Global Warming Insanity? is a fantastic article that I happened upon this afternoon.
Dreissen addresses several issues that I’ve pointed out at various times on my blog, and points out some new and interesting data:
- Now that NASA has corrected its US temperature records, the hottest year on record is no longer 1998, but 1934. Five of the ten hottest years since 1880 were between 1920 and 1940 – and the 15 hottest years since 1880 are spread across seven decades. This suggests natural variation, not a warming trend.
- Plant and insect remains found at the base of Greenland’s ice sheet indicate that, just 400,000 years ago, the island was blanketed in forests and basking in temperatures perhaps 27 degrees F warmer than today.
- Land area temperatures in South America, Africa and Australia have declined slightly over the last few years. Since 1998, sea surface temperatures over much of the world have decreased slightly, while globally averaged atmospheric temperatures have shown no change.
- Many US temperature gauges are near air-conditioning exhausts, hot asphalt and other heat sources. Their readings are thus too high and must be revised downward – along with claims about rising temperatures.
Looks like the Church of Global Warming is losing members…
November 1, 2007 at 3:28 pm
Interesting Jama. I don’t deny that there is evidence to contradict the theory that man is causing the earth to warm. But make no mistake, the earth is getting warmer. The NASA records you point to are for temperatures in the United States. The fact is that worldwide, 2005 was the hottest year on record followed by 1998, 2002, 2003, and 2006. 1934 did not even rank worldwide. This isn’t a national issue but a world wide issue. It’s the Global Warming debate not the United States warming debate.
Global temperatures have climbed 1.8 degrees since 1880 according to NASA. The IPCC has indicated that 11 of the last 12 years have been the hottest since 1850 and the 20th centuries last two decades were the warmest in the last 400 years. That taken into account with the fact that the Polar Ice Caps are melting along with glaciers worldwide, there is no doubt that the earth is warming. The million dollar question is whether it is caused by man, is it natural, or maybe both. Take this for what it is worth, but the most recent study by the IPCC in February 2007 which included 2,500 scientists from 130 countries has concluded that anthropogenic climate change is very likely. It is virtually undeniable that industrialization, deforestation, and pollution have caused increased concentrations of water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide which are all greenhouse gases that help trap heat near the earth’s surface. Currently worldwide emissions of carbon dioxide amount to 30 BILLION tons per year which is much more than the earth’s plants and oceans can absorb.
Now, obviously there are natural cycles in the earths temperatures. It is known that natural cycles in our planets orbit cause changes in our exposure to sunlight. It has been shown that cooling and warming shifts have been attributed to this every hundred thousand years or so. The temperature changes we have seen in the last 150 years have, in the past, taken several centuries as they relate to the natural cycle. That has not happenned this time. It has occurred much quicker in the last 150 years. I guess we can each take this for what it’s worth. Heck, during the 80’s there were those who were adamant that the earth was not in a warming trend. Now, those same folks since being proven wrong, are saying this is natural. I hope they are right. I just have a hard time believing that 30 billion tons of carbon dioxide emmitted into the atmosphere a year is good for anything.
Seriously, we can’t take the Ann Coultier approach of taking the earth and raping it. At the risk of sounding silly, I think the question of “what are we leaving our children?” is valid. Perhaps you are right, maybe man isn’t destroying the earth. But, you can’t deny that the ice is melting nor can you deny that pollution is a problem. In the end, I hope you are right. God help us if you are not, because by doing nothing we have everything to lose and nothing to gain.
November 2, 2007 at 2:53 am
Down the road is a fossil site that bears the evidence of Miocene era tapirs, rhinos, elephants, and alligators, proving conclusively that this region was at one time MUCH warmer than the predicted nightmare of. Interestingly enough there were no humans around at that time according to the experts.
Scientists estimate this sight to be 5 million years old. We only have 400 years of uncalibrated thermometer readings with scientifically accurate thermometers being a relatively recent tool for measurement. The world consists of microclimates. A measurement taken in Boston has no bearing on temperature in Seattle. There is NO way to conclusively know what the temperature has been in the distant past. You can safely say warmer or colder, nothing more.
Jama, it’s not the Church of Global Warming. It’s the Cult of Global Warming brought to you by the UNFCCC. Read in detail the Kyoto Protocol on Wikipedia. This is nothing more than an excuse to redistribute billions and billions of dollars and resources by a bloated organization bent on total global control as evidenced by the Law of the Sea Treaty.