Benny Peiser
Encyclopedia
Benny Josef Peiser, born 1957, is a social anthropologist specializing in the environmental and socio-economic impact of physical activity on health. He was a senior lecturer in the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences at Liverpool John Moores University
(LJMU) until July 2010, and is a visiting fellow at the University of Buckingham
.
Peiser is director of the Global Warming Policy Foundation
, was the founder of the Cambridge Conference Network, and is a member of the editorial advisory board of Energy and Environment
. He is a regular contributor to Canada's National Post
.
and studied political science, English, and sports science
in Frankfurt.
and catastrophic events on contemporary thought and societal evolution; climate change and science communication; international climate policy; the risks posed by near-Earth object
s; and the environmental and socio-economic impacts of physical activity.
in 2005 he stated: "The lack of a balanced approach to the issue of global warming has led to an extremely one-sided and alarmist perception of risk." ... ""climate alarmists habitually ignore the potential economic and health benefits of warming temperatures. While magnifying the probable risks to health and mortality as a result of warmer temperatures, many underrate or simply discount the possible heath benefits of moderate warming". In an interview in Local Transport Today in 2006 Peiser argued that environmental concerns in general and concern about global warming
in particular had reached a level of "near hysteria" and was "poisonous for rational policy making".
In 2009, in response to a prediction by James E. Hansen from Nasa
that sea levels could rise by 60 cm, he said that “The predictions come in thick and fast, but we take them all with a pinch of salt. We look out of the window and it’s very cold, it doesn’t seem to be warming.”
by Naomi Oreskes
titled Beyond the Ivory Tower: The Scientific Consensus on Climate Change. It researched the hypothesis that legitimate dissenting opinions on anthropogenic climate change might be downplayed in scientific papers and concluded that 75 percent of the examined abstract
s either explicitly or implicitly backed the consensus view, while none directly dissented from it. The essay received a great deal of media attention from around the world and has been cited by many prominent persons including as Al Gore
in the movie An Inconvenient Truth
, the Royal Society
and Prof Sir David King
, the UK Government's chief scientific adviser.
Peiser identified an error in this paper in that keywords used in the ISI database search were in fact 'global climate change' and not 'climate change' as originally stated which resulted in a correction being published by Science.
Noticing that the original research had limited itself to articles in peer-reviewed publications Peiser then performed a similar survey that included non-scientific, non-peer reviewed publications and wrote a letter to Science claiming that only 29% of such papers agreed with the consensus viewpoint, while 3% explicitly disagreed. Science chose not to publish Peiser's letter saying that the basic contents of his letter weren't novel enough to be published, as they were "widely dispersed on the internet." In an article in The Daily Telegraph
Peiser claimed that leading scientific journals were 'censoring debate on global warming' and that Science "has a duty to publish [his research]".
One of his main points of criticism is that the vast majority of the abstracts referred to in the study do not mention anthropogenic climate change, and only 13 of the 928 abstracts explicitly endorse what Oreskes called the "consensus view". Peiser later admitted that it was a mistake to include one of the papers in his survey, and said that his main criticism of Oreskes' essay was "that[Oreskes] claim of a unanimous consensus on [anthropogenic global warming] (as opposed to a majority consensus) is tenuous" and that it still was valid.
In a 2006 letter to Australia's Media Watch, Peiser explained that he had retracted some of his original critique and elaborated on some of his comments: "I do not think anyone is questioning that we are in a period of global warming. Neither do I doubt that the overwhelming majority of climatologists is agreed that the current warming period is mostly due to human impact. However, this majority consensus is far from unanimous".
UK, and a German libertarian blog, "Achse des Guten" ("Axis of Good"). A 10 km-wide asteroid, Minor Planet (7107) Peiser, is named in his honour by the International Astronomical Union
.
of Greece with reference to the Ancient Olympic Games")
Liverpool John Moores University
Liverpool John Moores University is a British 'modern' university located in the city of Liverpool, England. The university is named after John Moores and was previously called Liverpool Mechanics' School of Arts and later Liverpool Polytechnic before gaining university status in 1992, thus...
(LJMU) until July 2010, and is a visiting fellow at the University of Buckingham
University of Buckingham
The University of Buckingham is an independent, non-sectarian, research and teaching university located in Buckingham, Buckinghamshire, England, on the banks of the River Great Ouse. It was originally founded as Buckingham University College in the 1970s and received its Royal Charter from the...
