Nils-Axel Mörner
Encyclopedia
Nils-Axel Mörner, born 1938, is the former head of the Paleogeophysics and Geodynamics
department at Stockholm University
. He retired in 2005. He was president of the International Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA) Commission on Neotectonics
(1981–1989). He headed the INTAS (International Association for the promotion of cooperation with scientists from the New Independent States of the former Soviet Union) Project on Geomagnetism and Climate
(1997–2003). He is a critic of the IPCC
and the notion that the global sea level
is rising. He's also been the Chairman of INQUA Commission on Sea Level Changes and Coastal Evolution. He also led the Maldives Sea Level Project. He is also known for his support for dowsing
.
and eustasy, the oscillating regional eustatic curve of NW Europe, the changing geoid
concept, the redefinition of the concept of eustasy, the dynamic-rotational redistribution of oceanic water masses, and the interchange of angular momentum
between the hydrosphere
and solid Earth. His publications span over thirty years. His most cited paper has been cited about 30 times in early 2008. At that time his Hirsch index, as ascertained with Google Scholar, was 9, meaning that nine of his papers which are in the Google Scholar system had been cited 9 or more times by other papers in Google Scholar.
Mörner argues that sea level rise will not exceed 200 mm, within a range of either +100±100 mm or +50±150 mm based on satellite data over the last 40 years and observational records over the last 300 years.
In 2004 the president of INQUA wrote that INQUA did not subscribe to Mörner's views on climate change.
In 2000 he launched an international sea level research project in the Maldives
which claims to demonstrate an absence of signs of any on-going sea level rise. Despite President Gayoom speaking in the past about the impending dangers to his country, the Maldives, Mörner concluded that the people of the Maldives have in the past survived a higher sea level about 50–60 cm and there is evidence of a significant sea level fall in the last 30 years in that Indian Ocean area. However, these conclusions were not supported by follow-up studies.
Mörner's claim that sea levels are not rising has been criticised for ignoring correctly calibrated satellite altimeter records, all of which show that sea levels are rising.
. http://www.astromeditions.com/library/Bookresp.asp?Book=R56
He was elected "Deceiver of the year" by Föreningen Vetenskap och Folkbildning
in 1995 for "organizing university courses about dowsing...".
In 1997 James Randi
asked him to claim The One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge, making a controlled experiment to prove that dowsing works. Mörner declined the offer.
sea level chapter. and president of the INQUA (International Union for Quaternary Research
) Commission on Sea Level Changes and Coastal Evolution (1999–2003).
Mörner, at the time president of the INQUA
Commission on Sea Level Changes and Coastal Evolution, wrote about the IPCC TAR in 2000.
Geodynamics
Geodynamics is a subfield of geophysics dealing with dynamics of the Earth. It applies physics, chemistry and mathematics to the understanding of how mantle convection leads to plate tectonics and geologic phenomena such as seafloor spreading, mountain building, volcanoes, earthquakes, faulting and...
department at Stockholm University
Stockholm University
Stockholm University is a state university in Stockholm, Sweden. It has over 28,000 students at four faculties, making it one of the largest universities in Scandinavia. The institution is also frequently regarded as one of the top 100 universities in the world...
. He retired in 2005. He was president of the International Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA) Commission on Neotectonics
Neotectonics
Neotectonics is a subdiscipline of tectonics. It is the study of the motions and deformations of the Earth's crust which are current or recent in geologic time. The term may also refer to the motions/deformations in question themselves. The corresponding time frame is referred to as the...
(1981–1989). He headed the INTAS (International Association for the promotion of cooperation with scientists from the New Independent States of the former Soviet Union) Project on Geomagnetism and Climate
Climate
Climate encompasses the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and other meteorological elemental measurements in a given region over long periods...
