Patrick Michaels
| Patrick J. Michaels | |
|---|---|
Michaels in 2016
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| Born |
February 15, 1950 Berwyn, Illinois, United States |
| Residence | United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Fields | Climatology, Ecology |
| Institutions |
University of Wisconsin, University of Virginia, Cato Institute |
| Alma mater |
University of Chicago, University of Wisconsin–Madison |
| Thesis | Atmospheric anomalies and crop yields in North America (1979) |
| Known for | Work on global warming |
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Website Patrick J. Michaels, Cato Institute |
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Patrick J. ("Pat") Michaels (born February 15, 1950) is an American climatologist. Michaels is a senior fellow in environmental studies at the Cato Institute. Until 2007 he was research professor of environmental sciences at the University of Virginia, where he had worked from 1980.
A self-described skeptic on the issue of global warming, he is a past president of the American Association of State Climatologists. He has written a number of books and papers on climate change, including Sound and Fury: The Science and Politics of Global Warming (1992), The Satanic Gases (2000), and Meltdown: The Predictable Distortion of Global Warming by Scientists, Politicians, and the Media (2004). He's also the co-author of Climate of Extremes: Global Warming Science They Don't Want You to Know (2009). Michaels' viewpoint, as argued in a 2002 article in the journal Climate Research, is that the planet will see "a warming range of 1.3–3.0°C, with a central value of 1.9°C" for the 1990 to 2100 period (an analysis far smaller than the IPCC's average predictions).
Patrick Michaels obtained an A.B. in biological science in 1971 and an S.M. in biology in 1975 from the University of Chicago, and in 1979 obtained his Ph.D. in ecological climatology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His doctoral thesis was titled, Atmospheric anomalies and crop yields in North America.
Michaels has said that he does not contest the basic scientific principles behind greenhouse warming and acknowledges that the global mean temperature has increased in recent decades. He is quoted as being skeptical of global warming, and is described by Michael E. Mann as a "prominent climate change contrarian." He contends that the changes will be minor, not catastrophic, and may even be beneficial.
He has written extensive editorials on this topic for the mass media, and for think tanks and their publications such as Regulation. He stated in 2000:
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Wikipedia