Online lecture by Dr Roger Pielke, Jr
In this lecture, Dr Pielke will explain how the biggest story in climate science in decades has been mostly ignored. The secretive committee responsible for official IPCC scenarios has declared the high‐end scenarios, RCP8.5, SSP5‐8.5, and SSP3‐7.0, to be implausible. These scenarios have dominated climate research, headlines and policy for the better part of two decades. This event received very little media coverage. The Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant, headlined it as: UN Climate Panel Drops Doomsday Scenario. A Dutch science journalist posted on X: “This is so huge. Mindblowing. Crazy. The IPCC admits what’s been circulating for a while: the highest doomsday scenario, 8.5, no longer matches reality”. The German Die Welt declared: “The most sensationalist of all climate scenarios (RCP8.5) has determined scientific studies, media and politics, yet it is unrealistic; now it is actually being phased out.” English‐speaking media in the US and Europe have largely ignored this inconvenient story, hence this lecture. Dr Pielke will also touch on a new study that finds the IPCC Summary for Policymakers has
systematically amplified climate science beyond what the underlying report actually says. This is a not‐to‐be‐missed lecture; it will also lead to a great Q&A and discussion.
Event details
- Date: 24 June 2026 – 18:00 GMT
- Location: online
- Entrance fee: request via email jim@jimobriencsr.com
(unless you are on the mailinglist already)
Roger Pielke, Jr. is an American political scientist and a senior fellow at the`conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute. He describes himself as an “undisciplined professor” of science, policy and politics. He holds degrees in mathematics, public policy and political science, all from the University of Colorado. In 2006, he received the Eduard Brückner Prize in Munich, Germany, for outstanding achievement in interdisciplinary climate research. Formerly a Scientist at the National Centre for Atmospheric Research, in 2012 Roger was awarded an honorary doctorate from Linköping University in Sweden and was also awarded the Public Service Award of the Geological Society of America. A prolific writer, his interests include understanding the politicization of science; decision making under uncertainty; policy education for scientists in areas such as climate change and disaster mitigation. He is also author or co‐author of many books, including The Honest Broker: Making Sense of Science in Policy and Politics, The Climate Fix: What Scientists and Politicians Won’t Tell you About Global Warming and The Rightful Place of Science: Disasters and Climate Change.
Watch the lecture here.
Other events
April 1, 2026: The Great Climate Climbdown is finally here – How can we undo the Damage Caused ?
Online lecture by Matt Ridley Organized by ICSF In a recent leader in the “Spectator” magazine, Matt declared that “Finally, thankfully, the global warming craze is dying out. To paraphrase Monty Python, the climate [...]
February 25, 2026: The 2022 Hunga Tonga Subsea Eruption – What Effect did it have on Climate?
Online lecture by Dr Javier Vinós Organized by ICSF In January 2022, a massive underwater volcano erupted at Tonga, shooting so much water into the stratosphere that water vapor levels there suddenly rose by [...]
January 21, 2026: With climate realism ascendant, what now?
Online lecture by Dr Steven E Koonin Organized by ICSF Dr Koonin achieved international headlines on publication of his book “Unsettled? What Climate Science tells us, what it doesn’t, and why it matters”, advocating [...]
