institute.
19. "Research Staff Listing: Willie Soon," Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Accessed November 17, 2011. http://www.si.edu/ofg/Staffhp/soonw.htm.
20. "It’s the Sun, stupid!", Iceagenow.com. March 5, 2009. 
21. Greenpeace Investigations on Willie Soon.