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Friends of Science

Friends of Science Society is a non-profit organization founded in 2002 and based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, comprising active and retired earth and atmospheric scientists, engineers, economists, and energy experts dedicated to educating the public and policymakers on climate science, policy, and economics through objective analysis of empirical data.^[1] The group challenges the prevailing narrative of catastrophic human-induced global warming, arguing that natural factors such as solar cycles, ocean oscillations, and historical climate variability play dominant roles in observed temperature changes, rather than atmospheric CO2 levels driven by fossil fuel emissions.^[1]^[2] Initially formed in response to the Kyoto Protocol, Friends of Science has produced extensive resources including peer-reviewed article compilations, essays, videos, charts, and publications like the 2024 Energy & Climate at a Glance: Canadian Edition, which critiques "Net Zero" targets as economically damaging and scientifically unfounded, advocating instead for adaptation to natural climate variability over restrictive low-carbon mandates.^[2]^[3] The organization maintains a bimonthly "Cli-Sci" review of scientific literature, a news extract service, and networks with international skeptic groups like CLINTEL, while highlighting datasets such as University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) satellite tropospheric temperature records showing modest warming trends of approximately 0.16°C per decade.^[1]^[2] A defining characteristic of Friends of Science is its emphasis on first-principles scrutiny of climate models and policy implications, often critiquing what it views as politicized consensus in institutions prone to groupthink, while promoting CO2's beneficial role in greening the planet via enhanced plant growth.^[2] Notable figures include scientific adviser Dr. Madhav Khandekar, a veteran meteorologist and IPCC reviewer with over 160 peer-reviewed publications.^[1] Though praised by supporters for compiling thousands of empirical studies countering alarmism, the group has faced dismissal from mainstream academic and media outlets as a fringe voice, reflecting broader tensions over source credibility in climate discourse where institutional biases may favor catastrophic projections despite contradictory satellite and proxy data.^[2]^[4]

Founding and Organizational History

Inception and Initial Goals (2002)

Friends of Science was established in early 2002 in Calgary, Alberta, by a group of earth scientists, geologists, engineers, and other professionals skeptical of prevailing climate alarmism.^[1]^[5] The organization's inaugural gathering took place in the curling lounge of Calgary's Glencoe Club, involving members connected to local petroleum geologists and academic circles.^[6] Initially, it drew from professionals associated with the University of Calgary's geoscience community, including faculty like political scientist Barry Cooper, who established a related Science Education Fund to facilitate donations.^[7] The group's formation responded directly to Canada's impending ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, which aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.^[1] Primary objectives centered on contesting what members viewed as flawed scientific premises underpinning the protocol, particularly its emphasis on anthropogenic carbon dioxide as the dominant climate driver, while highlighting potential severe economic repercussions for energy-dependent regions like Alberta.^[7]^[8] From inception, Friends of Science prioritized empirical scrutiny of climate records over reliance on predictive models, advocating analysis rooted in observable natural forcings such as solar variability and oceanic cycles as key influencers of historical temperature shifts.^[1] This approach sought to counter politicized narratives by urging policymakers and the public to consider long-term geological and astronomical data patterns, with the society's website launching in October 2002 to disseminate these perspectives.^[7]

Key Developments and Milestones (2003–2010)

In the years following its inception, Friends of Science grew its outreach by enhancing its website with curated collections of peer-reviewed literature on natural climate variability, including solar influences and historical temperature reconstructions, to counter prevailing narratives on anthropogenic drivers.^[2] This expansion supported early educational campaigns aimed at informing policymakers and the public about empirical data suggesting non-human factors in observed warming trends.^[9] A pivotal event occurred in 2005 when the University of Calgary initiated an audit revealing that funds from the Alberta government's Science Education Fund, intended for educational purposes, had been used to support Friends of Science activities promoting skeptical views on the Kyoto Protocol, deemed partisan by reviewers.^[10] The review, prompted by concerns over the misuse of approximately $200,000 in public grants channeled through university-affiliated accounts, led to the university's formal dissociation from the group to avoid perceptions of endorsement. This separation marked Friends of Science's transition to fully independent operations, free from institutional ties but reliant on private donations thereafter. Throughout the latter half of the decade, Friends of Science engaged in public discourse by critiquing key IPCC assessments, notably the 2007 Fourth Assessment Report, which emphasized anthropogenic CO2 as the dominant warming factor.^[11] The group highlighted inconsistencies between ground-based surface temperature datasets and satellite-derived measurements from sources like the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), which showed lower tropospheric trends diverging from IPCC projections and underscoring potential overreliance on adjusted surface records.^[12] These responses, disseminated via newsletters, op-eds, and events, aimed to foster debate on model uncertainties and paleoclimate evidence for cyclical variations independent of human emissions.^[2] By 2010, such efforts had solidified the organization's role in challenging consensus-driven policies through data-focused rebuttals.

Recent Evolution and Activities (2011–Present)

