cyclone activity, the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), Quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO), and Caribbean basin sea-level pressures. The endeavor proved modestly successful. He subsequently issued forecasts ahead of the start of the Atlantic hurricane season in May and before the peak of the season in August. Students and colleagues joined his forecast team in the following years, including Christopher Landsea, Paul W. Mielke Jr., and Kenneth J. Berry. After the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, Gray announced that he was stepping back from the primary authorship of CSU's tropical cyclone probability forecasts, passing the role to Philip J. Klotzbach. Gray indicated that he would be devoting more time to the issue of global warming. He did not attribute global warming to anthropogenic causes, and was critical of those who did. Climate change Following Gray's retirement from CSU's faculty, he took a stance against anthropogenic global warming. Gray claimed that scientists supported the scientific consensus on climate change because they were afraid of losing grant funding and promoted by government leaders and environmentalists seeking world government. Although he agreed that global warming was taking place, he argued that humans were only responsible for a tiny portion and it was largely part of the Earth's natural cycle. In June 2011, Gray wrote a paper directed at the American Meteorological Society, opposing their embrace of anthropogenic global warming. Peter Webster, a Georgia Institute of Technology professor, was part of the anonymous peer review on several of Gray's National Science Foundation proposals. In every case he has turned down the global warming research component because he believed it was not up to standards, but recommended that Gray's hurricane research be funded. Webster, who has co-authored other scientific papers with Gray, is also critical of Gray for his personal attacks on the scientists with whom he disagreed. Awards and honors Throughout his career, Gray received multiple awards for his pioneering research and mentorship: Fellow at the American Meteorological Society (AMS) 1992 – Colorado State University "Jack E. Cermak'' Graduate School Award for Outstanding Adviser 1993 – Co-recipient of the American Meteorological Society Banner I. Miller Award 1993 – American Meteorological Society Jule G. Charney Award 1995 – Neil Frank Award of the National Hurricane Conference for "pioneering research into long-range hurricane forecasting and for developing a better understanding of how global climatological conditions shape the creation and intensity of tropical cyclones." 1995 – Honorary lifetime achievement award via