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'''Ross McKitrick''' is a ] ]. He is known for his work on ]. He is Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at the ], ] (since 2001{{Ref|Education}}) and, since 2002, Senior Fellow of the ], a Canadian policy ] that opposes the ]. '''Ross McKitrick''' is a ] ]. He is known for his work on ]. He is Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at the ], ] (since 2001{{Ref|Education}}) and, since 2002, Senior Fellow of the ], a Canadian policy ] that opposes the ].

⚫ McKitrick gained his ] in ] from the ], and in the same year was appointed Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics at the ] ).


McKitrick co-wrote the 2002 book with Christopher Essex. It was runner-up for the ] as the Best Canadian Book on Public Policy, and finalist for the ]. McKitrick co-wrote the 2002 book with Christopher Essex. It was runner-up for the ] as the Best Canadian Book on Public Policy, and finalist for the ].
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==Criticism of Mann et al== ==Criticism of Mann et al==


McKitrick has recently (since approximately ]) worked on ], concerning which he is a ]. His best-known work is , coauthored with ]. This presented an "audit" of work by ], Bradley, and Hughes (MBH); it appeared in ''Energy and Environment'' in ]. MBH have , claiming that the results are not affected. ''Nature'' published a corrigendum by MBH, including a re-statement of their data and methods, on ] ]. The corrigendum did not affect the results. In ], Ammann and Wahl claimed (in a ) to have replicated MBH, but their paper was rejected by ''Geophysical Research Letters''. McKitrick has recently (since approximately ]) worked on ], concerning which he is a ]. His best-known work is , coauthored with ]. This presented an "audit" of work by ], Bradley, and Hughes (MBH); it appeared in ''Energy and Environment'' in ]. The matter was later referred to '']'', following which Mann ''et al.'' published a corrigendum, including a re-statement of their data and methods, which appeared on ] ]. The corrigendum did not affect the results, however. Mann ''et al.'' have replied ; Ammann and Wahl have replicated MBH .


] and McKitrick have reported finding further errors in the MBH approach , . In ], they submitted a short article to ''Nature''; after two revisions to meet space limitations, ''Nature'' declined the submission, partly because it was to explain in 500 words. ] and Ross McKitrick reported founding further errors in the MBH approach . A paper claiming to show this was rejected by ''Nature''. The essence of their claim is that the statistical techniques used by MBH has a built-in tendency to produce an upward trend over the last century as an artefact of the data-processing. MBH deny this.


In October ], ] brought McKitrick and McIntyre's critique of MBH to wider public attention in a for ]. (]'s response to this colum is .) In October ], ] brought McKitrick and McIntyre's critique of MBH to wider public attention in a for ] but the claims are disputed ().


In February 2005, the article "Hockey Sticks, Principal Components and Spurious Significance" by McIntyre and McKitrick was published in ''Geophysical Research Letters''. In February 2005, the article "Hockey Sticks, Principal Components and Spurious Significance" by McIntyre and McKitrick was published in ''Geophysical Research Letters''.


To summarise McKitrick and McIntyre's critique, they claim that MBH: To summarise McKitrick and McIntyre's critique, they claim that MBH:

* normalized their data incorrectly for ] * normalized their data incorrectly for ]
* obtained, but did not report, correlation coefficients close to zero (indicating that their results lack ]) * obtained, but did not report, correlation coefficients close to zero (indicating that their results lack ])

* selected only part of the available data for analysis without explanation (the unused data being kept in a )
MBH deny this.
and that the global warming reported by MBH depends on the inclusion of data from a few bristlecone pines in California which are
.


== Criticism of McKitrick == == Criticism of McKitrick ==
McKitrick's own ] has been criticised. In ], he and ] published a ] in ''Climate Research'' and made their data and code available via the Internet. ] found a ] in their code related to whether a ] functions used radians or degrees. Lambert claimed that this bug invalidated their. McKitrick and Michaels acknowledged the error but that the effects were "very small", that the correction "improved the overall fit", and that their overall conclusion was unaffected . Lambert has other criticisms of McKitrick in a special on his blog. McKitrick's own ] has been criticised, in particular by ], who has written on his web page about what he considers serious flaws in McKitrick and ] 2004, notably a ] related to whether a ] functions used radians or degrees. Lambert this bug invalidated the conclusions of McKitrick and Michaels 2002. The authors have acknowledged the error but that the effects were "very small", that the correction "improved the overall fit", and that their overall conclusion was unaffected . Lambert has other criticisms of McKitrick in a special on his blog.


