Startling about face by Anthony Watts agreeing at least a 97% scientific consensus

About Face: Anthony Watts is now arguing scientific consensus on AGW is at least 97%

I do wish climate science deniers would make up their minds on things.  Anthony Watts keeps getting himself in a muddle and doesn't know if he's coming or going.  Earlier he was telling big fat lies about the scientific consensus on climate change, falsely claiming it was less than 97%.

Now, in a startling turnaround, he seems to be arguing that the consensus is greater than 97%.  He quotes Richard Tol writing:

Including “global” before “climate change”, Cook et al. dropped 33 of the 50 most cited papers.

I don't know if Tol is correct or not.  But if he is, it should be obvious to everyone that the 50 most cited papers would confirm that humans are causing global warming, if they took a position on the matter.  Adding them could only strengthen the numbers.

As an aside, the Tol argument is about sample size and distribution not about the validity of the consensus.  There is no suggestion that the result would have been any different had the Cook study examined a larger number of papers.  The Cook study examined more than ten times the number in the Oreskes study.

Anthony Watts is a climate science denier according to the Rational Wiki definition, though he waxes and wanes as the mood takes him.  Richard Tol is behaving like a denier.  He agrees global warming is happening and is dangerous.  He just doesn't want to do anything to stop it.  (That plus the fact that he's actually aligning himself with the idiot science denier poptech.  Update: 20/6/13  Poptech in the comments has kindly provided a link to a link to another take down of his list at the Carbon Brief - Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 and a link to his rebuttal of the rebuttals in the comments. )

At least they are now both conceding the 97% plus scientific consensus that humans are causing global warming.