WJR Alexander Professor Emeritus, Department of Civil and Biosystems Engineering, University of Pretoria, South Africa. Email alexwjr@iafrica.com 23 November 2005 I have just completed my technical report An assessment of the likely consequences of global warming on the climate of South Africa. (The extended summary of the report is now available. It consists of 92 pages, 14 tables, 16 figures and 50 references.) The conclusion is that there are no scientifically acceptable grounds for the alarmist claims related to the postulated effects of global warming. The sole purpose of my study was to determine whether or not global warming was likely to have an adverse effect of the welfare of the peoples of South Africa in particular, and elsewhere in the world where similar conditions prevail. I neither requested nor received any financial or material support for my studies. My report is not copyright as it is my wish that it be distrib uted as widely as possible. The extended summary is available in the form of a 2MB pdf file. I propose publishing the full report in book form early next year when there will be more clarity on the international situation. The following is a brief summary of my conclusions.
Testing ground
Southern Africa provides the ideal testing ground for global climate change studies. It has a wide range of climatic conditions from high rainfall along the eastern escarpment through to desert conditions in the west. It has winter rainfall in the south through to summer rainfall over most of the country. There is also a wide range of climate-related issues from pragmatic humanitarian concerns of poverty, malnutrition and disease through to idealistic concerns of conserving the natural environment with its rich diversity of habitats and species. The scientific disciplines are divided along similar lines. At one end there is a small but politically influential group of scientists in the fields of climatology and the