Boris Johnson frozen out on twitter for ‘debunking’ global warming

Writing in The Telegraph today, the Mayor voiced his thoughts over the “unusual amount of snow” Britain has experienced in recent years, but said that to point the finger of blame at global warming was “obviously to strain the language”.

“I see from the BBC website that there are scientists who say that ‘global warming’ is indeed the cause of the cold and snowy winters we seem to be having.

“I merely observe that there are at least some other reputable scientists who say that it is complete tosh, or at least that there is no evidence to support it,” he wrote.

The Mayor referred to the astrophysicist Piers Corbyn who, he claimed, “has been bang on about these cold winters” with the theory that global temperature is dependent not on concentrations of CO2, but on the “mood” of the sun.

According to Corbyn, the world is not heating up, but rather, about to embark on a mini ice age due to a general decline in solar activity.

“I am speaking only as a layman who observes that there is plenty of snow in our winters these days, and who wonders whether it might be time for government to start taking seriously the possibility – however remote – that Corbyn is right,” the Mayor continued.

His comments were met with immediate hostility by several leading climate scientists and sustainability experts, who voiced their opinions on twitter, calling the Mayor’s views “arrogant” and “ill-informed”.

Respected Guardian commentator George Monbiot asked: “How did we get to point at which senior [politicians] can embrace complete junk science [without] political cost?” while environmentalist Joss Garman tweeted: “Boris devotes his column today to pushing cranks theories on climate change”.

Those in the scientific community were also fuming. Academic and author Alice Bell tweeted: “Still angry about that Boris column. It’s not just wilfully stupid and complacent. Climate change kills people. It’s offensive”.

Meanwhile, Mat Collins, a professor in climate systems at Exeter University tweeted at the Mayor to say that him and his colleagues would be happy to meet with him in person to discuss the science of climate change.

Maxine Perella