"I, instead, much to my surprise, found that oil companies were actually pumping money into projects which embraced Al Gore's doomsday message! And had done so since early 1960s!" he said.

This led to questions such as where did the idea of a climate change threat come from, where did it start?  He couldn't find an answer.

"No one at the Centre for Climate Science and Policy Research (to which I was affiliated at the time) knew," he said. "There were many who did research on climate-related issues without having the faintest idea about the origin of their mission. But if the [United Nations] had declared that it is a crucial issue for humanity it must be true, seemed to be their reasoning; "everyone thinks so." There were always references to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The debate was over."

Unanswered questions led Nordangård to do further research.  In a book published by the Royal Institute of International Affairs (commonly known as Chatham House) he found information relating to the development of climate change as it is sold to us today.

"A few key events were listed, which I used as a starting point: the International Geophysical Year 1957-58; a climate conference organised by the Conservation Foundation in 1963; the UN Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm in 1972; and the Conferences in Villach, Austria in the first half of the 1980s," he said.

He was able to discover which actors were involved, what documents they used, who financed them and what policy suggestions they came up with to solve the alleged climate change problem.

He originally planned to write a 5-page essay on his research.  However, the 5 pages turned into almost 50. 

"The result was surprising and somewhat shocking. A clear pattern emerged. I knew it would be controversial to communicate these findings. They contradicted the views preached by the believers. Especially concerning the fact that a number of U.S. oil billionaires had gotten involved at an early stage. This was especially the case with most prominent oil family of them all. The founders of Standard Oil/Exxon. The Rockefellers," he said.

He included his findings in his doctoral thesis which was published in 2012. It "struck down like a bomb," he said.