What Science Really Says About Global Warming

[Flummoxed Lummox]

Here are just a few select statements that answer common objections or misconceptions to global warming.

"It's the sun"
In the last 35 years of global warming, the sun has shown a slight cooling trend. Sun and climate have been going in opposite directions.

"There is no consensus"
That humans are causing global warming is the position of the Academies of Science from 19 countries plus many scientific organisations that study climate science. More specifically, 97% of climate scientists actively publishing climate papers endorse the consensus position.

"It hasn't warmed since 1998"
The planet has continued to accumulate heat since 1998 - global warming is still happening. Nevertheless, surface temperatures show much internal variability due to heat exchange between the ocean and atmosphere. 1998 was an unusually hot year due to a strong El Nino.

"It's freaking cold!"
Since the mid 1970s, global temperatures have been warming at around 0.2 degrees Celsius per decade. However, weather imposes its own dramatic ups and downs over the long term trend. We expect to see record cold temperatures even during global warming. Nevertheless over the last decade, daily record high temperatures occurred twice as often as record lows. This tendency towards hotter days is expected to increase as global warming continues into the 21st Century.

"1934 - hottest year on record"
1934 is the hottest year on record in the USA which only comprises 2% of the globe. According to NASA temperature records, the hottest year on record globally is 2005.

"It's just a natural cycle"
The 1500 year cycles, known as Dansgaard-Oeschger events, are localized to the northern hemisphere and accompanied with cooling in the southern hemisphere. In contrast, current global warming is occuring in both hemispheres and particularly throughout the world's oceans, indicating a significant energy imbalance.

"Human CO2 is a tiny % of CO2 emissions"
The CO2 that nature emits (from the ocean and vegetation) is balanced by natural absorptions (again by the ocean and vegetation). Therefore human emissions upset the natural balance, rising CO2 to levels not seen in at least 800,000 years. In fact, human emit 26 gigatonnes of CO2 per year while CO2 in the atmosphere is rising by only 15 gigatonnes per year - much of human CO2 emissions is being absorbed by natural sinks.

There's no empirical evidence that humans are causing global warming"
Direct observations find that CO2 is rising sharply due to human activity. Satellite and surface measurements find less energy is escaping to space at CO2 absorption wavelengths. Ocean and surface temperature measurements find the planet continues to accumulate heat. This gives a line of empirical evidence that human CO2 emissions are causing global warming.

"Volcanoes emit more CO2 than humans"
Volcanoes emit around 0.3 billion tonnes of CO2 per year. This is about 1% of human CO2 emissions which is around 29 billion tonnes per year.

"Humans are too insignificant to affect global climate"
Atmospheric CO2 levels are rising by 15 gigatonnes per year. Humans are emitting 26 gigatonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere. Humans are dramatically altering the composition of our climate.

http://www.skepticalscience.com/argument.php

Let the denying begin. After all, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity know more than the scientists about global warming. 

[Flummoxed Lummox]

The silence from the deniers is deafening.

[roustabout]

Hardly. There are already like 50 threads going on the topic. I posted a bunch of stuff from groups like National Geo and others, that contradict nearly every statement below.


Example:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/02/070228-mars-warming.html
http://www.intellicast.com/Community/Content.aspx?a=153
http://www.examiner.com/x-9111-SF-Environmental-Policy-Examiner~y2009m7d5-Does-global-warming-diminish-with-accurate-temperature-measurements-Part-1

It would be great if we could keep philosophy out of science. Sadly we can not. The IPCC has been exposed, and this has led to little more than many burying their heads in the sand. One side screams consensus, the other throws out their stats. The reality is that opinion polls do not determine whether something is true or not.

http://scienceandpublicpolicy.org/images/stories/papers/other/Labohm-What_is_wrong_with_the_IPCC.pdf

[Flummoxed Lummox]

Hardly. There are already like 50 threads going on the topic. I posted a bunch of stuff from groups like National Geo and others, that contradict nearly every statement below.


Example:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/02/070228-mars-warming.html
http://www.intellicast.com/Community/Content.aspx?a=153
http://www.examiner.com/x-9111-SF-Environmental-Policy-Examiner~y2009m7d5-Does-global-warming-diminish-with-accurate-temperature-measurements-Part-1

It would be great if we could keep philosophy out of science. Sadly we can not. The IPCC has been exposed, and this has led to little more than many burying their heads in the sand. One side screams consensus, the other throws out their stats. The reality is that opinion polls do not determine whether something is true or not.

http://scienceandpublicpolicy.org/images/stories/papers/other/Labohm-What_is_wrong_with_the_IPCC.pdf

Roust,

This from the very link you posted:

"Abdussamatov's work, however, has not been well received by other climate scientists.

"His views are completely at odds with the mainstream scientific opinion," said Colin Wilson, a planetary physicist at England's Oxford University.

"And they contradict the extensive evidence presented in the most recent IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] report." (Related: "Global Warming 'Very Likely' Caused by Humans, World Climate Experts Say" [February 2, 2007].)

So, you point to ONE scientist who says the sun is the cause of global warming. One. And in the very same article you link, the majority of scientists disagree with Abdussamatov"s conclusions. Not to mention there is a link in that article to another story that is entitled "Global Warming 'Very Likely' Caused by Humans, World Climate Experts Say."

As has been pointed out over and over, there is rarely a scientific study where scientists agree 100%. It is almost non-existant. Science advances because of skepticism (unlike religion which frowns upon anything deviating from the accepted tenets). Of course there will be scientists like Abdussamatov who cast doubt. That is actually a good thing because it makes researchers continue to look for evidence that either supports or rejects the current accepted beliefs. Einstein was laughed at by many in his day but his theories are mainly accepted science today.

