Dr. Stephen Schneider, who received his Ph.D. in Plasma Physics
from Columbia University, served as a climate researcher for the
National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado
for two decades. Schneider is one of the most ardent advocates
of the Global Warming Theory, the proposition that a build-up
of CO2, methane and refrigerant gases in the atmosphere could
lead to a cataclysmic rise in earth's temperature. He joined the
faculty of Stanford University in 1991.
Schneider is regularly sought-out by journalists to comment on
climate matters despite the fact that his analyses are unreliable.
In the early 1970s, for example, Schneider rejected the Global
Warming Theory, writing, "Temperatures do not increase in
proportion to an atmospheric increase in CO2." He even went
as far as to predict that a "Little Ice Age" would occur
-- It didn't. The Global Warming Theory, which Schneider currently
endorses, now also appears to be incorrect. The most recent data
suggests that the planet is in fact cooling, not warming.
Schneider's blunders are not surprising. He once commented, "Looking
at every bump and wiggle of the record is a waste of time... So,
I don't set very much store by looking at the direct evidence."
Selected Schneider Quotes
"A cooling trend has set in, perhaps one akin to the Little
Ice Age." - Twenty-year-old Schneider quote cited in the
Washington Times, June 12, 1992
"Temperatures do not increase in proportion to an atmospheric
increase in CO2... Even an eight-fold increase... might warm earth's
surface less than two degrees Centigrade, and this is highly unlikely
in the next several thousand years." - from paper Schneider
co-authored in 1971 cited in Environmental Overkill by Dixy Lee
Ray (1993)
"[Global warming linked to emissions of CO2, methane and
other gases] is a scientific phenomenon beyond doubt. It's only
a question of how much warming there will be." - Quoted by
David L. Chandler of the Boston Globe, January 23, 1989
""It is journalistically irresponsible to present both
sides [of the global warming theory] as though it were a question
of balance. " - Quoted in the Boston Globe, May 31, 1992
"Looking at every bump and wiggle... is a waste of time..
I don't set very much store by looking at the direct evidence."
-Quoted in the Washington Times, June 12, 1992
"[We] have to offer up scary scenarios, make simplified dramatic
statements and make little mention of any doubts we may have.
Each of us has to decide what the right balance is between being
effective and being honest." -Quoted by Dixy Lee Ray in Trashing
the Planet (1990)
Version Date: August 25, 1993
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