The ongoing assault on climate science in the United States has never
been more aggressive, more blatant, or more widely publicized than in
the case of the Hockey Stick graph--a clear and compelling visual
presentation of scientific data, put together by MichaelE. Mann and his
colleagues, demonstrating that global temperatures have risen in
conjunction with the increase in industrialization and the use of fossil
fuels. Here was an easy-to-understand graph that, in a glance, posed a
threat to major corporate energy interests and those who do their
political bidding. The stakes were simply too high to ignore the Hockey
Stick--and so began a relentless attack on a body of science and on the
investigators whose work formed its scientific basis.
The Hockey Stick achieved prominence in a 2001 UN report on climate
change and quickly became a central icon in the "climate wars." The real
issue has never been the graph's data but rather its implied threat to
those who oppose governmental regulation and other restraints to protect
the environment and planet. Mann, lead author of the original paper in
which the Hockey Stick first appeared, shares the story of the science
and politics behind this controversy. He reveals key figures in the oil
and energy industries and the media frontgroups who do their bidding in
sometimes slick, sometimes bare-knuckled ways. Mann concludes with the
real story of the 2009 "Climategate" scandal, in which climate
scientists' emails were hacked. This is essential reading for all who
care about our planet's health and our own well-being.
