Dr. Michael Connolly


Academic qualifications

  • B.Sc. (Hons.) in Chemistry with minor in Mathematics (University College Dublin, Ireland, 1971)
  • H.D.E. (University College Dublin, Ireland, 1972)
  • M.Sc. in Catalysis (Lakehead University, ON, Canada, 1974)
  • D.E.E. in Electronic Engineering (University College Dublin, Ireland, 1980)
  • Ph.D. in Spectroscopy (Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, 1989)

Experience

Academic Experience

Lecturer and tutor at third level in the fields of physics, chemistry, electronic engineering, computer science, mathematics, and statistics.

Trade Qualifications

I qualified as a plasterer in 1969, as an electrician in 1970 and have experience in all building trades. In 1975, I built our first house entirely on my own. The last time this house was sold it went for approx. $1 million. Since then, I have designed and built hundreds of buildings and houses.

Environmental expertise

  • 1975: Founding member of the Irish Solar Energy Society
  • 1989 – 1996: Together with my wife Dr. Imelda Connolly, we built, operated, and owned the National Aquarium which at the time was the top privately own tourist attraction in Ireland. Before selling the aquarium seven years later we had succeeded in breeding over 800 species of fish, which at the time, I believe was more than all the other aquariums in the world put together. We also received international acclaim for our success in rescuing, reviving, and rereleasing many destressed marine creatures such as endangered sea turtles and seals.
  • 1991 – 1999: I was an expert participant in a large number (hundreds) of nature and environmental radio and television programs (both live and recorded). During this period, I also acted as an environmental consultant to several multinational corporations (e.g. Coca Cola) and on several large redevelopment projects (e.g. The Custom House Quay redevelopment project in Dublin Ireland)
  • 2000 – 2010: Together with Imelda we owned and operated three research farms, carrying out research in wastewater treatment and sustainable aquaculture: (1) Union, Missouri, USA; (2) Rathfarnham, Dublin, Ireland; (3) Offaly, Ireland. During this period, we were awarded several patents in the fields of sustainable aquaculture, wastewater treatment and heat exchangers. Sample Patents: International Patent No. WO2001026452A1; US Patent No 6827036B2; European Patent No. EP1220604B1; Irish Patent No. 1220604; Irish Patent No. 83848.
  • 2010 – Present: Operating research farms in Dublin, Ireland and Offaly, Ireland.
  • 2018-present: Center for Environmental Research and Earth Sciences (CERES-science.com)

