Climate Change

 

Climate Change

 

Back in 2015, I undertook to research prevailing thoughts and opinions on a number of “hot button issues.  My goal was to try to remove political bias from these issues, and stay with the observable facts.

 One of the topics in 2015, before Trump, Biden, et al, was climate change and control, as it is now.  Since Biden is currently attending a climate conference in Scotland (when he’s not asleep), I thought it pertinent to review the topic from 2015.

 10.) “ The Environment, Global Warming

 One positive impact of the environmental movement is that we humans have become more responsible on what we spew into our air and water.  This responsibility is obviously a good thing, and even countries like China, India and Russia are become better citizens of the world concerning the environment by adopting some modicum of environmental controls.  Our atmosphere, rivers, lakes and oceans have become cleaner in the last 30 years.  Again, this is somewhat anecdotal, but the trend toward fewer pollutants has to be positive.

 

Unfortunately the environmental movement has gone way overboard on global warming and has instilled fear in concerned scientists that have developed data and conclusions that counter the loudly proclaimed contention that global warming is caused primarily by human generated emissions into the atmosphere.  A figure bandied about by pundits and politicians, including Obama and Kerry in the U.S., is that 97% of the world’s scientists agree that global warming caused my human emission into the atmosphere is a mounting threat.  This assertion has been proven to be patently false.  These links support the “de-mythifying” of the 97% claim.

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/425232/97-percent-solution-ian-tuttle

http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303480304579578462813553136

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamestaylor/2013/05/30/global-warming-alarmists-caught-doctoring-97-percent-consensus-claims/  The following link presents what seems to be a balanced pro and con commentary of the global warming phenomenon.

http://climatechange.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=001445.

 

A review of the data and conclusions of both the proponents and detractors of global warming (seemingly about equally in number, not 97% in either direction), is not definitive.  The studies are either incomplete, too anecdotal , or political in nature, or the results and conclusions get lost in the scale and mass of the data.  These Pew Research studies add some significance.

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/06/16/ideological-divide-over-global-warming-as-wide-as-ever/

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/09/23/most-americans-believe-in-climate-change-but-give-it-low-priority/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQshyqCLYHo  Scientific proofs against

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/447215/climate-change-activists-science-deniers-environmentalism-public-policy?target=topic&tid=1769  A recent essay

 

 The following link is to an in depth and comprehensive statistical analysis of the earth’s natural heating and cooling cycles and the effect of human activity on these cycles. http://ossfoundation.us/projects/environment/global-warming/natural-cycle.  It appears to be a valid scientific attempt to examine and isolate the variables affecting the earth’s temperature cycles.  The scales used visually skew the results but do not markedly detract from the conclusion, that there is a measurable effect on the earth’s normal temperature cycles due to human activities since 1750.  This measurable effect is on the order of a few tenths of a centigrade degree and almost gets lost in the scales used in the analyses.

 

The Open source Foundation, which has no political agenda reports as follows: “The data clearly indicates global warming is happening and is human caused. At this time in the natural cycle Earth should be slightly cooling on trend, leading into what would have been the next ice age. Instead Earth is warming. There is no valid evidence that can prove otherwise. False representations or facts out of context are not a proof of any kind, they are merely incorrect.”  http://ossfoundation.us/projects/environment/global-warming/myths.

 

It comes to mind that the above study does not distinguish industrial activities from those resulting from the massive increase in human and animal populations since 1750, nor does it identify the effect of deforestation on global warming.  Human beings have increased from 790 million to roughly 10 times that to nearly 8 Billion during this time.  http://www.geohive.com/earth/his_history1.aspx.  Estimates of animals that also breathe in oxygen, exhale carbon dioxide and produce methane through flatulence are estimated currently as 20 quintillion (20 billion billion).  http://animals.mom.me/number-animals-earth-3994.html.  If animals (farm animals, etc, have also increased by a factor of 10 since 1750 similar to humans, there should be a measureable effect on global temperatures by more humans and animals just being here on earth and breathing in and out with no burning of fossil fuels.

Deforestation:  http://www.climateandweather.net/global-warming/deforestation.html.

Quoting from the above link, “Forests are vital for life, home to millions of species, they protect soil from erosion, produce oxygen, store carbon dioxide, and help control climate. Forests are also vital for us to live as they provide us with food, shelter and medicines as well as many other useful things. They also purify the air we breathe and water that we need to survive. Deforestation by humans is causing all of these necessary functions to be lessened, and hence damaging the atmosphere even further.

Forests play a huge role in the carbon cycle on our planet. When forests are cut down, not only does carbon absorption cease, but also the carbon stored in the trees is released into the atmosphere as CO2 if the wood is burned or even if it is left to rot after the deforestation process.

Smaller crops e.g. plants and agricultural crops also draw in carbon dioxide and release oxygen, however forests store up to 100 times more carbon than agricultural fields of the same area.

Deforestation is an important factor in global climate change. Climate change is because of a build up of carbon dioxide in out atmosphere and if we carry on cutting down the main tool we have to diminish this CO2 build up, we can expect the climate of our planet to change dramatically over the next decades.

It is estimated that more than 1.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide are released to the atmosphere due to deforestation, mainly the cutting and burning of forests, every year.

Over 30 million acres of forests and woodlands are lost every year due to deforestation; causing a massive loss of income to poor people living in remote areas who depend on the forest to survive”.

 To summarize, human activities have indeed contributed to measurable deviation in the normal temperature cycles of planet earth.  The extent and impact of this deviation has been exaggerated by alarmists pushing their own political agendas.  Efforts to reduce emissions and reduce our carbon footprint cannot fail to have an overall beneficial effect on our environment.  These efforts should be pragmatic and based on science rather than on anecdotal or emotional or politically driven appeals.”

 

Ray Gruszecki

November 2, 2021