Patrick J. Michaels, Vocal Outlier on Climate Change, Dies at 72

Patrick J. Michaels, a climate scientist who spoke out often and brashly against the prevailing view that climate change needs urgent attention, becoming a favorite of climate change skeptics and a target of criticism by those advocating action on greenhouse gases and in other areas, died on July 15 at his home in Washington. He was 72.

The Competitive Enterprise Institute, where he had been a senior fellow since 2019, announced his death. No cause was given.

Dr. Michaels was a visible and polarizing figure in the climate change debate — partly because of his stridency and partly because, unlike many politicians and other policymakers, he had scientific credentials. He held a doctorate in ecological climatology from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, was for decades a professor of environmental sciences at the University of Virginia and Virginia’s state climatologist, and had published in scientific journals.

Read the full obituary here.