Syun Akasofu

Syun Akasofu was the founder and director of the International Arctic Research Center of the University of Alaska Fairbanks, from its establishment in 1998 until January 2007. His areas of expertise are physics and geophysics. He is also a well-known climate change skeptic and a speaker at the International Conference on Climate Change (2009), organized by the Heartland Institute think tank.

Akasofu on climate change
Akasofu asserts that at least some of the contribution to global climate change comes from the natural effect of "recovery from the Little Ice Age," rather than from human activity. He has criticized the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), asserting that they have failed to show "definite scientific proof that 'most' of the present warming is caused by the greenhouse effect," as the IPCC's 2007 report states. He does admit that global warming is occurring, especially in the Arctic, and that this climate change "consists of both natural change and the greenhouse effect." His critics respond that the Little Ice Age is somewhat of a climate change myth. The warming after the so-called Little Ice Age "may reflect both an increase in solar activity and a redistribution of heat around the planet," but the "continued warming in recent decades, however, cannot be explained by increases in solar radiation alone."

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Global warming skeptics
 * Heartland Institute
 * SourceWatch:Project:Creating Articles on Sponsors and Speakers at The 2008 International Conference on Climate Change

Presentations by Akasofu

 * Syun Akasofu, "Natural Causes of 20th Century Warming: Recovery from the Little Ice Age and Oscillatory Change", Presentation to Heartland Institute's International Conference on Climate Change (2009), March 9, 2009. (PowerPoint)