Fifteen years ago, on this day, November 25th, 2010,
2010 GB Tucker dies, after writing a bunch of shite in the IPA Review after retirement (f.ex. November 30, 1994 – Another denialist dolt – “Global warming a clouded issue”)
In 1986, he was singing a different tune.
The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was 390ppm. As of 2025, when this post was published, it is 430ppm. This matters because the more carbon dioxide in the air, the more heat gets trapped. The more heat, the more extreme weather events. You can make it more complicated than that if you want, but really, it’s not. Fwiw, I have a tattoo of the Keeling Curve on my left forearm.
The broader context was that Tucker had written the 1981 monograph on C02. (LINK)
The specific context was that upon retiring from the CSIRO’s Atmospheric Physics division Tucker had written a couple of dodgy denialist articles for the Institute of Public Affairs. An ignominious end to what could have been a reasonable career.
What I think we can learn from this – 1) people get Relevance Deprivation Syndrome. 2) Education is no real protection against being spectacularly wrong.
What happened next – denialism continued, obvs.
What do you think? Does this pass the ‘so what?’ threshold? Have I got facts wrong? Interpretation wrong? Please do comment on this post, unless you are a denialist, obvs.
Also on this day:
November 25, 1968 – First atmospheric layers collection of carbon dioxide… – All Our Yesterdays
November 25, 1993 – House of Commons briefing on carbon taxes