Nebraska scientists reject “cyclical” climate study

A Nebraska bill authorizing a climate study defined climate change as “cyclical” and has few scientists in the state interested in participating, according to the Omaha World Herald.

The terms of the legislation indicate the study should be completed in 2014 and cost no more than $44,000 – but it must exclude the role of humans in climate change. So in addition to the “cyclical” definition, scientists are likewise deterred by the lack of funding and time to complete the research.

Scientists at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln say they won’t participate in the climate study or ask colleagues to take part because of its limitations. The defining language was inserted into the bill by Republican State Senator Beau McCoy, who has publicly held to the belief that global warming is a cyclical phenomenon.