Commentary on the debate between James Hansen and Patrick Michaels, November 1998

I am a biologist turned social scientist conducting research on climate change from a science studies perspective and more recently with respect to climate change impacts assessment. In the early to mid-1990s I spent several months working at the Hadley Centre of the UK Meteorological Oμ ce, as well as visiting a number of other major climate modelling groups in the USA and Germany. In this brief commentary, I will discuss the contrast between Michaels ’ more empirical style and Hansen’s more theorydriven approach to climate change science. I will argue that Michaels ’ appeal to a comparison of ‘data ’ and ‘models ’ is misleading because of the inadequacy of the datasets he attempts to use and the interpretation he provides. Without a critique of the construction of climate models per se his case is much weakened.