I have been doing a radio show for a few years, and a recent episode of Bill Maher's Real Time set me on an investigation. It was a month or so ago, when Maher eviscerated Bret Stephens, a WSJ reporter and climate change denialist, using the work of Dr. James Lawrence Powell. If you have a cousin Joey (full disclosure--I don't) who's always telling you there's no problem with climate change because climate is always changing and humans don't have anything to do with it, here's the full story from Doctor Powell himself.
James Lawrence Powell is a PhD in biochemistry and widely respected in his work. He served on the National Science Board for both President Reagan and Bush I. He's used his time in retirement to compile all the papers written on climate that either support AGW theory or dismiss it. His table on the years 1991-2012 indicate that only 24 papers published in those years rejected AGW climate change out of the 13,950 on the topic. See?
He's done the rest of us the added favor of listing the 24 papers that rejected AGW theory and listed how many (actually how few) times those papers were cited in other peer-reviewed articles.
You can find my interview with Doctor Powell (along with links to his website and other data) here.
If you're like me and you find yourself knowing certain bromides and numbers but not the source for them, feel free to use. Dr. Powell has also written a great book Four Revolutions In the Earth Sciences: From Heresy to Truth on the four great shifts in scientific knowledge over the centuries.
None of which will get you through the coming holidays if your Cousin Joey is as determined as I think he is. But it's nice to know.