(1997–2003). He is a critic of the IPCC
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is a scientific intergovernmental body which provides comprehensive assessments of current scientific, technical and socio-economic information worldwide about the risk of climate change caused by human activity, its potential environmental and...
and the notion that the global sea level
Sea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
is rising. He's also been the Chairman of INQUA Commission on Sea Level Changes and Coastal Evolution. He also led the Maldives Sea Level Project. He is also known for his support for dowsing
Dowsing
Dowsing is a type of divination employed in attempts to locate ground water, buried metals or ores, gemstones, oil, gravesites, and many other objects and materials, as well as so-called currents of earth radiation , without the use of scientific apparatus...
.
Publications
Mörner has published books and papers on the interaction among isostasyIsostasy
Isostasy is a term used in geology to refer to the state of gravitational equilibrium between the earth's lithosphere and asthenosphere such that the tectonic plates "float" at an elevation which depends on their thickness and density. This concept is invoked to explain how different topographic...
and eustasy, the oscillating regional eustatic curve of NW Europe, the changing geoid
Geoid
The geoid is that equipotential surface which would coincide exactly with the mean ocean surface of the Earth, if the oceans were in equilibrium, at rest , and extended through the continents . According to C.F...
concept, the redefinition of the concept of eustasy, the dynamic-rotational redistribution of oceanic water masses, and the interchange of angular momentum
Angular momentum
In physics, angular momentum, moment of momentum, or rotational momentum is a conserved vector quantity that can be used to describe the overall state of a physical system...
between the hydrosphere
Hydrosphere
A hydrosphere in physical geography describes the combined mass of water found on, under, and over the surface of a planet....
and solid Earth. His publications span over thirty years. His most cited paper has been cited about 30 times in early 2008. At that time his Hirsch index, as ascertained with Google Scholar, was 9, meaning that nine of his papers which are in the Google Scholar system had been cited 9 or more times by other papers in Google Scholar.
Views on sea level change
Mörner disagrees with the view of future rise in sea level caused by "Global Warming". A recent booklet The Greatest Lie Ever Told, published by Mörner, refers to observational records of sea levels for the past 300 years that show variations - ups and downs, but no significant trend. This contrasts with the usual view that sea level rise has been occurring at 2–3 mm/yr over the last century. Mörner asserts that satellite altimetry data indicate a mean rise in the order of 1.0 mm/yr from 1986 to 1996, whereas most studies find a value around 3 mm/yr.Mörner argues that sea level rise will not exceed 200 mm, within a range of either +100±100 mm or +50±150 mm based on satellite data over the last 40 years and observational records over the last 300 years.
In 2004 the president of INQUA wrote that INQUA did not subscribe to Mörner's views on climate change.
In 2000 he launched an international sea level research project in the Maldives
Maldives
The Maldives , , officially Republic of Maldives , also referred to as the Maldive Islands, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean formed by a double chain of twenty-six atolls oriented north-south off India's Lakshadweep islands, between Minicoy Island and...
which claims to demonstrate an absence of signs of any on-going sea level rise. Despite President Gayoom speaking in the past about the impending dangers to his country, the Maldives, Mörner concluded that the people of the Maldives have in the past survived a higher sea level about 50–60 cm and there is evidence of a significant sea level fall in the last 30 years in that Indian Ocean area. However, these conclusions were not supported by follow-up studies.
Mörner's claim that sea levels are not rising has been criticised for ignoring correctly calibrated satellite altimeter records, all of which show that sea levels are rising.
Views on dowsing
Mörner has written a number of works claiming to provide theoretical support for dowsingDowsing
Dowsing is a type of divination employed in attempts to locate ground water, buried metals or ores, gemstones, oil, gravesites, and many other objects and materials, as well as so-called currents of earth radiation , without the use of scientific apparatus...
. http://www.astromeditions.com/library/Bookresp.asp?Book=R56
He was elected "Deceiver of the year" by Föreningen Vetenskap och Folkbildning
Föreningen Vetenskap och Folkbildning
Vetenskap och Folkbildning or The Swedish Skeptics' Association, abbreviated as VoF, is a Swedish skeptics' association. It was founded in 1982 with the purpose to raise the general public's awareness of scientific methods and results...
in 1995 for "organizing university courses about dowsing...".
