Duitse klimatoloog Stefan Rahmstorf beschadigt tere kinderzieltjes

German science used to be, and is in many areas, still highly regarded worldwide. But in the area of climate science, it has been reduced to charlatanism and masterplanning. Sadly, Germany’s “leading climate scientists” are far more preoccupied with transforming society and spreading panic among the population then doing science. Spreading panic is a favourite practice of Stefan Rahmstorf who, like his director Hans Schellnhuber, is a “scientist” at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Research (PIK).

Rahmstorf is featured in a story at the online Märkische Zeitung, written by Alexandra Amling, who writes how Rahmstorf recently gave a presentation to school students. The Märkische Zeitung writes: Only when mankind switches over only to renewable energies will we be able to avert the consequences of climate change, Stefan Rahmstorf made clear on Thursday evening in a presentation to school students and interested individuals at the Goethe School.”

Maybe the Märkische newspaper (Ms Amling) confused it, but here it is claimed that using renewables will stop the consequences of climate change, but not climate change itself. I’m having trouble making sense of this. If we use only renewable energy, the climate will change anyway, but the consequences of that change will be averted? Abracadabra. ...

At the end he [Rahmstorf] showed a photo that will certainly remain in our minds: A wall of a house with the writing: ‘I don’t believe in global warning’. However the second line is hardly legible because it is drowning in floodwater.

Rahmstorf is saying that anyone who doesn’t believe his horror scenarios is a fool. Yet ironically, when one looks at the data, Rahmstorf is exposed as the real fool.

In the event that Ms Amling is interested in facts, then she should consider the following: FACT: Sea level rise is decelerating. FACT: Global temperature has not risen at all in the last 10 years. FACT: Tropical storm activity has been falling since the 1980s. FACT: A huge number of scientists completely disagree with Rahmstorf. FACT: Rahmstorf’s sea level projection is an extreme outlier, way out of the mainstream.

Forget democracy, human freedom and free markets. These concepts, which have made today’s human prosperity and long lifespans a reality for humans, wherever and whenever they are given the chance to work, are upsetting a small but very elitist group of individuals who view these concepts as a disruption and a threat to their world view.

The English edition of Der Spiegel has a recent interview with Prof Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. In this interview Schellnhuber announced that he would unveil his “Master Plan” for transforming society – one no doubt that suits his world view.

In Schellhuber’s view, human society needs to be scaled back and managed by an elite group of “wise men” who know what is best for the rest. Schellnhuber’s contempt for today’s organisation of western society is illustrated by his statements.

For example Der Spiegel stumps Schellnhuber with a simple question: “Why is it that your messages haven’t been all that well received until now?” Schellnhuber responds: I’m neither a psychologist nor a sociologist. But my life experiences have shown that the love of convenience and ignorance are man’s biggest character flaws. It’s a potentially deadly mixture.”

Oh the contempt. So we are all too comfortable and ignorant. It’s time for “wiser men” to think for the rest of us. Your message, Mr Schellnhuber, has not been well received because it is anti-democratic and authoritarian. Your kind of thinking is a threat to the principles of Germany’s Constitution and so belongs under government observation.

Schellnhuber indeed has a very poor understanding of history. History teaches us a different lesson - that it is not the combination of love for convenience and ignorance that is man’s greatest flaw, rather it is the combination of towering arrogance and ignorance that is man’s greatest flaw. That is the real threat to society. Schellnhuber also denies climate history and concocts his own fraudulent version to warrant an authoritative intervention.

The belief that the planet needs to be dictated by a higher authority is what makes people like Schellnhuber so dangerous. Their impatience and frustration with democracy, and their claim to have superior knowledge, remind us of others who have led us us down very dark paths back in the 20th century.