The pre-debate poll of audience members indicated Lindzen, Stott and Crichton were facing an uphill fight.

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But does that mean Lindzen and all other climate scientists who dare to challenge the status quo are being unfairly treated?

FORBES: Climate Sins and the High Priests of Peer Review

Ironically, Lindzen is himself the only climate scientist I am aware of who has also expressed almost theological support for peer review.

FORBES: Climate Sins and the High Priests of Peer Review

Although the paper was subsequently accepted by another peer-reviewed journal, Lindzen felt sufficiently mistreated to make the whole correspondence with the PNAS publicly available.

FORBES: Climate Sins and the High Priests of Peer Review

Even the arch climate sceptic Richard Lindzen agrees it will warm by one degree or so, but maintains we can be fairly relaxed about that.

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Asked about glacial melt, which many observers point to as evidence of global warming, Lindzen said the way glaciers change and move are phenomena largely unexplained.

CNN: Global warming: A natural cycle or human result?

Indeed, if peer review was always applied as rigorously as it was for Lindzen, we would have a lot less and a lot better climate science.

FORBES: Climate Sins and the High Priests of Peer Review

But there are those who do not share his view, and among the skeptics is Richard Lindzen, a professor of atmospheric sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

CNN: Global warming: A natural cycle or human result?

One major unsettled issue in climate science indeed is what this sensitivity is, and several threads of information, including the surface temperature history, and water vapor and cloud data argue Lindzen may be correct.

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