From time to time I have noted the pronouncements issued by the Royal Society, and observed that those at the helm have used and abused the society's good name in order to advance their own political agendas: the fellows are rarely if ever consulted about the policy positions that are taken in their name.

Today the Geological Society has issued an addendum to its position paper on climate science, which appears to have been put together in exactly the same way.

The addendum, which can be seen here, as you might expect is something of a marketing pitch for paleoclimate: both for sensitivity (an area where the IPCC reckons it's so uncertain as to be virtually useless) as well as surface temperatures:

According to one recent study, it is likely that the area-weighted global average temperature for the 30 year period from 1970 to 2000 was higher than at any time in nearly 1,400 years. Tree ring data confirm that recent warming is unprecedented in central Europe over the past 2,500 years, and in eastern Europe over the past 1,000 years.

2500 years? Yessiree, that's the Marcott paper that's being cited! Put simply, the powers that be at the Geological Society have decided to turn the organisation into a laughing stock.

[Update - O Bothe tells me that they do cite Marcott, but it's not this statement that is supported]