The topic of the symposium was the scientific validity of a study that described temperature trends over the last one thousand years. A team of scientists, including Dr. Mann, who was (and still is) a leading figure in the field, had studied the issue and in the late 1990’s produced a temperature graph that was commonly referred to as “The Hockey Stick”:

The 2006 symposium asked: was it good research? One of the scientists attending was Dr. Mann, who gave a talk. Although I had attended the 2006 symposium and had heard this presentation, I hadn’t gotten a chance to meet him personally.

Dr. Mann was – and still is – a strong member of what is called the “climate crisis camp,” as opposed to the “climate skeptics camp,” who are skeptical about the theory of human-caused climate change. Members of the crisis camp often refer to the skeptics as “climate deniers.”

For the record, I think “climate deniers” is a derogatory term.

In addition, my view was – and still is – that Michael Mann’s science was suspect. That the science that supports the ideas of a climate crisis – or that we’re having a negative impact on climate – has a lot of weakness to it. But that’s just my view, as a non-scientist.

Anyway, fast forward back to 2012. I went to the post-lecture reception and introduced myself to Dr. Mann.

I felt nervous about talking to him, because he’s very vocal about his negative public attitude regarding people who disagree with him. So I was afraid he would vocally jump down my throat.

But I was willing to go up to Dr. Mann and say, I’m really interested to meet you. And by the way, I happen to be one of those people that you refer to in your book as a climate denier.

He replied, Well, wait a sec. Are you denying that carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas? And I said, No.

He asked, Because you’re denying that human activity releases more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere? I said, No.

He continued, Are you denying that the concentration of carbon dioxide since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution has gone from something like 280 parts per million to 380 parts?

No.

Are you denying that it’s gotten about a degree warmer in the last century?

No.

Well, he asked, what are you denying?

I answered that all I’m denying is the idea that human emissions of carbon dioxide are the primary driver of climate change.

We bantered along for about 15 minutes. We had a great chat.

And while we’re having this chat, all of these other professors were just standing there around us and watching. As far as I could tell, they were astonished that an “amateur” could engage the interest of a guy like Michael Mann for as long as I did.

At one point, I said to him, you know, you’re are such a nice guy. I wasn’t anticipating that. Based on your public persona, you’re very critical of people who disagree with you. I didn’t expect you to be so friendly in person.

And as far as can I remember, that was the end of the conversation.

Later, I thought more about what Dr. Mann had said.

By that point, I’d been reading Steve McIntyre’s articles for about nine years. I had met Steve on a number of occasions. I’ve gotten to know him personally.

And as far as I can remember, the only negative or critical things that Steve McIntyre has ever said about Michael Mann was about his scientific method, his use of statistics in analyzing proxy data, and his conclusions about temperature trends.

But nothing truly personal.

And in fact, I knew that Steve had publicly said in his blog that he’d like to work together with Michael.

But when Dr. Mann complained about all the horrible things that McIntyre said, I didn’t have the presence of mind to explain Mr. McIntyre’s actual opinion about him as a person.

Maybe I could try to think of a way to explain my impression and get the to of them together. I’m still trying. Maybe my Climate Verso podcast could have something to do about it in the future.

I recently reached out to Steve about appearing on the podcast, and he has graciously agreed. I’d love to have Dr. Mann be the counterpoint guest opposite Steve, but I’m doubtful I can pull that off. However, I do have some other really good ideas about who to match up in a conversation with Steve. I’ll keep you posted.

Keep the conversation going! Please share your comments, feedback, questions, additional information, funny anecdotes, or ideas for future blog posts in the Comments below. Thanks!