Global Warming
(or lack thereof)
The most telling thing you hear about global warming these days is this: a consensus of scientists believe it is happening. Sorry, but science doesn't work this way. Either you can prove something factually, or you can't. Scientists don't believe something - that is the balliwick of religion, not science. Having a group of people who support something (ie, a consensus), proves nothing. Also note, they always say "a consensus", but never a "majority" (not that it matters, since scientific fact is not subject to a vote, either).
The unfortunate truth is that the proponents of global warming are backing it for political reasons, not scientific ones, and their religious (they worship at the altar of Environmentalism) fervor is so intense, they've even resorted to rigging their data to try and prove their point.
Unfortunately (for them), the climate and meteorology community at large keeps pointing out these errors, inconsistencies, and outright fabrications. Nevertheless, I think people should educate themselves, and make their own decision. This isn't an easy thing to do, since the mainstream media are big supporters of this particular political/environmentalist agenda, and would rather you not have the full story.
With that in mind, here are a few inconvenient truths global warming advocates would prefer you not know:
Planetary Warming.
While the Earth has warmed slightly (very slightly) over the last century, we are not alone. Nearly every other planet in the solar system (even Pluto) has also warmed, at about the same rate as the Earth. Considering the complete lack of SUV's or coal-fired power plants on Venus or Mars, science would tell us that we have to look elsewhere, such as the cycles the sun is known to have. To read what the scientists have to say about this, click here.
Natural Cyclical Warming/Cooling
This one is kind of amusing. The climate record clearly shows that the Earth, for whatever reason, goes through periods of warming and cooling. These cycles are long term - not ten years, or a hundred, or even a thousand, but anywhere from thirty-thousand years and up. Even during periods of cooling, there can be brief periods of warming, and vice-versa.
What's amusing is this: if the Earth is getting warmer (and not actually in a cooling phase, as a number of scientists assert), who's to say this isn't natural? The Earth has never had a stable climate, as paleo-climatologists will be happy to tell you. So, the Earth is warming up beyond the point that we, in our short history here, are not comfortable with. The Earth will do this, whether we like it or not, and our ability to effect it one way or the other is marginal, at best.
It is pure human hubris to assume that we are responsible for altering something as large as global climate, and even more self-centered to imagine that we matter one whit to the planet. Evidence suggests that it will do what it's going to do, and we ought to figure out how to deal with the changes, rather than inflating ourselves with self-importance, and (the real point of the global warming movement) trying to tell everyone what they can and can't do.
One more thing...
The "father" of the current Global Warming movement is a chap by the name of James Hansen. He came out with his first dire predictions in 1988. Alas, this is the same Dr. Hansen that, back in 1971, predicted a coming "Ice Age", due to the pollutants blocking sunlight in our atmosphere. When the Ice Age didn't start happening (and his funding dried up), he changed his tune, and bingo, found a whole new crop of believers and ample funding. At this point, it would seem that Dr. Hansen is more concerned with getting his name into the public (and the research dollars that follow) than whether the Earth is cooling or warming. Of course, to the radical environmentalists, it doesn't matter, either. Whichever it is, it is the fault of mankind, and our reluctance to ride bikes everywhere, and live in grass huts.
Nah, don't think so... More to come soon!
WX Storm, Phoenix AZ