US President Donald Trump has appointed a controversial climate change sceptic to the Environmental Protection Agency’s science advisory board.

News broke in the US yesterday that atmospheric science professor John Christy will make up part of the Science Advisory Board responsible for advising the EPA on the scientific and technical aspects of environmental problems.

The controversial scientist — who contributed a chapter entitled “The Global Warming Fiasco” to a 2002 book called Global Warming and Other Eco-Myths — is well-known for his vocal rejection of the urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Earlier this month Trump drew fire from environmental advocates for his nomination of former coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler to head the EPA, a man Democrats branded a pro-business “extremist unfit to be the nation’s guardian of clean air and water”. Christy’s appointment has drawn similar ire.

Both Christy and Wheeler’s climate change scepticism shun global scientific consensus from dedicated climate organisations such as the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

The news followed an alarming tweet Mr Trump posted on Monday amid extreme cold weather gripping the States’ Midwest calling for global warming to “Please come back fast, we need you!”

Despite the leader making no secret of his scepticism the tweet generated significant furore, prompting a swift rebuttal from US government agency National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration with the advice: “Winter storms don’t prove that global warming isn’t happening.” A diagram accompanied the tweet in an effort to help explain the science behind global warming to Mr Trump.

However, a change of thinking is unlikely given Mr Trump’s staunch contrarianism. The leader made his climate stance clear shortly after taking office in January 2017 wherein he announced his intention to roll back the United States’ efforts to help fight climate change.