.
Peiser is director of the Global Warming Policy Foundation
Global Warming Policy Foundation
The Global Warming Policy Foundation is a registered, educational charity and think tank in the United Kingdom, whose stated aims are to challenge "extremely damaging and harmful policies" envisaged by governments to mitigate anthropogenic global warming.-History:Established in November 2009,...
, was the founder of the Cambridge Conference Network, and is a member of the editorial advisory board of Energy and Environment
Energy and Environment
Energy & Environment is a peer-reviewed academic journal aimed at natural scientists, technologists, and the international social science and policy communities covering the direct and indirect environmental impacts of energy acquisition, transport, production and use. Its editor-in-chief since...
. He is a regular contributor to Canada's National Post
National Post
The National Post is a Canadian English-language national newspaper based in Don Mills, a district of Toronto. The paper is owned by Postmedia Network Inc. and is published Mondays through Saturdays...
.
Background
Peiser was educated in West GermanyWest Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
and studied political science, English, and sports science
Sports science
Sport science is a discipline that studies the application of scientific principles and techniques with the aim of improving sporting performance...
in Frankfurt.
Career and research interests
Peiser was previously employed as an historian of ancient sport at the University of Frankfurt. He listed his research interests at LJMU as the effects of environmental changeEnvironmental change
Environmental change is defined as a change or disturbance of the environment by natural ecological processes, and is described in the following articles:*Climate change*Environment...
and catastrophic events on contemporary thought and societal evolution; climate change and science communication; international climate policy; the risks posed by near-Earth object
Near-Earth object
A near-Earth object is a Solar System object whose orbit brings it into close proximity with the Earth. All NEOs have a perihelion distance less than 1.3 AU. They include a few thousand near-Earth asteroids , near-Earth comets, a number of solar-orbiting spacecraft, and meteoroids large enough to...
s; and the environmental and socio-economic impacts of physical activity.
Involvement in the climate-change debate
During a debate at the Oxford UnionOxford Union
The Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to simply as the Oxford Union, is a debating society in the city of Oxford, Britain, whose membership is drawn primarily but not exclusively from the University of Oxford...
in 2005 he stated: "The lack of a balanced approach to the issue of global warming has led to an extremely one-sided and alarmist perception of risk." ... ""climate alarmists habitually ignore the potential economic and health benefits of warming temperatures. While magnifying the probable risks to health and mortality as a result of warmer temperatures, many underrate or simply discount the possible heath benefits of moderate warming". In an interview in Local Transport Today in 2006 Peiser argued that environmental concerns in general and concern about global warming
Global warming
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
in particular had reached a level of "near hysteria" and was "poisonous for rational policy making".
In 2009, in response to a prediction by James E. Hansen from Nasa
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
that sea levels could rise by 60 cm, he said that “The predictions come in thick and fast, but we take them all with a pinch of salt. We look out of the window and it’s very cold, it doesn’t seem to be warming.”
Objections to Oreskes essay
In 2004 a paper was published in the journal ScienceScience (journal)
Science is the academic journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and is one of the world's top scientific journals....
by Naomi Oreskes
Naomi Oreskes
Naomi Oreskes is an American science historian, and Professor of History and Science Studies at the University of California San Diego. She has worked on studies of geophysics, environmental issues such as global warming, and the history of science...
titled Beyond the Ivory Tower: The Scientific Consensus on Climate Change. It researched the hypothesis that legitimate dissenting opinions on anthropogenic climate change might be downplayed in scientific papers and concluded that 75 percent of the examined abstract
Abstract (summary)
An abstract is a brief summary of a research article, thesis, review, conference proceeding or any in-depth analysis of a particular subject or discipline, and is often used to help the reader quickly ascertain the paper's purpose. When used, an abstract always appears at the beginning of a...
s either explicitly or implicitly backed the consensus view, while none directly dissented from it. The essay received a great deal of media attention from around the world and has been cited by many prominent persons including as Al Gore
Al Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
in the movie An Inconvenient Truth
An Inconvenient Truth
An Inconvenient Truth is a 2006 documentary film directed by Davis Guggenheim about former United States Vice President Al Gore's campaign to educate citizens about global warming via a comprehensive slide show that, by his own estimate, he has given more than a thousand times.Premiering at the...
