We’ve seen this before. It’s getting old. “Scientists” warn that man is “changing” the climate. (It used to be called “global warming.”) The major media push it. Scientists say! They know! Those who disagree are “climate change deniers.”

The latest warning comes from 11,258 “world scientists,” declaring a “climate emergency.” The November 5 declaration states that “clearly and unequivocally” humans could endure “untold suffering” if massive changes aren’t made to the biosphere.

Here’s the problem. As usual, most of the signers aren’t climate scientists.

Not Climate Scientists

Many aren’t even working in the natural sciences. Casey Plunkett at the American Thinker looked up the names of the scientists who signed. He found that only 240 — a miniscule 2% —could be considered real meteorologists, climatologists, or atmospheric scientists. 240 out of 11,224.

The rest worked in fields like “infectious diseases, paleontology, ecology, zoology, epidemiology and nutrition, insect ecology, anthropology, computer science, OB-GYN, and linguistics.” What does a nutritionist or a zoologist know about climate science? Probably not much. Almost certainly not enough to sign a statement like this. And a linguist? Give me a break.

The paper is titled “World Scientists’ Warning of a Climate Emergency.” It’s promoted by a new group called the Alliance of World Scientists. The group claims to be “independent of both governmental and non-governmental organizations and corporations.” But four of the five authors of the paper, plus most of the signers, work for state-owned universities.

The Scientists Claim

What do these scientists claim? The first sentence labels climate change a “catastrophic threat.” It declares that “An immense increase of scale in endeavors to conserve our biosphere is needed to avoid untold suffering due to the climate crisis.” It warns of “Potential irreversible climate tipping points” that will lead to a “catastrophic ‘hothouse Earth,’ well beyond the control of humans … potentially making large areas of Earth uninhabitable.”

What do these scientists want? Just guess. They want “bold and drastic transformations regarding economic and population policies.”

The section on energy represents their proposals. “The world must quickly implement massive energy efficiency and conservation practices and must replace fossil fuels with low-carbon renewables and other cleaner sources of energy,” it says. Leave fossil fuels in the ground. Push “carbon extraction.” Stop subsidizing fossil fuels. Make them more expensive to keep people from using them. Have wealthy countries “support” (that is, pay for) poor countries to stop using fossil fuels.

The section on the economy telegraphs their politics. “Excessive extraction of materials and overexploitation of ecosystems, driven by economic growth, must be quickly curtailed,” it says. Make the economy “carbon-free.” And “shift from GDP growth and the pursuit of affluence toward sustaining ecosystems and improving human well-being by prioritizing basic needs and reducing inequality.”

Other steps include reducing the consumption of meat. Family-planning services — code name for abortion — must be made available all over the world.

Why So Few Signers?

Plunkett notes that there are 10,000 climate scientists in the U.S., according to the Department of Labor. So why have so few of them signed onto the paper, if the problem’s so dire? 

Climate researcher Phil Duffy indirectly admits that regular climate scientists aren’t warning about doomsday. The head of the prestigious Woods Hole Research Center says he likes the term “climate emergency.” He gets “so impatient with the scientists who just are always just waffling and mumbling about uncertainty, blah, blah, blah,” he told The Washington Post.

Just a few days before the declaration came out, 500 experts sent a letter to the U.N. titled “There is no climate emergency.”

The list of signees included mainly scientists, engineers and academics. Among the most prominent is Richard Lindzen, emeritus professor of atmospheres, oceans and climate at MIT. The signers argue that “Scientists should openly address the uncertainties and exaggerations in their predictions of global warming.” Global warming is happening slower than expected. That “tells us that we are far from understanding climate change.” They assert that global warming is not increasing natural disasters. CO2 is not a harmful pollutant.

Even more scientists signed the Global Warming Petition Project, begun in 1998. It argues that man is not causing global warming. So far, 31,487 people have signed it. That includes almost 4,000 with degrees in atmosphere, earth and environment. Professions include atmospheric physicists, botanists, geologists, oceanographers, and meteorologists.

This new statement does not settle the question. It only tells us that a very small percentage of climate scientists think climate change is a “catastrophic” threat. But other petitions tell us that other climate scientists do not agree. Until the vast majority of climate scientists sign on to one of these, there is no consensus. Just a lot of hot air. 

Follow Rachel on Twitter at Rach_IC. Follow The Stream at streamdotorg. Send tips to [email protected].