Since the early 2010s, Friends of Science has adapted its focus amid evolving international climate agreements, notably critiquing the 2015 Paris Agreement's emissions targets as unattainable and economically detrimental based on empirical energy data and historical compliance failures.^[13] The organization shifted toward broader policy analyses, emphasizing the causal economic burdens of net-zero transitions, such as increased energy costs and reduced industrial competitiveness without measurable climate benefits.^[14] This evolution reflects a response to post-2011 policy escalations, including Canada's commitments, by highlighting inefficiencies in renewable energy scalability and intermittency, supported by grid reliability data from regions pursuing aggressive decarbonization.^[15] In the 2020s, Friends of Science intensified production of reports and press releases addressing Canadian-specific policies, arguing that net-zero mandates exacerbate affordability crises. A September 2025 report, "Canadian Climate Policy – What Comes Next?", detailed how unrealistic emissions goals hinder economic growth, citing slowed GDP projections and rising household energy expenditures.^[16] Earlier, a 2021 analysis labeled NetZero2050 policies as imposing undue regulatory burdens without due diligence.^[17] The group has warned of persistent carbon pricing risks despite temporary rebates, as in a September 2025 video noting the tax's suspension does not eliminate underlying fiscal pressures.^[18] Public engagement events, such as the September 2025 presentation on "Food Prices, Farming and Net Zero Ideology," debunked methane emission alarms from agriculture, using lifecycle analyses to argue livestock contributions are negligible compared to natural sources.^[19] Friends of Science has maintained emphasis on empirical data to challenge alarmist narratives, updating analyses with post-2020 trends from satellite observations. University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) satellite records through 2025 show global tropospheric warming at approximately 0.16°C per decade, far below model projections which overestimate by over 100%.^[2] Sea-level rise measurements, derived from satellite altimetry since the 1990s, indicate steady rates around 3-4 mm/year without acceleration attributable to recent anthropogenic forcings, countering predictions of rapid inundation.^[20] A July 2025 press release highlighted waning public prioritization of climate action in North American polls, attributing this to observable discrepancies between forecasted crises and actual trends like moderated temperatures post-2023 El Niño.^[21] In August 2025, an open letter to regulators critiqued "Investors for Paris Compliance" initiatives, urging scrutiny of net-zero investment mandates for inflating climate risks beyond verifiable evidence.^[22]

Leadership and Structure

Prominent Members and Advisors

Friends of Science was co-founded in 2002 by Albert Jacobs, a geologist and retired oil exploration manager with expertise in resource management and earth sciences.^[23] Jacobs contributed to the organization's early efforts by organizing funding and outreach, emphasizing empirical geological data over modeled projections in climate discussions.^[5] Tim Ball, a retired professor of climatology from the University of Winnipeg, served as a key scientific advisor, drawing on his background in historical climatology and resource geography to advocate for solar and natural variability as primary climate drivers.^[24] Ball's involvement included public presentations and critiques of consensus climate narratives, grounded in long-term observational records rather than short-term trends.^[25] The organization's advisory contributions have included Madhav Khandekar, a former Environment Canada research scientist and IPCC reviewer with over 160 peer-reviewed publications in atmospheric science and monsoon dynamics, who provides expertise on regional climate patterns and empirical forecasting.^[1] Similarly, Tim Patterson, a Carleton University geologist specializing in paleoclimatology and sedimentology, has advised on geological evidence for cyclic climate changes, highlighting proxy data from ocean and ice cores. Chris de Freitas, a retired University of Auckland professor and former editor of Climate Research, offered insights into peer-review processes and urban heat island effects based on his geophysical modeling experience. Current leadership features Ron Davison, P.Eng., as president since at least 2022, an engineer focused on energy systems and practical applications of geoscientific data in policy analysis.^[26] Robert Lyman, a retired Canadian federal economist with 27 years in energy and environmental policy, has authored FoS reports on economic impacts of climate policies, emphasizing causal links between regulations and resource sector outcomes over ideological assumptions.^[27] These individuals collectively steer FoS toward data-centric evaluations in geosciences, prioritizing verifiable measurements from earth and atmospheric records.

Ties to Academic and Professional Institutions

Friends of Science maintained initial loose affiliations with the University of Calgary through individual members who were faculty or alumni, but these connections were formally severed following an internal university review around 2005, emphasizing the organization's commitment to operational independence from academic institutions potentially subject to prevailing consensus pressures.^[7]^[28] The group comprises networks of retired and active Canadian geoscientists, atmospheric scientists, engineers, and related professionals, many registered with bodies such as the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA), who share skepticism toward IPCC-driven alarmism based on empirical geological and solar records.^[29]^[25] These informal professional ties facilitate access to historical data archives from societies like the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists, underscoring a focus on long-term natural variability over short-term anthropogenic attributions. Friends of Science receives no ongoing formal endorsements from academic institutions, distinguishing it from consensus-aligned research bodies often influenced by grant dependencies.^[1] Instead, it draws substantiation from peer-reviewed publications across global sources, including critiques of climate models by authors unaffiliated with major funding streams, to counter institutional biases in mainstream academia.^[30]

Core Scientific Positions

Arguments for Natural Drivers of Climate Change

Friends of Science maintains that solar irradiance variations, modulated by sunspot cycles of approximately 11 years and longer-term modulations, constitute a primary natural driver of climate change through direct radiative forcing. The organization cites reconstructions of total solar irradiance showing strong correlations with Northern Hemisphere temperatures since 1600, including alignments between low solar activity during the Maunder Minimum (1645–1715) and the onset of the Little Ice Age's coldest phases.^[31] Empirical analyses promoted by FoS indicate that solar activity accounts for 50% to 80% of historical climate variability, with 20th-century solar output rising until peaking around 1992 before declining, a pattern delayed in its thermal impact by oceanic heat storage.^[32]^[33] Paleoclimate proxy data, such as Antarctic ice cores, form a cornerstone of FoS's case for natural causation, revealing that atmospheric CO2 concentrations typically lag temperature rises by 600 to 800 years during glacial-interglacial transitions. This temporal sequence implies CO2 amplification as a secondary feedback to initial warming triggered by solar or Milankovitch orbital forcings, rather than an initiating cause, consistent with outgassing from warming oceans. FoS draws on such records to argue that historical warm periods, like the Medieval Warm Period, preceded modern CO2 increases and occurred without industrial emissions. The modest 20th-century warming trend, averaging about 0.6°C from 1880 to 1940 followed by a mid-century pause, aligns in FoS's view with natural rebound from the Little Ice Age's termination around 1850, driven by recovering solar activity and cyclic oceanic influences rather than human CO2 emissions.^[11] Satellite-derived tropospheric temperatures since 1979 show a linear trend of 0.16°C per decade, punctuated by spikes from El Niño events (e.g., 1998, 2016), which FoS attributes to internal variability in Pacific and Atlantic oscillations like the Pacific Decadal Oscillation.^[2] These natural cycles, independent of anthropogenic greenhouse gases, explain decadal fluctuations without requiring overreliance on CO2 as the dominant control.^[33]

