One of the IPCC climate scientists published a report that the oil sand carbon emissions are a trivial matter.
Andrew Weaver isn’t what you’d call an oilsands apologist.
Weaver, who holds the Canada Research Chair in Climate Modelling and Analysis at the University of Victoria, was a lead author with the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. He is one of the world’s leading authorities on global warming, and one of the fiercest critics of the Harper government’s carbon emissions policy — or lack thereof.
That’s what makes Weaver’s latest research publication such startling news. This Sunday, Feb. 19th, Weaver and his doctoral student, Neil Swart, published an analysis in the scientific journal Nature Climate Change, an offshoot of Nature, the world’s most prestigious science journal.
In their paper, Swart and Weaver conclude the impact of burning all the economically viable proven reserve of Alberta’s oilsands — all 170 billion barrels — would be negligible. Burning all the proven reserve between 2012 and 2062, they say, would raise global temperatures by just 0.02 C to 0.05 C.
That low rumble that you are hearing is the sound of a lot of heads from Greenpeace, the WWF, et al exploding.
I wonder how long it will be until they expel Weaver from the IPCC Hockey Team?
Postscript on implications of this paper in relation to EU negotiations. Thank you Andrew for providing this ammunition to our trade negotiators in a critical time.