Likewise, there are historians that claim the Holocaust never happened. That doesn't mean we can't reach a conclusion about the historical reality of the Holocaust because there are a handful of skeptics.

Also, the tobacco industry in the 50s and 60s paraded doctor after doctor and scientists after scientist who stated cigarette smoking was not dangerous. In fact, some claimed it was even healthy. The idea was to cast doubt on the reliability of the overwhelming consensus in the medical profession. It worked on millions of smokers who ended up dying of lung cancer and heart disease.

The same strategy is being used by the petroleum and chemical industries, who have huge financial interests in maintaining the status quo and disavowing any evidence that global warming is real. All they have to do is cast doubt and the lemmings will buy it. They ae obviously succeeding with the less sophisticated.

The bottom line is that Abdussamatov and his ilk are a tiny minority in the scientific community. The vast consensus is that global warming is happening. The only debate is to what extent humans are contributing.

Get your head out of the sand.

[CherokeeChief]

Sorry I didn't object.  I've been in the Bahamas where there was record cold.  Bad for me, funny for this thread.  No, I didn't see Limbaugh there either.  

It makes me laugh when mankind thinks they have things all figured out.

[Flummoxed Lummox]

Sorry I didn't object.  I've been in the Bahamas where there was record cold.  Bad for me, funny for this thread.  No, I didn't see Limbaugh there either.  

It makes me laugh when mankind thinks they have things all figured out.

Here we have in a nutshell the moronic masses simplistic view on global warming.

It's cold in the Bahamas ... in the winter no less. Therefore, global warming isn't real.  Lane Lane Lane

It's hard to argue with such astute and in-depth analysis (global warming = the end of all cold weather anywhere). Such cogent and profound thinking. 

It makes me sad to see how badly our public schools have failed at education.

[roustabout]

The top three are the articles I pointed out contradicting your info. Not the fourth, which is why it is seperate.  Perhaps you'd like to take it up with NG. It took me about 4 minutes to get those. I'd be happy to provide more.

The last one, which was set apart was an interesting piece I linked. It is an opinion that is contrary to much of what you post. I can point to many more.

Are you denying that the IPCC is playing politics, and misleading people on many fronts?

You call Chief a moron, but he makes a simple truth. Science has not proven manmade GW.

[Flummoxed Lummox]

The top three are the articles I pointed out contradicting your info. Not the fourth, which is why it is seperate.  Perhaps you'd like to take it up with NG. It took me about 4 minutes to get those. I'd be happy to provide more.

The last one, which was set apart was an interesting piece I linked. It is an opinion that is contrary to much of what you post. I can point to many more.

Are you denying that the IPCC is playing politics, and misleading people on many fronts?

You call Chief a moron, but he makes a simple truth. Science has not proven manmade GW.

Science hasn't "proven" gravity either. It's a theory. Same with the atom. It's a theory. But it is accepted scientific belief based upon thousands of studies and years of verification through objective experimentation.

No one is saying the science of global warming is without flaws. Nor is it as advanced or well documented like, say, nuclear physics. But the overwhelming consensus, despite politics, is that global warming is real and humans are contributing to the problem.

Like NC Vol has pointed out many, many times before. If the current scientific beliefs about global warming are wrong, the worst that will happen is we become less dependent on foreign oil; that the air will be cleaner; and the planet a better place to live. But if they are right and the deniers are wrong, there will be serious ramifications for all life on the planet and it will not be good. You deniers are playing a dangerous game of Russian roulette.

[KNOWLEDGE]

Lummox, keep attacking anyone who even questions Global Warming and questioning their intelligence.   However, your side has admitted they can't prove their point and have even lied about data to make their position appear believable.    In the meantime, people like Al Gore have made millions off this theory which can't be proven and has been based on lies and half truths.

Why are you holding on so tightly to this point of view so blindly?

[roustabout]

There is no such thing as the 'science of global warming.' That would be unscientific as it is predisposed to believe that GW is a fact.

Actually there is a litany of things that can go wrong. There are people in this world that hate you because you are an American. And they intend to ruin the USA. Some will do it with weapons and violence, and some with politics. There are ramifications.

The fact is that our counrty has already implimented huge amounts of legislation in response to the idea the MMGW exists. Shouldn't we wait and see if those actions have an effect??


Are you denying that the IPCC is playing politics, and misleading people on many fronts?

[Just Win]

 

There is no such thing as the 'science of global warming.' That would be unscientific as it is predisposed to believe that GW is a fact.

Actually there is a litany of things that can go wrong. There are people in this world that hate you because you are an American. And they intend to ruin the USA. Some will do it with weapons and violence, and some with politics. There are ramifications.

The fact is that our counrty has already implimented huge amounts of legislation in response to the idea the MMGW exists. Shouldn't we wait and see if those actions have an effect??


Are you denying that the IPCC is playing politics, and misleading people on many fronts?

[Flummoxed Lummox]

There is no such thing as the 'science of global warming.' That would be unscientific as it is predisposed to believe that GW is a fact.

Actually there is a litany of things that can go wrong. There are people in this world that hate you because you are an American. And they intend to ruin the USA. Some will do it with weapons and violence, and some with politics. There are ramifications.

The fact is that our counrty has already implimented huge amounts of legislation in response to the idea the MMGW exists. Shouldn't we wait and see if those actions have an effect??


Are you denying that the IPCC is playing politics, and misleading people on many fronts?

Roust,

I agree there is politics in the IPCC. I do not agree the organization, as a whole, sets out to mislead people.

Are you denying that the petroleum and chemical industries are playing politics, and misleading people on many fronts, in order to protect their economic interests?