Global Climate Change - Facts

Instead of joining ranks with the parties engaged inconditions prevalent today and for the foreseeable
the current cold war over climate change I would likefuture.
to do something refreshing and new. This article isFact: There is no real consensus among scientists on
going to present you with a series of indisputablethis issue. One group of climate scientists who by use
facts on the global climate and then ask you toof computer modeling, have concluded that global
decide for yourself what your opinion on the matterwarming is a fact and is caused by an increase in
is.man made CO2 emissions. These same scientists
Here I sit at my desk on a typical summer day inhave also stated that their computers are not
Tennessee. It gets in the 90F temperature rangecapable of handling the sheer number of calculations
during the first part of the day and then there areneeded for proof of their assertion.
thundershowers in the afternoon. It could be anyMany other scientists in a number of disciplines
summer day picked at random from the 50 oddincluding geology, earth science and meteorology hold
summers of my life.different opinions. Some even argue that the Earth is
The first true fact: in over 100 years thecooling.
temperature has not increased even 1degree.Fact: The problem is complex with many variables to
2 opposing forcesconsider and there has been a lot of
One group of people with a liberal bent would havemisrepresentation of the facts in the press by both
us believe that the planet is at the edge of ecologicalpoliticians and reporters.
disaster due to the increase in CO2 caused by humanWe see one example of this in the way the press
activities, of which one is simply breathing. Led bycovered a report in 2007 by the University of Illinois
one of my states native sons and the United Nationsshowing that the arctic ice cap had the lowest level
these forces attempt to use science (sometimesof ice cover in thirty years. This was reported widely
used very badly) and fear to promote their agendain the popular press while omitting reports statement
of globalism and socialist ideals.that in 2007 the Antarctic ice cover was at an all
The other group, firmly entrenched in the warm andtime high.
coy bed of conservatism and the corporate energyFact: Over 30,000 American scientists have signed a
lobby struggle to use their influence to make us thinkpetition stating that:
that global climate change is a myth. They seek to* Believe global warming is not occurring or has
preserve our constitutional methods of governing andceased
let the free market deal with our energy problems.* Believe accuracy of IPCC climate projections is
The nation would be better served if the opposingquestionable
sides would address our energy and climate problems* Believe global warming is primarily caused by natural
sans politics.processes
Fact: The climate is changing. It has been changing for* Believe cause of global warming is unknown
millions of years and will continue to change.* Believe global warming will benefit human society
Fact: Human activity does affect the climate to anThis petition has been signed by 31,478 American
extent. Cities change the weather in their immediatescientists including 9,029 with PhD. degrees and
area simply by existing.including Nobel Laureates.
Fact: The Earth captures CO2 and stores it in plantThe petition is as follows:
life and in the sediments of the sea bottom. There is"We urge the United States government to reject
a correlation between the amount of CO2 in thethe global warming agreement that was written in
atmosphere and the amount of O2 ( oxygen) in theKyoto, Japan in December, 1997, and any other
atmosphere. In times past the planet had highersimilar proposals. The proposed limits on greenhouse
temperatures and higher levels of O2 and CO2.gases would harm the environment, hinder the
These levels came down during the ice ages. Theadvance of science and technology, and damage the
planet is in the final stages of the last ice age andhealth and welfare of mankind.
has been for over 12,000 years.There is no convincing scientific evidence that human
Fact: The Earth is a self regulating organism withrelease of carbon dioxide, methane, or other
extremely complex interactions of millions ofgreenhouse gasses is causing or will, in the
processes and variables. Each one in interdependentforeseeable future, cause catastrophic heating of the
with every other in a system so complex that weEarth's atmosphere and disruption of the Earth's
don't have the technology to completely understandclimate. Moreover, there is substantial scientific
it. Even with cray super computers and climateevidence that increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide
modeling it is still a lot of guesswork because theproduce many beneficial effects upon the natural
system changes faster than it can be modeled.plant and animal environments of the Earth. "
The atmosphere begins on the sun and reaches all(From petitionproject.org)
the way to the core of the planet. The complexWhile it is a fact that our climate is constantly
interaction between the atmosphere, the cycles ofchanging, is the response by government and the U.N.
water in the lakes,seas and rivers and the lifean over-reaction to the situation? That decision is for
processes ( respiration) of every living thing on theyou to make.
planet work together to produce the weather