Representative Patents

Peer-reviewed publications

Climate science and environmental science

  1. W. Soon, R. Connolly, M. Connolly, S.-I. Akasofu, S. Baliunas, J. Berglund, A. Bianchini, W.M. Briggs, C.J. Butler, R.G. Cionco, M. Crok, A.G. Elias, V.M. Fedorov, F. Gervais, H. Harde, G.W. Henry, D.V. Hoyt, O. Humlum, D.R. Legates, A.R. Lupo, S. Maruyama, P. Moore, M. Ogurtsov, C. ÓhAiseadha, M.J. Oliveira, S.-S. Park, S. Qiu, G. Quinn, N. Scafetta, J.-E. Solheim, J. Steele, L. Szarka, H.L. Tanaka, M.K. Taylor, F. Vahrenholt, V.M. Velasco Herrera and W. Zhang (2023). “The Detection and Attribution of Northern Hemisphere Land Surface Warming (1850–2018) in Terms of Human and Natural Factors: Challenges of Inadequate Data”, Climate, 11(9), 179; https://doi.org/10.3390/cli11090179. (Open access).
  2. R. Connolly, W. Soon, M. Connolly, S. Baliunas, J. Berglund, C.J. Butler, R.G. Cionco, A.G. Elias, V. Fedorov, H. Harde, G.W. Henry, D.V. Hoyt, O. Humlum, D.R. Legates, N. Scafetta, J.-E. Solheim, L. Szarka, V.M. Velasco Herrera, H. Yan and W.J. Zhang (2023). “Challenges in the detection and attribution of Northern Hemisphere surface temperature trends since 1850”. Research in Astronomy and Astrophysicshttps://doi.org/10.1088/1674-4527/acf18eSupplementary Materials. Pre-print version.
  3. V.M. Velasco Herrera, W. Soon, Š. Knoška, J.A. Perez-Peraza, R.G. Cionco, S.M. Kudryavtsev, S. Qiu, R. Connolly, M. Connolly, M. Švanda, J. Acosta Jara & G. Pietro Gregori (2022). The New Composite Solar Flare Index from Solar Cycle 17 to Cycle 24 (1937 – 2020). Solar Physics 297, 108 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11207-022-02035-z. Read-only access to full article. Pre-print version. Supplementary Materials.
  4. O. Dingley, M. Connolly, R. Connolly and W. Soon (2022). A comparison of different metrics for analyzing the troposphere/stratosphere transitions using high-resolution ozonesondes. Environmental Science Proceedings, 19, 14. Proceedings of The 5th International Electronic Conference on Atmospheric Sciences. https://doi.org/10.3390/ecas2022-12807. (Open access).
  5. P. O’Neill, R. Connolly, M. Connolly, W. Soon, B. Chimani, M. Crok, R. de Vos, H. Harde, P. Kajaba, P. Nojarov, R. Przybylak, D. Rasol, Oleg Skrynyk, Olesya Skrynyk, P. Štěpánek, A. Wypych and P. Zahradníček (2022). Evaluation of the homogenization adjustments applied to European temperature records in the Global Historical Climatology Network dataset. Atmosphere 13(2), 285; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13020285. (Open access).
  6. Michael Connolly, Ronan Connolly, Willie Soon, Víctor M. Velasco Herrera, Rodolfo Gustavo Cionco and Nancy E. Quaranta (2021). Analyzing atmospheric circulation patterns using mass fluxes calculated from weather balloon measurements: North Atlantic region as a case study. Atmosphere 12(11), 1439; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12111439. (Open access) (pdf).
  7. R. Connolly, W. Soon, Michael Connolly, S. Baliunas, J. Berglund, C. J. Butler, R. G. Cionco, A. G. Elias, V. M. Fedorov, H. Harde, G. W. Henry, D. V. Hoyt, O. Humlum, D. R. Legates, S. Lüning, N. Scafetta, J.-E. Solheim, L. Szarka, H. van Loon, V. M. Velasco Herrera, R. C. Willson, H. Yan and W. Zhang (2021). How much has the Sun influenced Northern Hemisphere temperature trends? An ongoing debate. Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics, 21, 131. https://doi.org/10.1088/1674-4527/21/6/131. (pdf).
  8. C. ÓhAiseadha, G. Quinn, R. Connolly, Michael Connolly and W. Soon (2020). Energy and climate policy — An evaluation of global climate change expenditure 2011–2018. Energies, 13, 4839. https://doi.org/10.3390/en13184839. (pdf).
  9. R. Connolly, Michael Connolly, R.M. Carter and W. Soon (2020). How much human-caused global warming should we expect with business-as-usual (BAU) climate policies? A semi-empirical assessment. Energies, 13, 1365. https://doi.org/10.3390/en13061365. (pdf).
  10. R. Connolly, Michael Connolly, W. Soon, D.R. Legates, R.G. Cionco and V. M. Velasco Herrera (2019). Northern hemisphere snow-cover trends (1967-2018): A comparison between climate models and observations. Geosciences, 9(3), 135. https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences9030135. (pdf). 
  11. W.W-H. Soon, R. Connolly, Michael Connolly, P. O’Neill, J. Zheng, Q. Ge, Z. Hao and H. Yan (2019). Reply to Li & Yang’s comments on “Comparing the current and early 20th century warm periods in China”. Earth-Science Reviews, 189,102950. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2019.102950. (pre-print pdf).
  12. W.W-H. Soon, R. Connolly, Michael Connolly, P. O’Neill, J. Zheng, Q. Ge, Z. Hao and H. Yan (2018). Comparing the current and early 20th century warm periods in China. Earth-Science Reviews, 185, 80-101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2018.05.013. (pre-print pdf).
  13. R. Connolly, Michael Connolly and W. Soon (2017). Re-calibration of Arctic sea ice extent datasets using Arctic surface air temperature records. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 62, 1317-1340. https://doi.org/10.1080/02626667.2017.1324974. (pdf).
  14. W. Soon, R. Connolly and Michael Connolly (2015). Re-evaluating the role of solar variability on Northern Hemisphere temperature trends since the 19th century. Earth-Science Reviews, 150, 409-452. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2015.08.010.(pre-print pdf).

