The War of the Graphs - Climate Change: Identification and Projections - page 29

3
The War of the Graphs
Who controls the past controls the future .
Who controls the present controls the past.
Orwell, 1984.
Such a chapter should not be found in a scientific work. It is
necessary, however, given the controversial context unsettling the climate
change issue.
3.1. History
Since its inception, the IPCC heavily communicated on the link between
global warming and the exponential increase in the concentration of CO 2 in
the atmosphere. The argument reached its climax following the release of
the third IPCC report in 2001, with the publication of the temperature curve
known as the hockey stick graph by Michael Mann et al . (1998, 1999). This
famous curve was used as the background to a number of climate
conferences. Figure 3.1 below, shows Sir John T. Hougthon, founding
member of the IPCC, during a speech on climate change (High Wycombe,
2005).
The hockey stick graph was an intensively used weapon in what some
people referred to as 'the battle of the graphs'. As early as 1995, Jonathan
Overpeck (Director of the Institute for the Study of Planet Earth), reportedly