Critiques of Anthropogenic Global Warming Consensus

Friends of Science contends that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) consensus on anthropogenic global warming reflects institutional groupthink rather than robust, falsifiable science, as the process prioritizes political agendas over empirical testing of null hypotheses like natural variability.^[34] The organization highlights how IPCC reports exhibit confirmation bias through selective contributor selection, reliance on non-peer-reviewed sources, and exclusion of dissenting views, fostering an illusion of unanimity unsupported by surveys revealing substantial disagreement among climate scientists on model reliability and data sufficiency.^[34] Critiques of the oft-cited 97% consensus, such as those from Cook et al. (2013), point to methodological flaws including subjective paper categorization where only 0.5% explicitly endorsed human causation exceeding 50%, with many authors protesting misrepresentations, underscoring statistical manipulations that inflate agreement.^[35] A key empirical concern raised by Friends of Science involves suppressed or inadequately adjusted dissenting data, particularly the urban heat island (UHI) effect, which artificially inflates surface temperature records used heavily by the IPCC. Urban development around weather stations, including airports, introduces localized warming of 0.5–1.0°C annually compared to rural sites, as evidenced by traverses like Vancouver's 1973 survey showing 7°C cooler countryside versus 15°C in the central business district.^[36] While agencies like NASA's GISS apply adjustments, Friends of Science argues these are insufficient and opaque, leading the IPCC to overstate warming trends by favoring contaminated surface data over unbiased satellite measurements, which reveal lower tropospheric warming rates of just 0.16°C per decade from 1979–2025—174% below model projections.^[2] Friends of Science further critiques the consensus by documenting failed IPCC-aligned predictions, such as imminent Arctic summer ice-free conditions; media and scientific claims anticipated ice-free summers by 2013, yet persistent ice coverage contradicts these, with September extents showing near-zero trends over 17 years despite rising CO2.^[37] On sea-level rise, the organization emphasizes satellite altimetry data since 1993, which indicates steady rates around 3 mm/year without the acceleration forecasted in some models, attributing observed changes more to natural variability than anthropogenic dominance and questioning alarmist projections of rapid escalation.^[2] From first-principles spectroscopy, Friends of Science asserts that CO2's warming effect is logarithmic, diminishing incrementally such that additional emissions beyond pre-industrial levels contribute only marginal forcing—approximately 1–1.2°C per doubling under equilibrium climate sensitivity estimates aligned with observations, far too small to override natural forcings like solar variability, El Niño oscillations, and volcanic activity.^[38] This causal chain prioritizes empirical radiative physics over model extrapolations, where human CO2's role lags behind temperature rises in paleoclimate records, challenging the IPCC's postulate of unprecedented anthropogenic control.^[34]

Analysis of Empirical Data and Climate Models

Friends of Science contends that empirical satellite records of tropospheric temperatures reveal significant discrepancies with projections from Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP) ensembles, particularly in the tropical mid-troposphere where models have overestimated warming rates by factors of up to four since 1979.^[39] ^[40] These observations, derived from microwave sounding unit (MSU) datasets such as University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) and Remote Sensing Systems (RSS), indicate slower warming trends than modeled, attributing the divergence to overstated climate sensitivity in simulations that inadequately account for natural variability and negative feedbacks.^[41] FoS emphasizes that such model biases persist across CMIP5 and CMIP6 generations, with recent analyses confirming pervasive overprediction of warming in upper tropospheric layers.^[42] In advocating for unadjusted observational datasets, Friends of Science highlights non-alarming trends in extreme weather metrics, arguing that raw tide gauge and altimetry data show sea-level rise proceeding at historical rates of approximately 1-3 mm per year without acceleration attributable to anthropogenic influences.^[43] Similarly, hurricane frequency and intensity records from agencies like NOAA exhibit no statistically significant upward trends over the past century when normalized for improved detection and coastal development, countering model-derived projections of increased storm severity.^[44] Drought patterns, assessed via Palmer Drought Severity Index data, likewise display regional variability but no global escalation linked to rising CO2 levels, with FoS critiquing adjusted datasets that amplify perceived risks.^[34] FoS applies first-principles scrutiny to climate model parameterizations, asserting that equilibrium climate sensitivity values—often tuned to 2-4.5°C per CO2 doubling—are inflated by assuming dominant positive feedbacks from water vapor and clouds, despite satellite evidence of declining upper-atmospheric water vapor exerting a net cooling influence.^[45] Models neglect empirical negative feedbacks, such as enhanced cloud albedo from cosmic ray-induced nucleation or convective adjustments that stabilize tropospheric amplification, leading to unreliable hindcasts and forecasts that diverge from verifiable metrics like balloon radiosonde profiles.^[46] This approach prioritizes causal mechanisms grounded in physical laws over ensemble averages, underscoring FoS's position that policy-relevant projections lack empirical validation.^[47]

Educational Resources and Outreach

Provision of Scientific Materials

Friends of Science compiles and distributes scientific resources via its website, aggregating thousands of peer-reviewed journal articles, essays, books, charts, links, videos, and presentations for public access and self-examination of climate-related claims.^[2] These materials target both lay audiences and experts, enabling verification of assertions through direct engagement with data and analyses rather than secondary interpretations.^[1] Charts hosted on the site depict correlations between solar variability and climate metrics, such as temperature anomalies and hemispheric winter patterns, drawing from studies attributing multidecadal oscillations to solar influences over anthropogenic factors.^[9] ^[48] Videos provided include deconstructions of consensus claims, such as the 97% agreement on human-caused warming, highlighting methodological flaws in supporting surveys like those by Cook et al. (2013) and Doran and Zimmerman (2009).^[49] Essays elaborate causal pathways from natural forcings, including solar irradiance and ocean-atmosphere interactions, positioning these as primary modulators of observed variability rather than greenhouse gas emissions alone.^[50] ^[51] Books recommended or referenced, such as those critiquing model projections against historical records, are freely accessible to underscore empirical discrepancies in alarmist projections.^[52] Updates incorporate recent datasets, including 2020s analyses of sea-level trends via geological proxies and tide gauge records, which reveal rates around 1.3 mm/year consistent with pre-industrial variability and question accelerated rise attributions amid data homogenization practices.^[53] ^[54] This approach prioritizes raw data scrutiny to foster discernment of natural cycles from human influences, countering reliance on aggregated media portrayals.^[55]

Public Engagement Initiatives

Friends of Science organizes annual luncheons and speaking events in Calgary, Alberta, featuring presentations by climate scientists and commentators who emphasize empirical data and critiques of prevailing climate narratives.^[56] These gatherings aim to promote public discourse on natural climate variability and the limitations of anthropogenic warming models, with past events including a September 25, 2025, talk by Dr. Joseph Fournier on "Food Prices, Farming and Net Zero Ideology," highlighting agricultural impacts and data-driven policy skepticism.^[57] Earlier initiatives include sponsoring a cross-Canada speaking tour by Lord Christopher Monckton in September 2009, co-hosted with the Frontier Centre for Public Policy, to discuss solar influences and climate data transparency across multiple cities.^[58] In 2014, the organization launched a billboard campaign in Calgary and other locations to counter claims by Greenpeace and the Pembina Institute on the immediacy of global warming catastrophes, displaying messages attributing recent warming primarily to solar activity and urging scrutiny of alarmist predictions based on historical temperature records.^[59] The ads, placed via Pattison Outdoor Advertising, sparked public debate by citing empirical evidence such as satellite temperature data showing modest warming trends inconsistent with catastrophic forecasts, positioning the effort as a call for evidence-based public evaluation over institutional consensus.^[60] Friends of Science engages with independent media outlets to amplify skeptical perspectives and challenge mainstream coverage, including interviews on Rebel News platforms. For instance, in June 2025, President Ron Davison discussed net zero policies' negligible temperature impacts—estimated at 0.7 degrees Celsius—using global modeling data to argue for public awareness of uneconomical outcomes without verifiable benefits.^[61] Such collaborations foster debate by presenting alternative analyses of peer-reviewed studies on natural forcings like solar irradiance, contrasting with outlets perceived as aligned with consensus views that often downplay dissenting empirical findings.^[62]

Policy Advocacy and Activism

Challenges to International Climate Agreements

Friends of Science Society was established in early 2002 explicitly to contest the Kyoto Protocol, which it described as rooted in questionable science attributing climate change primarily to human CO2 emissions while overlooking dominant natural drivers such as solar and ocean cycles.^[1] The group argued that the protocol's binding emissions reduction targets for developed nations, coupled with exemptions for developing countries responsible for the majority of emissions growth, would yield negligible impacts on global temperatures—projected at less than 0.1°C avoidance by 2100 even under optimistic compliance scenarios—while imposing substantial economic burdens through mandated cuts in fossil fuel use.^[8] FoS emphasized that such policies represented a politically driven response to a non-crisis, prioritizing symbolic restrictions over evidence-based assessment of climate variability's natural components.^[1] The society's critiques extended to the 2015 Paris Agreement, which it characterized as similarly unattainable and economically destructive, requiring drastic measures like widespread economic shutdowns in signatory nations to approach targets, yet failing to curb rising global emissions.^[63] FoS cited analyses indicating that full adherence by all parties would avert at most 0.17°C of warming by 2100, an effect indistinguishable from natural fluctuations, while International Energy Agency data confirmed persistent upward trends in CO2 emissions—rising 1.1% in 2023 to record levels—driven by demand in non-compliant or developing economies.^[13]^[64] These agreements, according to FoS, exemplified virtue-signaling exercises that diverted resources from practical solutions, imposing high compliance costs on nations like Canada (with its 2% share of global emissions) for infinitesimal environmental gains.^[63] FoS further contended that international pacts promote maladaptive strategies by fixating on CO2 mitigation at the expense of adaptation to inherent climate variability, which historical records show humans have successfully managed through infrastructure like dams and insulated housing rather than unattainable attempts at planetary temperature regulation.^[54] The group advocated prioritizing resilience to extreme weather—attributable more to natural cycles than anthropogenic forcing—over costly emissions controls that ignore empirical evidence of solar and oceanic influences on long-term trends.^[65] This stance underscored FoS's broader view that such agreements distort policy away from causal realism, favoring alarmist projections over data-driven economic and scientific scrutiny.^[1]

Domestic Policy Interventions and Reports

In September 2025, Friends of Science Society published the report "Canadian Climate Policy – What Comes Next?", authored by retired Canadian diplomat and energy economist Robert Lyman, which critiques federal and provincial commitments to net-zero emissions by 2050 as economically burdensome.^[66]^[16] The analysis highlights how carbon taxes, renewable subsidies, and regulatory mandates have contributed to slowed GDP growth, increased energy costs, and reduced industrial competitiveness, projecting that sustained implementation could exacerbate these effects without commensurate emission reductions.^[66] Lyman argues that such policies prioritize unattainable targets over practical energy reliability, citing data on rising household energy expenditures as evidence of induced affordability strains akin to energy poverty in policy-impacted regions.^[66] Friends of Science has actively intervened against net-zero mandates through targeted submissions to regulatory bodies, emphasizing empirical economic data over modeled projections. In August 2025, the group filed an open letter with the Alberta Securities Commission and Canadian Securities Administrators, challenging a shareholder complaint by Investors for Paris Compliance that urged enforcement of net-zero investor disclosures.^[67]^[68] The letter requests an inquiry into potential collusion among advocacy groups to impose net-zero requirements on capital markets, arguing that such pressures distort investment decisions and overlook verifiable impacts like Alberta's projected GDP losses from curtailed fossil fuel development under federal mandates.^[67] These efforts extend to critiques of broader domestic frameworks, such as opposition to elements of Bill C-12, which enshrined net-zero targets in law, with Friends of Science highlighting inconsistencies between policy ambitions and real-world energy constraints.^[69] The organization's reports consistently reference government data on emission trends and economic indicators to contend that net-zero pursuits risk unmitigated trade-offs, including heightened reliance on intermittent renewables amid insufficient grid capacity.^[70]

Media Campaigns and Public Debates

Friends of Science Society has utilized billboard campaigns to provoke public discussion on the drivers of climate variability. In June 2014, the group erected billboards challenging assertions by Greenpeace and the Pembina Institute that human emissions predominantly cause global warming, instead emphasizing natural factors such as solar activity.^[71] A follow-up campaign in June 2015 during the Montreal Grand Prix reiterated themes of solar influence over carbon dioxide, responding to prior regulatory scrutiny of their messaging as unsubstantiated, with the intent to foster debate on observed modest temperature shifts without established anthropogenic primacy.^[72] The organization frequently issues press releases to underscore declining public prioritization of climate issues and to advocate cost-benefit evaluations of related policies. On July 17, 2025, Friends of Science cited multiple recent polls, including those from Angus Reid and Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, indicating that climate action ranks low among North American concerns amid economic pressures, positioning this as evidence against escalating alarmist measures without proportional benefits.^[21] In September 2025, they addressed contrasting climate science reports—one from U.S. Department of Energy contrarians and another from compliant mainstream sources—framing the discord as warranting civil public debate rather than consensus enforcement, while providing resources to dissect empirical discrepancies in projections.^[73] Public events hosted by Friends of Science have spotlighted critiques of activist-driven policies. Their 13th annual event on May 10, 2016, featured Rebel Media founder Ezra Levant, who debated the perils of carbon taxation under Alberta's climate plan, arguing it would induce job losses and curtail freedoms without verifiable climate stabilization, thereby amplifying calls for scrutiny of unproven causal links in modest historical warming trends.^[74] These initiatives consistently seek to counter media narratives favoring rapid decarbonization by highlighting data on stable or decelerating climate metrics alongside policy costs.^[30]

Funding Sources

Identified Donors and Financial Support

Friends of Science has operated primarily on private donations, memberships, and corporate contributions, deliberately avoiding government grants to preserve independence from potential institutional biases.^[75]^[7] Initial support came through the Science Education Fund administered by the Calgary Foundation, which funneled anonymous private donations to University of Calgary projects linked to the organization, disbursing $200,000 in the 2005-2006 fiscal year from a balance that stood at $76,000 as of March 2006.^[76] Among identified contributors to this fund was Talisman Energy, an Alberta-based oil and gas company, which donated $175,000 on November 4, 2004, to support educational and public relations efforts challenging aspects of the Kyoto Protocol.^[77] Following the organization's separation from the University of Calgary in 2005 amid an internal audit revealing expenditures on communications firms totaling over $267,000 from fund assets, Friends of Science shifted to direct individual and corporate funding.^[78] Subsequent corporate backing included employee-matched donations from Murphy Oil, amounting to $1,050, and contributions from U.S. coal producer Peabody Energy, evidenced by Friends of Science's listing as a creditor in Peabody's 2016 bankruptcy filings.^[79] The group has maintained that such private support, drawn from approximately 16 distinct sources, sustains its modest annual budget of around $150,000 without exerting direct influence over research or policy positions.^[80]

Transparency Practices and Responses to Scrutiny

Friends of Science Society, registered as a non-profit under Alberta's Societies Act, submits annual financial statements to the provincial government, revealing aggregate revenues, expenditures, and assets but preserving individual donor identities. For instance, the 2005 filing reported revenues of $155,175 and expenses of $135,000, resulting in assets of $75,000; the 2006 filing indicated revenues of $175,000, expenses of $151,000, and assets of $99,000.^[7] The organization internally prepares annual reports for its members, as evidenced by the 2018 report presented at its Annual General Meeting, which summarizes activities and finances without public donor disclosure.^[81] This approach to donor anonymity aims to shield contributors from harassment or retaliation, a risk documented in cases where public exposure of funding sources for climate-skeptical groups has led to targeted campaigns against donors.^[82] In addressing scrutiny from outlets like SourceWatch and DeSmog, which have highlighted anonymous contributions funneled through University of Calgary research trusts, Friends of Science maintains that its funding supports non-partisan educational efforts on climate science rather than political lobbying.^[7] The group positions its operations as distinct from advocacy, emphasizing research dissemination and public outreach over influence peddling, with financials reflecting expenditures on materials and events aligned with its educational mandate. This stance contrasts with publicly funded entities promoting climate alarmism, where grant allocations—often totaling billions annually through bodies like Canada's Natural Resources Canada or international panels—frequently prioritize narratives of anthropogenic catastrophe without equivalent donor-like transparency, raising concerns over ideological vetting in funding decisions.^[83]

Controversies and Criticisms

Allegations of Industry Influence

Environmental advocacy organizations, including DeSmog and The Narwhal, have accused Friends of Science (FoS) of receiving financial support from fossil fuel companies, portraying such ties as evidence of biased advocacy aligned with industry denial of anthropogenic climate influences.^[25]^[84] For instance, Peabody Energy, a U.S. coal producer, listed FoS as a creditor in its 2016 bankruptcy filings, indicating prior funding transfers to the group.^[79] Similarly, Talisman Energy, a Calgary-based oil company, provided major funding for a FoS video series in the early 2010s that questioned prevailing climate narratives.^[85] These groups, which maintain databases tracking skeptic organizations, frame FoS donations—often channeled through intermediaries—as part of a broader pattern of industry-orchestrated efforts to undermine emissions regulations.^[25] A 2008 audit by the University of Calgary highlighted concerns over funds established in 2004 by political scientist Barry Cooper, which were used to support FoS activities, including radio advertisements opposing the Kyoto Protocol during the 2006 Canadian federal election.^[86]^[87] The audit concluded that these research accounts, seeded with donations from oil industry sources, were applied for partisan purposes rather than scholarly research, prompting the university to sever formal ties and recover unused funds.^[10] While the findings raised questions about financial oversight and potential conflicts in academic settings, they did not substantiate claims that industry contributions directly altered FoS's analytical positions or invalidated their policy recommendations.^[87] FoS has countered these allegations by emphasizing that private sector donations, including from energy firms, arise from alignment on evidence-based policy rather than coercive influence or predetermined outcomes.^[88] The organization maintains its funding primarily supports public education initiatives and derives from individual and corporate donors who share interests in pragmatic energy strategies, without contractual strings attached to specific viewpoints.^[7] FoS has publicly denied direct university trust funds or ongoing institutional backing, attributing much scrutiny to efforts by advocacy networks—often funded by philanthropic foundations with environmental agendas—to discredit dissenting voices through association rather than substantive rebuttal.^[7] Empirical review shows no documented instances of donors vetoing or mandating FoS content, underscoring that financial support correlates with ideological overlap but does not establish causation in the group's policy stances.^[89]

