Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Global Warming's Bad News

Ever since I had a rather heated (but not angry) conversation with my friend's lefty friends about Global Warming last year (see my post here), I have truly enjoyed reading articles about Global Warming. The alarmists provide great entertainment, and the debunkers provide great education. This column, in Sunday's London Telegraph, is in the educational camp.

For many years now, human-caused climate change has been viewed as a large and urgent problem. In truth, however, the biggest part of the problem is neither environmental nor scientific, but a self-created political fiasco. Consider the simple fact, drawn from the official temperature records of the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia, that for the years 1998-2005 global average temperature did not increase (there was actually a slight decrease, though not at a rate that differs significantly from zero).

Yes, you did read that right. And also, yes, this eight-year period of temperature stasis did coincide with society's continued power station and SUV-inspired pumping of yet more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

In response to these facts, a global warming devotee will chuckle and say "how silly to judge climate change over such a short period". Yet in the next breath, the same person will assure you that the 28-year-long period of warming which occurred between 1970 and 1998 constitutes a dangerous (and man-made) warming. Tosh.

The problem here is not that of climate change per se, but rather that of the sophisticated scientific brainwashing that has been inflicted on the public, bureaucrats and politicians alike. Governments generally choose not to receive policy advice on climate from independent scientists. Rather, they seek guidance from their own self-interested science bureaucracies and senior advisers, or from the IPCC itself.

This being in a British paper, the author focuses on British government policy, but his criticisms could equally apply in the US. Self-interest on the part of science establishments is not unique to the UK.

Global Warming is not inevitable, not constant, and not happening now. Too bad that news doesn't get out.

Here's one more point about reality:

The reality of the climate record is that a sudden natural cooling is far more to be feared, and will do infinitely more social and economic damage, than the late 20th century phase of gentle warming.

2 comments:

Malott said...

Thankfully, the global liberal news movement is accompanied by alternative media that brings out the data you reported.

And what is "tosh." Is that a western equivalent to our old midwestern "pshaw?"

SkyePuppy said...

Chris,

"Tosh" is British for "Pshaw."

Here in California we get people from everywhere (except for the East Coast folks who go to Florida instead), so our language skills are a little more cosmopolitan than the midwest might be.

We don't say, "tosh," though. That one hasn't crossed the pond.