He refers the reader to the George Brown article in the March 1997 issue of Environment, which is based on a blatantly partisan staff report. The reader is not told about the replies to Brown in the May issue that sets the record straight. There are, at best, only about 100 climate scientists in this IPCC listing of economists, political scientists, government functionaries, and public relations specialists. The process of science is one where hypotheses are formed and revised in the light of new information. The quality of information is a key and Singer is guilty of very selective use of the information available.
Global temperatures fluctuate on various time scales even in the absence of any climate change.
It has now emerged that 1997 is the warmest year on record in the surface temperatures. So it is always possible to select a point, such as 1940, and say there has been a decline in temperatures for a while since then. Unfortunately it is not as well documented as recent events so its true magnitude is hard to determine. To claim that temperatures declined from 1940 to 1975, as Singer does, is disingenuous. Examining the entire record, as given in the figure in my article, shows the underlying strong slow upward trend, as expected with global warming.