Responses to Accusations of Science Denial

Friends of Science maintains that accusations of science denial misrepresent their position as unfounded rejectionism, instead characterizing it as rigorous, evidence-driven scrutiny of dominant climate models emphasizing anthropogenic CO2 as the primary driver. They contend the term "denier" is defamatory, deliberately evoking Holocaust denial to imply moral culpability and equate data questioning with historical atrocities, a tactic traced to early activist rhetoric including statements by figures like Ellen Goodman in 2007 and Paul McCartney in 2010.^[90]^[90] This labeling, they argue, prioritizes ad hominem dismissal over empirical falsification, stifling debate essential to scientific progress as exemplified by past paradigm shifts like the acceptance of plate tectonics, initially derided by consensus holders despite mounting geological evidence.^[91] In rebuttal, Friends of Science emphasizes peer-reviewed research supporting natural climate variability over alarmist projections, compiling lists of over 1,300 such papers that challenge catastrophic anthropogenic warming narratives without denying climate change altogether. They highlight discrepancies like the observed 0.78°C global temperature rise since 1850—largely attributable to recovery from the Little Ice Age—and the post-1998 warming hiatus amid rising CO2, which they assert invalidates models predicting accelerated warming.^[92]^[90]^[90] Endorsing reports like the Non-governmental International Panel on Climate Change's "Why Scientists Disagree About Global Warming," they critique the vaunted 97% consensus as a selective metric ignoring dissenting publications and methodological flaws in surveys, such as those by Cook et al. in 2013.^[34]^[34] Friends of Science further argues that purported consensus reflects institutional pressures rather than unassailable evidence, with dissent marginalized through funding allocation favoring alarmist research and mechanisms like peer-review gatekeeping or professional ostracism. They cite instances where policymakers and media delegitimize skeptics to enforce orthodoxy, as in demands for cost-benefit analysis being branded as denial, contravening scientific norms that valorize testable hypotheses over authoritative decree.^[93]^[94] This environment, they posit, echoes historical suppressions of valid challenges, underscoring that true science advances via open contention, not conformity enforced by politicized incentives.^[95]^[91]

Broader Debates on Consensus and Dissent

The mainstream scientific consensus on anthropogenic global warming, frequently quantified as 97% agreement among publishing climate scientists, portrays groups like Friends of Science as marginal dissenters whose challenges risk delaying mitigation efforts against projected harms such as sea-level rise and extreme weather intensification.^[96] This view holds that such skepticism undermines public trust in institutions like the IPCC, where successive assessment reports synthesize peer-reviewed literature affirming human causation as dominant, potentially exacerbating outcomes if emissions continue unabated. Critics of this consensus, including statistical reanalyses of key studies, argue the 97% figure is inflated by including implicit endorsements or papers not addressing causation explicitly, with explicit agreement on dangerous warming closer to 0.3-1% in original abstracts and lower among surveyed experts.^[97]^[98] Events like the 2009 Climategate disclosure of emails from the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit revealed discussions of data adjustments and resistance to sharing methodologies, which skeptics interpret as evidence of gatekeeping that prioritizes narrative over transparency, though multiple inquiries cleared researchers of misconduct while acknowledging communication lapses.^[99]^[100] Persistent divergences between models and observations—such as overpredicted tropospheric warming in the tropics or underpredicted satellite-derived lower-troposphere trends in CMIP ensembles—further validate dissent by highlighting uncertainties in sensitivity estimates and forcings, where some projections have run hotter than the post-2000 warming hiatus.^[101]^[102] Friends of Science contributes to debates on scientific pluralism by advocating for the legitimacy of minority views, echoing historical arguments that truth advances through adversarial testing rather than deference to majority opinion, as suppressing dissent risks entrenching errors amid incomplete data on natural variability and feedbacks.^[49] This stance counters perceptions of climate science as "settled," noting institutional pressures—evident in funding allocations and publication biases—that may marginalize nonconforming research, thereby preserving space for empirical scrutiny over orthodoxy.^[103] In this framework, dissent serves not as denial but as a corrective mechanism, particularly when models exhibit systematic biases against observations in regional patterns or decadal variability.^[104]

Impact and Reception

Achievements in Public Discourse

Friends of Science has contributed to public discourse by compiling and disseminating extensive educational resources on climate variability, including thousands of peer-reviewed journal articles, charts, and videos that challenge dominant narratives on anthropogenic warming urgency.^[2] These materials have supported alternative viewpoints in ongoing debates, such as those contrasting contrarian analyses with mainstream reports, thereby providing plain-language explanations for non-experts evaluating policy implications.^[105] In 2025, Friends of Science referenced North American polling data indicating waning public prioritization of climate action, with under one-third of Americans expressing high worry about global warming and similar trends in Canada reflecting economic pressures over environmental mandates.^[21] ^[106] This aligns with broader surveys showing declining belief in imminent human-driven catastrophe effects, fostering skepticism toward alarmist projections.^[107] The organization's reports emphasizing net-zero policy costs, such as those projecting economic stagnation from aggressive GHG targets, have echoed in discussions urging measured transitions over rapid decarbonization, contributing to sentiments like the emerging "No Net Zero" resistance in Canadian public opinion.^[108] ^[109] By advocating for open debates on science and economics, Friends of Science has helped highlight trade-offs in energy policy, influencing calls for evidence-based revisions amid fiscal realities.^[110]

