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Global warming's endgame By Michael C. Guilmette Jr. Originally published on Feb. 18, 2010, in the Connersville News-Examiner. Hits just keep on coming for the crumbling theory of man-made climate change.
Phil Jones, the now former head of the Climatic Research Unit of the University of East Anglia in England, told the BBC on Saturday there has been no “statistically significant” warming since 1995 — an admission that flies in the face of the contention that 1998 was the warmest year in human history. Jones’ comments were not a reversal of his position on climate change, saying he is still confident the climate overall has warmed, but he did not point to any specific timeframe. He couldn’t. He doesn’t have the paperwork any more. Apparently, because Jones is so inept at keeping his office clean, he can’t find the raw data the CRU used to advise the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on the certainty and severity of global warming and served as the basis for the draconian actions proposed to rein in any further warming. Jones said his poor organization skills were the reason he stonewalled numerous Freedom of Information requests from skeptical scientists demanding the data. So, in other words, his dog ate his homework. Jones also admitted the world may have been warmer during medieval times — which is a reversal since faithful climate scientists have long dismissed the relevance of the ‘Medieval Warm Period.’ This period between the years 800 and 1300 saw significant climatic warming, according to some climatologists. Jones et al., however, originally said that warming was not significant since modern warming was much worse and was taking place very quickly — based on the now infamous “hockey stick graph.” The graph, developed from Jones’ missing climate data, alleges temperatures were stable for hundreds of years but started shooting up around the year 1900 — roughly the same time as the expansion of industrialization. Yet, the climate change faithful are undeterred by these latest revelations. In fact, the believers point to the recent record snowfalls — which covered 49 states — as further proof global warming is ongoing. “Heavy snow is not evidence that climate science is false,” said Joseph Romm, a climate change expert with the liberal think tank Center for American Progress. “[T]he snow we’ve seen is entirely consistent with global warming theory.” Warming is causing something cold — I would love to see the logical somersaults used to rationalize that thought. Regardless, the wild claims of global warming supporters — and the equally wild solutions — are increasingly falling on deaf ears. Polling shows the American people are steadily growing skeptical of man-made climate change, instead preferring to believe warming is natural. As well they should. The thought that humanity can have a significant impact on the Earth’s climate is folly, akin to the notion we could fill in the Grand Canyon. Our 4.6 billion-year-old planet is just too massive to be affected by a species that has only existed for 40,000 years and has only been technologically proficient for the last 100 or so years. It is arrogance that leads many of us to believe we could actually change the planet on that scale, and it may ultimately be dangerous and life threatening. The climate does warm — and cool — over time. Archeologists, geologists and a whole host of other legitimate scientists have confirmed this. They have also pointed to a variety of reasons — meteor impacts, volcanism and solar activity, to name a few. Yet, we are presently stuck in this mode of thinking that says we must stop driving our cars, stop eating meat and stop making Google searches in order to save the planet. Governments around the world are putting forth plans to mitigate climate change, proposing strict regulations and high taxes to restrict human activity. If we continue on such a path and then discover these efforts to be ultimately futile, we could do much more harm than good. If the climate changes drastically through no fault of our own, we could find ourselves not adequately prepared to combat nature’s onslaught because we have expended our resources on the wrong thing. Instead, we must begin to divorce ourselves from the idea we have anything to do with climate change and shift our thinking to ‘if it is happening, we aren’t causing it, we can’t stop it, but we can survive it, if we’re prepared.’ The science, the investigation and the data gathering should and must continue, and the competing theories must be given a seat at the table. Further, we should continue philosophies of energy efficiency, new energy technology and responsible use of resources, but we need to stop deluding ourselves into thinking it will change how many inches of snow falls around us. Solutions must also be consumer-based and free market-driven, since a heavy-handed government often stifles ingenuity and causes greater inefficiency — the last thing we would need if the climate decides to go south on us. Our alternative, however, is to continue to put faith in a man who can’t seem to keep his office tidy. • Guilmette is managing editor of the News-Examiner. He may be contacted at mguilmette@newsexaminer.com. |
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Copyright © 2010, Michael C. Guilmette Jr. |
The latest kick in the teeth for the thought that humanity is warming the planet by driving our cars, mowing our lawns, grilling our burgers — and merely breathing — came in as one of the scientists at the center of last year’s “Climategate” scandal admitted temperatures have not increased.