==Partial list of papers==
==Notes==
* Hockey sticks, principal components, and spurious significance McIntyre S, McKitrick R GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS 32 (3): art. no. L03710 FEB 12 2005 (times cited: 0)
<!--- If there were more info about his background, it could be a section. Currently there's not enough, so it's a footnote. --->
* A test of corrections for extraneous signals in gridded surface temperature data McKitrick R, Michaels PJ, CLIMATE RESEARCH 26 (2): 159-173 MAY 25 2004 (times cited: 2)
⚫ # {{Note|Education}} McKitrick gained his ] in ] from the ], and in the same year was appointed Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics at the ] ).
* The existence and uniqueness of optimal pollution policy in the presence of victim defense measures McKitrick R, Collinge RA, JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS AND MANAGEMENT 44 (1): 106-122 JUL 2002 (times cited: 0)
* The design of regulations expressed as ratios or percentage quotas McKitrick R, JOURNAL OF REGULATORY ECONOMICS 19 (3): 295-305 2001 (times cited: 0)
* Linear Pigovian taxes and the optimal size of a polluting industry, McKitrick R, Collinge RA CANADIAN JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS-REVUE CANADIENNE D ECONOMIQUE 33 (4): 1106-1119 NOV 2000 (times cited: 0)


==See also== ==See also==
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== External links == == External links ==
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Revision as of 18:05, 10 November 2005

Ross McKitrick is a Canadian environmental economist. He is known for his work on global warming. He is Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Guelph, Ontario (since 2001) and, since 2002, Senior Fellow of the Fraser Institute, a Canadian policy think tank that opposes the Kyoto Protocol.

McKitrick gained his doctorate in 1996 from the University of British Columbia, and in the same year was appointed Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Guelph ).

McKitrick co-wrote the 2002 book Taken By Storm: The Troubled Science, Policy and Politics of Global Warming with Christopher Essex. It was runner-up for the Donner Prize as the Best Canadian Book on Public Policy, and finalist for the Canadian Science Writers' Association Book Prize.

Criticism of Mann et al

McKitrick has recently (since approximately 2002) worked on global warming, concerning which he is a sceptic. His best-known work is Corrections to the Mann et al. (1998) Proxy Data Base and Northern Hemispheric Average Temperature Series, coauthored with Stephen McIntyre. This presented an "audit" of work by Michael Mann, Bradley, and Hughes (MBH); it appeared in Energy and Environment in 2003. The matter was later referred to Nature, following which Mann et al. published a corrigendum, including a re-statement of their data and methods, which appeared on July 1 2004. The corrigendum did not affect the results, however. Mann et al. have replied ; Ammann and Wahl have replicated MBH .

Stephen McIntyre and Ross McKitrick reported founding further errors in the MBH approach . A paper claiming to show this was rejected by Nature. The essence of their claim is that the statistical techniques used by MBH has a built-in tendency to produce an upward trend over the last century as an artefact of the data-processing. MBH deny this.

In October 2004, Richard A. Muller brought McKitrick and McIntyre's critique of MBH to wider public attention in a column for Technology Review but the claims are disputed (here).

In February 2005, the article "Hockey Sticks, Principal Components and Spurious Significance" by McIntyre and McKitrick was published in Geophysical Research Letters.

To summarise McKitrick and McIntyre's critique, they claim that MBH:

MBH deny this.

Criticism of McKitrick

McKitrick's own data analysis has been criticised, in particular by Tim Lambert, who has written on his web page about what he considers serious flaws in McKitrick and Michaels 2004, notably a Software Bug related to whether a cosine functions used radians or degrees. Lambert claimed this bug invalidated the conclusions of McKitrick and Michaels 2002. The authors have acknowledged the error but claim that the effects were "very small", that the correction "improved the overall fit", and that their overall conclusion was unaffected . Lambert has other criticisms of McKitrick in a special category on his blog.

Partial list of papers

  • Hockey sticks, principal components, and spurious significance McIntyre S, McKitrick R GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS 32 (3): art. no. L03710 FEB 12 2005 (times cited: 0)
  • A test of corrections for extraneous signals in gridded surface temperature data McKitrick R, Michaels PJ, CLIMATE RESEARCH 26 (2): 159-173 MAY 25 2004 (times cited: 2)
  • The existence and uniqueness of optimal pollution policy in the presence of victim defense measures McKitrick R, Collinge RA, JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS AND MANAGEMENT 44 (1): 106-122 JUL 2002 (times cited: 0)
  • The design of regulations expressed as ratios or percentage quotas McKitrick R, JOURNAL OF REGULATORY ECONOMICS 19 (3): 295-305 2001 (times cited: 0)
  • Linear Pigovian taxes and the optimal size of a polluting industry, McKitrick R, Collinge RA CANADIAN JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS-REVUE CANADIENNE D ECONOMIQUE 33 (4): 1106-1119 NOV 2000 (times cited: 0)

See also

External links

Categories: