Some Realism in the Global Warming Controversy

In a previous post I showed definitive evidence that the increase in destructive hurricanes that devastated our southeast coast for the last two years were a naturally reoccurring phenomenon and had absolutely nothing to do with greenhouse gases or global warming. Now recently our socialist comrades had a conference in Montreal on global warming where the main subject seemed to be the castigation of the USA for not supporting Kyoto. Even our Canadian friends, who have managed to exceed their Kyoto commitments by 26% had only words of scorn for the United States. Perhaps if they had paid some attention to the facts presented in the study below, they would have spent less time criticizing us and patting themselves on the back, and more time doing something realistic about reducing the burning of fossil fuels. Even though we are in the camp of those whose attention to facts leads us not to get very excited about greenhouse gases, we still greatly favor the reduction in fossil fuel use by every practical means for health and environmental reasons.

The best way to reduce fossil fuel use is entirely obvious given the recent publications of the actual minimal environmental destruction caused by Chernobyl and at Three Mile Island. By far the safest and least detrimental effect of any power generation source (other than windmills) on human health and the environment is nuclear power. Unfortunately the same people clamoring for adherence to Kyoto tend to be the same people who lobby actively against any expansion of clean nuclear power. As the US Senate voted 95 to 0 against Kyoto during the Clinton Administration, Kyoto is dead and should be buried.

The vote on the part of the US Senate, and the position taken by most conservatives also, is supported by many studies by renowned scientists. For example the following study presents an important analysis of the relationship between greenhouse gases and global warming. I have presented just the Abstract and Conclusion. You can see the entire study by clicking here. I have also included three of the many graphs contained in the full report.

Environmental Effects of Increased Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide

ARTHUR B. ROBINSON, SALLIE L. BALIUNAS, WILLIE SOON, AND ZACHARY W. ROBINSON
Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine, 2251 Dick George Rd., Cave Junction, Oregon 97523 info@oism.org
George C. Marshall Institute, 1730 K St., NW, Ste 905, Washington, DC 20006 info@marshall.org January 1998

ABSTRACT
A review of the research literature concerning the environmental consequences of increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide leads to the conclusion that increases during the 20th Century have produced no deleterious effects upon global weather, climate, or temperature. Increased carbon dioxide has, however, markedly increased plant growth rates. Predictions of harmful climatic effects due to future increases in minor greenhouse gases like CO2 are in error and do not conform to current experimental knowledge.

SUMMARY
World leaders gathered in Kyoto, Japan, in December 1997 to consider a world treaty restricting emissions of ''greenhouse gases,'' chiefly carbon dioxide (CO2), that are thought to cause ''global warming'' severe increases in Earth's atmospheric and surface temperatures, with disastrous environmental consequences. Predictions of global warming are based on computer climate modeling, a branch of science still in its infancy. The empirical evidence actual measurements of Earth's temperature shows no man-made warming trend. Indeed, over the past two decades, when CO2 levels have been at their highest, global average temperatures have actually cooled slightly.
To be sure, CO2 levels have increased substantially since the Industrial Revolution, and are expected to continue doing so. It is reasonable to believe that humans have been responsible for much of this increase. But the effect on the environment is likely to be benign. Greenhouse gases cause plant life, and the animal life that depends upon it, to thrive. What mankind is doing is liberating carbon from beneath the Earth's surface and putting it into the atmosphere, where it is available for conversion into living organisms.

Rise In Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide

The concentration of CO2 in Earth's atmosphere has increased during the past century, as shown in figure 1 (1).

Figure 1: Atmospheric CO2 concentrations in parts per million by volume, ppm, at Mauna Loa, Hawaii.


Figure 2: Surface temperatures in the Sargasso Sea (with time resolution of about 50 years) ending in 1975 as determined by isotope ratios of marine organism remains in sediment at the bottom of the sea (7). The horizontal line is the average temperature for this 3,000 year period. The Little Ice Age and Medieval Climate Optimum were naturally occurring, extended intervals of climate departures from the mean.



Figure 6: Satellite Microwave Sounding Unit, MSU, measurements of global lower tropospheric temperatures between latitudes 83 N and 83 S from 1979 to 1997 (17,18). Temperatures are monthly averages and are graphed as deviations from the mean temperature for 1979 to 1996. Linear trend line for 1979 to 1997 is shown.
Copyright 2001 © OISM

The key issue in the global warming controversy revolves around Carbon Dioxide gas. No-one can seriously dispute that it's level is increasing substantially from the burning of fossil fuels to generate electricity and to power internal combustion engines. This is detrimental to the environment, but has little to do with global warming - a naturally occurring phenomenon.