Other scientific disciplines (representative sample)

  • C. ÓhAiseadha, G. A. Quinn, R. Connolly, A. Wilson, M. Connolly, W. Soon and P. Hynds (2023). Unintended Consequences of COVID-19 Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions (NPIs) for Population Health and Health Inequalities. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(7), 5223. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20075223. (Open access).
  • M. Bridge, Michael Connolly, D.R. Lloyd, D. Menzel (1987). Electron spectroscopic studies of pyridine on metal surfaces. Spectrochimica Acta Part A Molecular Spectroscopy, 43 (12) : 1473-1478. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0584-8539(87)80033-8
  • Michael Connolly, J. Somers, M. Bridge, D.R. Lloyd (1987). Angular Resolved Photoemission Studies of Pyridine on Pt (111) – Evidence for α-pyridyl species. Surface Science, 185 (3) 559-568. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0039-6028(87)80177-2
  • Michael Connolly, T. McCabe, D.R. Lloyd, E. Taylor (1989). Angle-Resolved Ups Studies on Cn on Cu(110) and Cu(100). Structure and Reactivity of Surfaces (pp. 319-326). https://doi.org/10.1016/S0167-2991(08)60694-1
  • Michael Connolly, S. Connolly, T. McCabe, D. R. Lloyd (1999). Delphi: An Algorithm for Continuous Monitoring of Changes in Work Function Using and Electron Spectrometer. Measurement Science and Technology 10(3): 246.  https://doi.org/10.1088/0957-0233/10/3/022

Non peer-reviewed publications

Open Peer Review Journal articles

  1. R. Connolly and Michael Connolly (2014). Urbanization bias III. Estimating the extent of bias in the Historical Climatology Network datasets. Open Peer Review Journal, 34 (Clim. Sci.), ver. 0.1 (non peer reviewed draft) http://oprj.net/articles/climate-science/34. (pdf).
  2. R. Connolly and Michael Connolly (2014). Urbanization bias II. An assessment of the NASA GISS urbanization adjustment method. Open Peer Review Journal, 31 (Clim. Sci.), ver. 0.1 (non peer reviewed draft) http://oprj.net/articles/climate-science/31. (pdf).
  3. R. Connolly and Michael Connolly (2014). Urbanization bias I. Is it a negligible problem for global temperature estimates? Open Peer Review Journal, 28 (Clim. Sci.), ver. 0.2 (non peer reviewed draft) http://oprj.net/articles/climate-science/28. (pdf).
  4. Michael Connolly and R. Connolly (2014). The physics of the Earth’s atmosphere III. Pervective power. Open Peer Review Journal, 25 (Clim. Sci.), ver. 0.1 (non peer reviewed draft) http://oprj.net/articles/atmospheric-science/25. (pdf).
  5. Michael Connolly and R. Connolly (2014). The physics of the Earth’s atmosphere II. Multimerization of atmospheric gases above the troposphere. Open Peer Review Journal, 22 (Clim. Sci.), ver. 0.1 (non peer reviewed draft) http://oprj.net/articles/atmospheric-science/22. (pdf).
  6. Michael Connolly and R. Connolly (2014). The physics of the Earth’s atmosphere I. Phase change associated with tropopause. Open Peer Review Journal, 19 (Clim. Sci.), ver. 0.1 (non peer reviewed draft) http://oprj.net/articles/atmospheric-science/19. (pdf).
  7. R. Connolly and Michael Connolly (2014). Global temperature changes of the last millennium. Open Peer Review Journal, 16 (Clim. Sci.), ver. 1.0 http://oprj.net/articles/climate-science/16. (pdf).
  8. R. Connolly and Michael Connolly (2014). Has poor station quality biased U.S. temperature trend estimates? Open Peer Review Journal, 11 (Clim. Sci.), ver. 0.1 (non peer reviewed draft). http://oprj.net/articles/climate-science/11. (pdf).

Other climate science and environmental science articles

  1. W. Soon, R. Connolly, M. Connolly and others (2021). “‘Fact Checks’ by Non-Experts Are Shutting Down Genuine Scientific Inquiry”. The Epoch Times, 22 September 2021. Link to article.
  2. M. Connolly, R. Connolly, W. Soon, P. Moore and I. Connolly (2018). Analysis of Greenpeace’s business model & philosophy: Greenpeace wants a piece of your green. (pdf).
  3. R. Connolly, M. Connolly, I. Connolly and W. Soon (2017). Some key climate infographics. Prepared for the Heartland’s 12th International Conference on Climate Change, March 23-24, 2017, Washington, D.C., U.S.A. (pdf).
  4. M. Connolly and R. Connolly (2017). Scientific opinions on climate change. Irish Farmers Journal, 17 June 2017, p30-31 (Paywalled). (Unedited pdf).
  5. M. Connolly, R. Connolly and I. Connolly (2014). Yellow River wind farm: Assessment of Environmental Impact Statement. (pdf).