, the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
and Prof Sir David King
David King (scientist)
Sir David Anthony King FRS is the Director of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at the University of Oxford, Director of Research in Physical Chemistry at the University of Cambridge, Director of the Collegio Carlo Alberto, Chancellor of the University of Liverpool and a senior...
, the UK Government's chief scientific adviser.
Peiser identified an error in this paper in that keywords used in the ISI database search were in fact 'global climate change' and not 'climate change' as originally stated which resulted in a correction being published by Science.
Noticing that the original research had limited itself to articles in peer-reviewed publications Peiser then performed a similar survey that included non-scientific, non-peer reviewed publications and wrote a letter to Science claiming that only 29% of such papers agreed with the consensus viewpoint, while 3% explicitly disagreed. Science chose not to publish Peiser's letter saying that the basic contents of his letter weren't novel enough to be published, as they were "widely dispersed on the internet." In an article in The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
Peiser claimed that leading scientific journals were 'censoring debate on global warming' and that Science "has a duty to publish [his research]".
One of his main points of criticism is that the vast majority of the abstracts referred to in the study do not mention anthropogenic climate change, and only 13 of the 928 abstracts explicitly endorse what Oreskes called the "consensus view". Peiser later admitted that it was a mistake to include one of the papers in his survey, and said that his main criticism of Oreskes' essay was "that
In a 2006 letter to Australia's Media Watch, Peiser explained that he had retracted some of his original critique and elaborated on some of his comments: "I do not think anyone is questioning that we are in a period of global warming. Neither do I doubt that the overwhelming majority of climatologists is agreed that the current warming period is mostly due to human impact. However, this majority consensus is far from unanimous".
Other interests
Peiser is a member of SpaceguardSpaceguard
The term Spaceguard loosely refers to a number of efforts to discover and study near-Earth objects . Asteroids are discovered by telescopes which repeatedly survey large areas of sky. Efforts which concentrate on discovering NEOs are considered part of the "Spaceguard Survey," regardless of which...
UK, and a German libertarian blog, "Achse des Guten" ("Axis of Good"). A 10 km-wide asteroid, Minor Planet (7107) Peiser, is named in his honour by the International Astronomical Union
International Astronomical Union
The International Astronomical Union IAU is a collection of professional astronomers, at the Ph.D. level and beyond, active in professional research and education in astronomy...
.
Selected publications
("The dark age of Olympia, critical investigation of the historical, archeological and natural science problems of the Axial ageAxial Age
German philosopher Karl Jaspers coined the term the axial age or axial period to describe the period from 800 to 200 BC, during which, according to Jaspers, similar revolutionary thinking appeared in India, China and the Occident...
of Greece with reference to the Ancient Olympic Games")
- B. Peiser (2003) Climate Change and Civilisation Collapse, in
- M. Paine and B. Peiser (2004) The frequency and consequences of cosmic impacts since the demise of the dinosaurs, in: Bioastronomy 2002: Life among the Stars, eds. R. Norris & F. Stootman, (Sydney), 214–226
- B. Peiser and T. Reilly (2004) Environmental factors in the summer Olympics in historical perspective. Journal of Sports Science 22(10) 981–1002
- B. Peiser (2005) From Genocide to Ecocide: The Rape of Rapa Nui. Energy & Environment 16:3&4, pp. 513–539
- B. Peiser (2005) Cultural aspects of neo-catastrophism: Implications for archaeoastronomy. In: Current Studies in Archaeoastronomy (J Fountain and R Sinclair, eds). The Carolina Academic Press Press, Durham, North Carolina, pp. 25–37
- T. Reilly and B. Peiser (2006) Seasonal variations in health-related human physical activity, Sports Medicine 36:6, 473–485
- A. Ball, S. Kelley and B. Peiser (2006) Near Earth Objects and the Impact Hazard. (Milton Keynes: Open University)
- B Peiser, T Reilly, G Atkinson, B Drust, J Waterhouse (2006). Seasonal changes and physiological responses: Their impact on activity, health, exercise and athletic performance. (The extreme environment and sports medicine) International SportMed Journal 7(1), 16–32.
- Barry W. Brook et al. (2007) Would the Australian megafauna have become extinct if humans had never colonised the continent? Quaternary Science Reviews, Volume 26, Issues 1–2, January 2007.