A PUZZLER, SOLVED

Hannity mentioned a Gallup poll that found few meteorologists or geophysicists thought global warming was real. After some googling, all I found was this reference:

Sunday, February 04, 2007
Global warming is orthodoxy, not proven fact
By Terry Sullivan
Courier-Journal
Louisville,Kentucky

A recent Gallup poll found only 17 percent of the members of the American Meteorological Society and the American Geophysical Society believe that the 20th Century warming is due to greenhouse gasses.

I found another reference on a wingnut blog,

The global warming myth and its selfish defenders
Posted by budsimmons on 25th October 2006

...a Feb. 13, 1992 Gallup poll shows that most climate scientists doubt there has been any significant human-caused global warming to date.


The original seems to be an article that appeared in the Seattle Times in March 23, 1994:

In the Seattle Times, March 23, 1994

The global warming myth and its selfish defenders
by John A. Baden, Ph.D. and Tim O’Brien


The LTE's in the Courier-Journal indicate that some readers felt that the poll was misrepresented:

First, these polls were from 1991 - 1992. Massive evidence on the human contribution to global warming has accumulated since then.

The Gallup poll of 400 members of the two organizations actually found that 66% believed that global warming induced by humans was already underway. The 17% figure was reported by Rush Limbaugh in 1992 and repeated by George Will and many others. The Environmental Defense Fund rebutted, "nowhere in the actual poll results are there figures that resemble those cited by Will or Limbaugh."

SAM McFARLAND
Bowling Green, Ky. 42103

Digging a little more, I found an AP article in Lexis-Nexis that points to the ur-wingnut behind this lie:

Associated Press
December 8, 1997, Monday, BC cycle
SECTION: Washington Dateline
HEADLINE: WASHINGTON TODAY: Global warming debate generates much heat
BYLINE: By DONALD M. ROTHBERG, Associated Press Writer
DATELINE: WASHINGTON

One conservative group criticized the news media for accepting claims that there is widespread scientific agreement on global warming. The Media Research Center cited "a recent Gallup poll" that said only 19 percent of the members of the American Meteorological Society and the American Geophysical Union think that a warmer climate has been the result of greenhouse gas emissions.

The Gallup organization said the poll was taken in October of 1991. It noted that some people, opposed to claims that human-induced global warming is occurring, "have used the study to support their position."

"These writers have taken survey results out of context that appear to show scientists do not believe that human-induced global warming is occurring."

The statement from Gallup noted that when asked if they thought human-induced global warming was occurring, 66 percent of the scientists surveyed said yes.


For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Media Research Center, here's a nice intro.