Climate Scientist Stephen Schneider in 1979

Published On: May 3, 2013
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Stephen Schneider sounded a strikingly prescient alarm in 1979.

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About the Author: Chris Machens

Chris Machens
Chris covers the climate since 2011, and when not posting articles to the site he usually works on our next video production.
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    Cristobal Colon
    Cristobal Colon
    May 19, 2012 8:31 PM

    Was wrong as a young man and still wrong….

    angus143
    angus143
    August 10, 2012 7:53 AM

    You’re not bright enough now, nor ever will you be

    jlaceyw44
    jlaceyw44
    September 14, 2012 12:00 AM

    and your reasoning is?

    Cristobal Colon
    Cristobal Colon
    September 14, 2012 9:09 AM

    Prophets sucks!

    Aanthanur DC
    Aanthanur DC
    December 22, 2012 7:15 PM

    actually its amazing how spot on he was then already.

    MrRob1967
    MrRob1967
    March 12, 2014 4:07 AM

    It is found that, although the addition of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
    does increase the surface temperature, the rate of temperature increase
    diminishes with increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. For aerosols,
    however, the net effect of increase in density is to reduce the surface
    temperature of Earth. Becuase of the exponential dependence of the
    backscattering, the rate of temperature decrease is augmented with
    increasing aerosol content. An increase by only a factor of 4 in global
    aerosol background concentration may be sufficient to reduce the surface
    temperature by as much as 3.5 deg.K. If sustained over a period of several
    years, such a temperature decrease over the whole globe is believed to be
    sufficient to trigger an ice age. —Stephen Schneider 1971

    The idiot blew with the wind. Whichever way it blew he went.

    MrRob1967
    MrRob1967
    March 12, 2014 4:18 AM

    The idiot is no prophet. Google “Jason 1979 Carbon Dioxide.” Not much has
    changed since this preliminary document. What’s funny is it even mentions
    the possibilities of negative feedbacks from CO2. More lower clouds you get
    cooling. More Cirrus positive feedback. Guess what? Peer-reviewed studies
    are showing negative feedbacks from CO2. It’s over guys; stop panicking.
    Look at the IPCC latest projections. The low ball is about 1.3C by 2100.
    Now given every IPCC projection has been off by between 75%-150% (upwards)
    I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and say they’ll on be off by 50% so
    we’re looking at .65C. It’s over lets relax and drive our SUVs.

    MrRob1967
    MrRob1967
    March 12, 2014 3:50 PM

    “… An increase by a factor of 8 in the amount of CO2 (which is highly
    unlikely in the next several thousand years), will produce an increase in
    the surface temperature of less than 2 deg. K.” Stephen Schnieder, Science
    1971.

    What happened to you Stephen? Eight years later a mere doubling of CO2 was
    to put the whole planet a peril. LOL and RIP

    MrRob1967
    MrRob1967
    March 13, 2014 5:36 PM

    “To capture the public imagination, we have to offer up some scary
    scenarios, make simplified dramatic statements and little mention of any
    doubts one might have. Each of us has to decide the right balance between
    being effective, and being honest.”–Stephen Schneider, Discover Magazine
    Oct, 1989

    MrRob1967
    MrRob1967
    May 25, 2014 3:14 AM

    This is not 1979; it’s from 1989. Look up the “In Search Of” with Leonard
    Nimoy here on YouTube. (Episode “The Coming Ice Age.”) The episode is from
    1978. Like all bandwagons Schneider couldn’t wait to jump on and get in
    front of a camera.