Criticisms from Mainstream Scientific Bodies

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), in its Sixth Assessment Report published in 2021, attributes over 100% of observed warming from 2010–2019 relative to 1850–1900 to human activities, with natural forcings such as solar variability and volcanic activity contributing a net cooling effect during that period. This assessment dismisses arguments emphasizing dominant natural drivers—like solar cycles or cosmic ray influences—as inconsistent with radiative forcing models and paleoclimate reconstructions, which show natural variability insufficient to explain the rapid post-1950 temperature rise. Positions advanced by Friends of Science, which prioritize such natural forcings over anthropogenic CO2, are thereby positioned outside the IPCC's synthesized evidence base, often characterized in associated literature as peripheral to core findings. Canadian scientific academies, including the Royal Society of Canada, have aligned with international consensus through joint statements, such as the 2005 network of academies' declaration affirming that "climate change is real" and primarily human-induced, with natural factors unable to account for recent trends without invoking implausible magnitudes. In 2021 G7 academies' communications, led by the Royal Society of Canada, similar emphases on anthropogenic dominance underscore risks from delayed action, critiquing over-reliance on economic cost analyses that purportedly undervalue non-linear impacts like tipping points. These bodies view selective highlighting of short-term empirical discrepancies—such as satellite temperature records versus surface data—as potentially misleading, given comprehensive datasets integrating multiple lines of evidence favoring greenhouse gas forcing. Enforcement of scientific consensus by such institutions serves to distill probabilistic assessments from disparate studies, aiding policymakers by prioritizing high-confidence attributions over outlier interpretations; for instance, the IPCC's structured expert judgment process weighs evidence quantitatively to marginalize low-probability natural-only scenarios. However, this approach risks entrenching model-dependent assumptions, where deviations like Friends of Science's advocacy for unadjusted empirical records (e.g., unaltered balloon data) are preemptively sidelined, potentially overlooking causal pathways not fully captured in general circulation models, as historical scientific shifts demonstrate the fallibility of enforced paradigms.

Influence on Policy and Public Opinion

Friends of Science has informed policy discussions in Alberta through reports critiquing the economic burdens of federal carbon pricing, emphasizing its failure to curb emissions while elevating energy costs for resource-dependent industries.^[111]^[112] Their analyses, including examinations of rebate mechanisms that do not offset broader compliance expenses, have aligned with provincial efforts to challenge Ottawa's mandates, such as Alberta's 2023-2025 legal actions against the federal consumer carbon levy.^[113] In September 2025, FoS warned that temporary zeroing of the tax—following political pressures—leaves underlying regulatory frameworks intact, potentially reimposing costs on sectors like oil sands extraction.^[113] The organization's emphasis on empirical critiques of climate-driven policies has paralleled shifts in Alberta's resource sector advocacy, where reports on foreign-funded opposition to development have highlighted risks to $100 billion in annual GDP contributions from energy.^[114] FoS submissions to inquiries, such as those on anti-energy campaigns, underscore causal links between exaggerated climate risks and investment deterrence, influencing stakeholder calls for evidence-based exemptions in federal reporting rules.^[115] This discourse supports Alberta's prioritization of economic viability over net-zero timelines, as evidenced by provincial rebates and phased resistance to coal phase-outs that FoS argued would exacerbate job losses exceeding 10,000 in the early 2010s.^[116] On public opinion, FoS's campaigns highlighting policy trade-offs have coincided with 2025 surveys showing diminished prioritization of climate action amid economic strains. A July Leger poll found only 4% of Canadians ranking climate change as the foremost national issue, with inflation and housing cited by over 40%, reflecting fatigue with activism that overlooks verifiable emission trends.^[117] Similarly, Angus Reid data indicated climate's status as a top concern fell to 15% by mid-2025, down 6 percentage points, as 36% in an Ipsos global study viewed national sacrifices for mitigation as excessive.^[118]^[119] FoS attributes this to public recognition of unchanged global CO2 levels despite Canadian cuts, fostering skepticism toward alarmist projections.^[16] By advocating scrutiny of intermittent renewables' intermittency—requiring backup capacity that doubles effective costs without storage breakthroughs—FoS has contributed to broader debates on averting stranded assets in unproven technologies.^[16] Their 2025 report on post-carbon-tax scenarios posits that sustained dissent prevents malallocation toward subsidized wind and solar, which supplied under 10% of Alberta's power reliably in peak winters, prioritizing instead adaptive measures grounded in observed solar and orbital forcings over modeled catastrophe.^[16] This stance echoes calls for policy realism, as in September 2025 opinion pieces urging debate on modest warming's non-crisis nature.^[110]

