Stickin' to the Mann

"Hockey stick" climate study largely holds up to collegial scrutiny

The dispute over global-warming science has become something of a soap opera in the U.S., and the latest episode portrays a stinging blow to skeptics. Previously, on As the World Burns: In June, Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), chair of the House Energy Committee, ordered an inquiry into the famous "hockey stick" study by climatologist Michael Mann, which showed global temperatures spiking in the late 20th century. Many people assumed Barton was just trying to bully scientists whose research bolstered the climate-change consensus, but he did take the time to cite work by energy consultant Stephen McIntyre and economist Ross McKitrick purporting to debunk the hockey-stick study. Now it's nearly November and Barton's committee, which received Mann's documentation in July, still hasn't bothered to look at it. But McIntyre and McKitrick are taking it on the chin -- two recent peer-reviewed papers found that there were small glitches in Mann's work but that the non-climatologists' critique was way off the mark. Tune in next week, as Barton reveals he's actually McIntyre's long-lost brother, on As the World Burns ...