In 1997 James Randi
James Randi
James Randi is a Canadian-American stage magician and scientific skeptic best known as a challenger of paranormal claims and pseudoscience. Randi is the founder of the James Randi Educational Foundation...
asked him to claim The One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge, making a controlled experiment to prove that dowsing works. Mörner declined the offer.
Critique of IPCC results
Nils-Axel Mörner has been critical of the IPCC Third Assessment ReportIPCC Third Assessment Report
The IPCC Third Assessment Report, Climate Change 2001, is an assessment of available scientific and socio-economic information on climate change by the IPCC. The IPCC was established in 1988 by the United Nations Environment Programme and the UN's World Meteorological Organization ".....
sea level chapter. and president of the INQUA (International Union for Quaternary Research
International Union for Quaternary Research
The International Union for Quaternary Research was founded in 1928. It has members from a number of scientific disciplines who study the environmental changes that occurred during the glacial ages, the last 2.6 million years...
) Commission on Sea Level Changes and Coastal Evolution (1999–2003).
"The late 20th century sea level rise rate lacks any sign of acceleration. Satellite altimetry indicates virtually no changes in the last decade. Therefore, observationally based predictions of future sea level in the year 2100 will give a value of +10±10 cm (or +5±15 cm), by this discarding model outputs by IPCC as well as global loading models. This implies that there is no fear of any massive future flooding as claimed in most global warming scenarios."
Mörner, at the time president of the INQUA
International Union for Quaternary Research
The International Union for Quaternary Research was founded in 1928. It has members from a number of scientific disciplines who study the environmental changes that occurred during the glacial ages, the last 2.6 million years...
Commission on Sea Level Changes and Coastal Evolution, wrote about the IPCC TAR in 2000.
- "0.09 to 0.88 metres between 1990 and 2100” – from SRES scenarios. These values are completely misleading and false. Our INQUA Commission on “Sea Level Changes and Coastal Evolution” (which hosts the leading world experts on just the topic) has a totally different view (expressed in my previous reviews). The expert/observational-based figure is 10 cm ±10 cm." However, INQUA has since then published a statement on climate change that endorses the IPCC's assessment, explicitly quoting the IPCC's estimate of a global mean sea level rise "between 0.2 and 0.6 meters between 1990 and 2100". http://www.inqua.tcd.ie/documents/iscc.pdf
- "It has been popular to threaten “small islands and low-lying coasts” with scenarios of disastrous future flooding. The MaldivesMaldivesThe Maldives , , officially Republic of Maldives , also referred to as the Maldive Islands, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean formed by a double chain of twenty-six atolls oriented north-south off India's Lakshadweep islands, between Minicoy Island and...
has been the most utilised target. We have undertaken a careful analysis of actual sea level changes in the Maldives. No rise has been recorded either in the present or the past centuries. Instead we have documented a significant sea level fall in the last 20–30 years. Take this as Reality contra Models." - "All handling by IPCC of the Sea Level questions have been done in a way that cannot be accepted and that certainly not concur with modern knowledge of the mode and mechanism of sea level changes."
- On TAR Chapter 11:
- "Chapter 11 on "Sea Level Changes" was written by 33 persons; none of which represents actual sea level research. I have now finished a 7 pages review report. It is a most shocking reading; lots of modeler wishes but very little hard facts based on real observational data by true sea level specialists. It seems that the authors involved in this chapter were chosen not because of their deep knowledge in the subject, but rather because they should say what the climate model had predicted. This chapter has a low and unacceptable standard. It should be completely rewritten by a totally new group of authors chosen among the group of true sea level specialists." http://web.archive.org/web/20040725130615/http://www.pog.su.se/sea/HP-14.+IPCC-3.pdf
External links
- Interview: Dr. Nils-Axel Mörner - Claim That Sea Level Is Rising Is a Total Fraud
- Interview: Dr. Nils-Axel Mörner - Sea-level Expert: It's Not Rising!
- James Randi: End-of-month-notes, March 1998 - Looking in on Sweden (Nils-Axel Morner)
- Vetenskap och Folkbildning articles on Mörner
- Sea Level Research
- The Maldives Project