References

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Providing Insight into Climate Change - Friends of Science
Friends of Science Society is a non-profit society, run by earth and atmospheric scientists, engineers, economists, and other energy experts.
[2]
Friends of Science: Providing Insight into Climate Change
We have compiled materials for everyone, bringing together thousands of peer reviewed journal articles, essays, books, charts, links, videos and presentations.What We Do & History · Join · Blog · Position Statement
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In the beginning: Friends of Science, Talisman Energy and the de ...
The Friends of Science Society was founded in 2002 by a group of active and retired Calgary geologists and engineers, with a website operating from at least ...
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Mr. Cool and Friends - Charles Montgomery
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Friends of Science - SourceWatch
The Friends of Science Society (FoS) is a Canadian non-profit group based in Calgary, Alberta, that is made up of active and retired engineers, earth ...
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Canada's Carbon Tax is Only Zero-ed, not Gone, Warns Friends of ...
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**Summary of Friends of Science Blog Content:**
[31]
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The Sun Causes Climate Change | Friends of Science
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[PDF] It would have been appropriate in terms of the "scientific method" for ...
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[PDF] The NIPCC Report on Scientific Consensus - Friends of Science
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[37]
None
### Summary of Friends of Science's Arguments on Urban Heat Island Effect (UHIE)
[38]
[PDF] Media Bias and Sea Ice - Friends of Science
Many scientists now believe that the Arctic will have ice-free summers by 2013 instead of 2030 as predicted by the International Panel on. Climate Change.
[39]
Why the Forcing from Carbon Dioxide Scales as the Logarithm of Its ...
The radiative forcing from carbon dioxide is approximately logarithmic in its concentration, producing about 4 W m −2 of global-mean forcing for each doubling.
[40]
Climate Models Fail to Match Recent Temperature History
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[41]
Pervasive Warming Bias in CMIP6 Tropospheric Layers - 2020
Jul 15, 2020 · Numerous studies have pointed to a tendency across climate models to project too much contemporary warming in the tropical troposphere ( ...<|separator|>
[42]
Examination of space-based bulk atmospheric temperatures used in ...
We examine four satellite datasets producing bulk tropospheric temperatures, based on microwave sounding units (MSUs), all updated since IPCC AR5.
[43]
Pervasive Warming Bias in CMIP6 Tropospheric Layers - 2020
Jul 15, 2020 · It has long been known that previous generations of climate models exhibit excessive warming rates in the tropical troposphere. With the release ...
[44]
Won't Die from Climate Change - Friends of Science Society's blog
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[45]
Climate Change Damages By Storms Are Insignificant
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Water Vapor Decline Cools the Earth: NASA Satellite Data
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[47]
[PDF] SATELLITE AND BALLOON MEASUREMENTS VS SURFACE DATA
We at Friends of Science try to take a bit more disengaged view of matters. In the first place we are cognisant of the fact that in these physical ...
[48]
Testing the Tropical 200-300 mbar Warming Rate in Climate Models ...
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[49]
[PDF] Re-evaluating the role of solar variability on Northern Hemisphere ...
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[50]
[PDF] 97% Consensus? No! Global Warming Math Myths & Social Proofs.
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[51]
[PDF] Friends of Science - Climate Change
No official endorsement or sponsorship by the CSPG is implied for any advertisement, insert, or article that appears in the Reservoir unless otherwise noted ...
[52]
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Climate Change Scientific References | Friends of Science
This book helps us rethink the climate change problem, the risks we are facing and how we can respond to these challenges.
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FoS Climate Science Newsletter - 2023
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[55]
[PDF] Fighting Climate Change: Can We Humans Regulate Earth's ...
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[56]
Myths / Facts - Friends of Science
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Friends of Science Annual Major Events on Climate Change
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Past Events | Friends of Science
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Seminars on Climate Change - Friends of Science
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Greenpeace claims double standard on Alberta billboards | CBC News
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Push for net zero is 'meaningless': Friends of Science president Ron ...
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Think Facts Matter? Try Attending a Friends of Science Event ...
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[64]
Paris Agreement Climate Change Targets are Unattainable says ...
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[65]
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[68]
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[69]
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[74]
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Friends Of Science Thirteenth Annual Event
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Talisman Energy kick-started University of Calgary climate skeptic fund
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Climate change groups appear as creditors in coal giant's ...
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What Social Science Tells Us About Forced Donor Disclosure
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[84]
[PDF] Order F2010-036
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[85]
Canadian Climate Denial Group, Friends of Science, Named as ...
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Use of research funds raising questions - The Globe and Mail
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[88]
University of Calgary Audit Exposes Friends of Science Wrongdoing
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[PDF] The Globe and Mail's environmental bias is showing
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“Climate Barbie” is Flattering and Funny; “Climate Denier” is ...
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[PDF] INFILTRATION | Friends of Science
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1350+ Peer-Reviewed Papers Supporting Skeptic Arguments ...
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[PDF] Than 1000 International Scientists Dissent Over Man-Made Global ...
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[97]
Analysis: How well have climate models projected global warming?
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Fact Checking The Claim Of 97% Consensus On Anthropogenic ...
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[PDF] The 97% 'consensus' and its critics - Andrew Montford
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[101]
'Climategate' had only fleeting effect on global warming scepticism
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Evaluating the Performance of Past Climate Model Projections
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Climate Data vs. Climate Models - Cato Institute
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[104]
'Scientists don't care about truth anymore': the climate crisis and ...
This paper investigates this question through interviews with 40 people affected by the 2013 Southern Alberta Flood, the costliest flood in Canadian history.<|separator|>
[105]
Discrepancies between observations and climate models of large ...
Nov 14, 2022 · These findings suggest the possibility that climate models may misrepresent driving mechanisms; hence, to further interpret the potential ...
[106]
"Contrarians vs Compliers" - Dueling Climate Science Reports Fuel ...
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[107]
Top Public Worries in the U.S. - Yale Program on Climate Change ...
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https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/unrealistic-canadian-climate-policy-bogs-down-economy-says-friends-of-science-society-report-302555625.html
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Unrealistic Canadian Climate Policy Bogs Down Economy says ...
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[110]
"No Net Zero" Becomes New Mantra in Canada as Climate Policy is ...
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[111]
Opinion: We need a debate on climate science and policy
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[112]
Elon Musk's Carbon Tax Promo Fails says Friends of Science Society
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[113]
[PDF] CARBON TAXATION - The Canadian experience
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[114]
Canada's Carbon Tax is Only Zero-ed, not Gone, Warns Friends of ...
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Unfinished Business – A Retrospective On The Allan Inquiry Report
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[116]
Open Letter to Canadian Securities Administrators on Climate-risk ...
Jun 19, 2024 · Friends of Science Society was formed in 2002; we have deep ... unattainable with existing technology unless degrowth and ...
[117]
Alberta Wide Rally Gives Albertans A Platform for Concerns on ...
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[118]
Canadians drastically downgrade climate as a priority, poll finds, as ...
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[119]
Canada: What Recent Climate Polling Tells Us
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[120]
[PDF] People and Climate Change 2025 - Ipsos
Across 32 countries 36% say their country is giving up too much to tackle climate change, with people in. Canada and France more likely to agree with this ...<|separator|>