change only the name and this story is also about you I went for a massage a couple weeks ago to a place right across the street from my building. The girl I see is good and fun to chat with. Holly is probably in her early 20s and seems pretty articulate and reasonably well-read, so we enjoy our discussions about a variety of things. At my last visit, though, I had to change the subject because I didn't quite believe what she was saying. I mentioned that I'd seen Al Gore's movie, An Inconvenient Truth, and told her what it was about.

She said, "I don't believe in global warming". And proceeded to tell me that she'd read Michael Crichton's book and heard that one of the world's glaciers was actually getting bigger. I haven't read the book, so I couldn't argue this point with her, but I've since confirmed that the book does indeed make that claim. I was surprised to stumble on this piece today in the New York Times, by the scientist who discovered that, strangely enough, there IS a cooling trend in the continental Antarctic region. It was also noticed at that time that one of the glaciers in that area was thickening slightly. It seems that the skeptics of global warming have taken these two bits of information and run with them.

Our results have been misused as "evidence" against global warming by Michael Crichton in his novel "State of Fear" and by Ann Coulter in her latest book, "Godless: The Church of Liberalism." Search my name on the Web, and you will find pages of links to everything from climate discussion groups to Senate policy committee documents — all citing my 2002 study as reason to doubt that the earth is warming. One recent Web column even put words in my mouth. I have never said that "the unexpected colder climate in Antarctica may possibly be signaling a lessening of the current global warming cycle." I have never thought such a thing either.

If you've seen Al's movie, you have probably absorbed the disturbing imagery of enormous chunks of ice falling into the water with tremendous splashing; it was enough to scare me. Okay, so ONE glacier isn't melting, Holly. What about the dozens (or hundreds? I don't know how many there are) that are rapidly decreasing in size...? I was on that glacier shown above a few years ago. It was a pretty nifty experience, driving out on to the ice in a specially designed "snow coach". Pretty soon we won't be able to do that, from the sounds of things.

Poor guy:

In the meantime, I would like to remove my name from the list of scientists who dispute global warming. I know my coauthors would as well.

  | ¶ 5:34 p.m.