Ole Humlum (born 21 July 1949) is a Danish professor emeritus at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...

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Department of Geosciences and adjunct professor of physical geography at the

University Centre in Svalbard The University Centre in Svalbard (; UNIS) is a Norway, Norwegian state enterprise, state-owned aksjeselskap, limited company that is involved in research and provides some higher education in Arctic studies. The company is wholly owned by the Min ...

.Halfdan Carstens (2013
Klimatolog i hardt vær
Geo, nb. 1 2013. Retrieved 9 January 2014 His academic focus includes

glacial A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

and

periglacial Periglaciation (adjective: "periglacial", referring to places at the edges of glacial areas) describes geomorphic processes that result from seasonal thawing and freezing, very often in areas of permafrost. The meltwater may refreeze in ice wedg ...

geomorphology Geomorphology () is the scientific study of the origin and evolution of topographic and bathymetric features generated by physical, chemical or biological processes operating at or near Earth's surface. Geomorphologists seek to understand wh ...

and

climatology Climatology (from Greek , ''klima'', "slope"; and , '' -logia'') or climate science is the scientific study of Earth's climate, typically defined as weather conditions averaged over a period of at least 30 years. Climate concerns the atmospher ...

Education

Born near the coast in

Jylland Jutland (; , ''Jyske Halvø'' or ''Cimbriske Halvø''; , ''Kimbrische Halbinsel'' or ''Jütische Halbinsel'') is a peninsula of Northern Europe that forms the continental portion of Denmark and part of northern Germany (Schleswig-Holstein). It ...

, he became interested in geology when he visited the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

as a teenager and saw the

glaciers A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

. He studied natural science at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...

, earning bachelor's degrees in

geology Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...

geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

and

botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

. In 1976, he obtained a M.Sc. in glacial

and was the same year also awarded a Prize Essay Gold Medal at the University for another study. He earned a Ph.D degree in glacial geomorphology in 1980.Curriculum Vitae: Ole Humlum (as of 2010)
Norwegian Scientific Academy for Polar Research. Retrieved 9 January 2014

Career

After having held

post-doc A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). Postdocs most commonly, but not always, have a temporary academ ...

positions 1980–1983 he became scientific director at the

University of Copenhagen Arctic Station University of Copenhagen Arctic Station (; )) is a year-round, environmental research facility in central West Greenland. Located about northeast of Qeqertarsuaq, it faces Disko Bay and the Davis Strait on the south coast of Disko Island with th ...

near

Qeqertarsuaq Qeqertarsuaq (, historically known as Godhavn) is a port and town in Qeqertalik municipality, located on the south coast of Disko Island on the west coast of Greenland. Founded in 1773, the town is now home to a campus of the University of Cop ...

where he lived for three years. He subsequently worked as assistant professor at the University of Copenhagen from 1986–1999. He became professor at the University Centre in Svalbard in 1999. In 2003, he became full professor at the University of Oslo, Department of Geosciences. He became a member of the newly founded Norwegian Scientific Academy for Polar Research in 2008.

Climate change views

Humlum is a member of the Norwegian organization Climate Realists (Klimarealistene

He is active in Norwegian and Danish climate politics, arguing that current climate change is mainly a natural phenomenon. Together with Jan-Erik Solheim and Kjel Stordahl, he published the article "Identifying natural contributions to late Holocene climate change" in ''

Global and Planetary Change ''Global and Planetary Change'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering research into the earth sciences, particularly pertaining to changes in aspects thereof such as sea level and the chemical composition of the atmosphere. It has ...

'' in 2011. The article argues that changes in the sun's and moon's influence on the earth may explain most of the historical and current climate change. The theory in the article was opposed by several scientists. He predicted in 2013 that the climate would most likely become colder in the coming 10–15 years. In 2013, he wrote another article in ''Global and Planetary Change'' where he concluded that carbon dioxide lagged changes in temperature since 1975. Each year he publishes the report 'The State of the Climate' for the

Global Warming Policy Foundation The Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF) is a charitable organisation in the United Kingdom whose aims are to challenge what it calls "extremely damaging and harmful policies" envisaged by governments to mitigate anthropogenic global warming ...

. Humlum's views on climate change have been criticised in ''

Skeptical Science Skeptical Science (occasionally abbreviated SkS) is a climatology, climate science blog and information resource created in 2007 by Australian former cartoonist and web developer, John Cook, who received a PhD degree in cognitive science in 2016 ...

'', where it has been pointed out that Humlum constructs fallacious

straw man A straw man fallacy (sometimes written as strawman) is the informal fallacy of refuting an argument different from the one actually under discussion, while not recognizing or acknowledging the distinction. One who engages in this fallacy is said ...

arguments such as arguing that the attribution of recent climate change to human activity is based on a majority opinion of scientists.

Selected publications

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Humlum, Ole 1949 births Living people 20th-century Danish geologists 21st-century Danish geologists Geomorphologists University of Copenhagen alumni Academic staff of the University of Copenhagen Academic staff of the University of Oslo Academic staff of the University Centre in Svalbard Danish expatriates in Norway