A Different View on Global warming

18,000 years ago, Wisconsin was under 100 feet of ice, and so it is clear that the earth has been in a warming period for thousands of years. If temperatures have increased 1-2 degrees during the past 180 years this really should not be a surprise to any of us, including the climate activists.

But frequently we are told that this small increase in the earth’s temperature is the existential issue of our time and that this global warming is gripping the globe and is caused almost solely by our wasteful and excessive use of fossil fuels (coal, gas and oil). As a result, the climate activists demand that our government spend billions of dollars on mitigating climate change. Goldman Sachs estimated that the increase in our national debt from climate change mandates alone will total $1.2 trillion from the 2023 Deficit Reduction Act. The climate activists instruct us to change our lifestyles, reduce our use of fossil fuels to prevent climate changes including more dangerous hurricanes, tornadoes, forest fires and droughts.

But we know from the historical scientific studies by the EPA, NASA, NFS and the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), that fossil fuels cause only an infinitesimal amount of global warming, because we do not have any more dangerous hurricanes, tornadoes, forest fires or droughts than in during the past 100 years.

Millions of Americans are worried because they have been repeatedly told that the earth will become dangerously hot in a few years. But scientifically, we know from NASA, which tracks Global warming, that the 6 years after 2016 were cooler than 2016 and that the 16 years after 1998 were cooler years. Here are NASA’s global temperature measurements since 1979 which show a small temperature increase (1ºC):

The Paris Agreement tells us that it would be unusual and unnatural if temperatures rise by more than ½º C by 2050 (This is equal to a 1 1/2ºC increase since 1840), we will have a climate catastrophe, and their demand is that we use solar and wind energy, and drive electric cars. But, as written above, the earth is in a warm period and has been since the last ice age 18,000 years ago when Wisconsin was under 100 feet of ice.

NASA and the US Government’s NOAA (National Atmospheric Administration) scientific studies show us that 1998 and 2016 were very warm years. These were El Nino years. El Nino is a repetitive climate event, first discovered around 1800 by South Pacific fisherman, that has occurred every several years for centuries, when the winds from the hot Pacific Ocean waters travel the earth and warm it. 2023 was also an El Nino year and a very warm year, and perhaps the warmest during our lifetime. But El Nino was only one factor in the warmth of 2023.

But 2023 was an unusual year not only because of El Nino, because there also were significantly more sunspots (which generate warmth) and a rarely talked about activity called the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) which measures the difference in atmospheric pressures between Iceland and the Azores, as shown on the Chart below:

This radiant heat on Earth is 99% provided by the sun according to Prof. Nir Shaviv at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Atmospheric carbon dioxide provides about 1/2% of the Earth’s radiant energy. Please remember that when people tell you of the powerful influence of carbon dioxide on global warming.

2020, the Covid year, represented the greatest experiment in human history to reduce our use of fossil fuels. This was the year when fewer people drove to work, went to school, attended sporting events, or ate out in restaurants. However, 2020 was the 3rd warmest year in our lifetime, despite the fact that we used 10% less fossil fuel. With fewer greenhouse gas emissions, climate activists predicted a cooler year. But it was warm. There was an infinitesimal 1/500°C temperature reduction according to Bjorn Lomborg and the Copenhagen Group.

Some climate activists complain that 2020, is only one year, not enough time to fairly evaluate climate change, which requires a number of years. So, let’s look at the 32 years between 1944-1976 during which there was an increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide and no global warmth:

This chart from HadCRUT (University of East Anglia, a British public University), shows that yearly increases in carbon dioxide did not prevent temperatures from decreasing for the 32 years between 1944-1976. If you are old enough, you may recall that by the mid-1970’s many scientists were warning us of the dangers that climate change would lead to more freezing future temperatures.

What were all of those additional carbon dioxide molecules doing for those 32 years? They certainly did not generate Global warming!

The entire climate activist argument is that burning of fossil fuels causes global warming. But, as proven above, fossil fuels provide only very minimal global warming. (Minuscule is probably a more accurate word). The statement we hear every day, that humans are primarily causing global warming because of our dependence on fossil fuel is scientifically false. So, let’s stop wasting money, curtailing our freedoms and generating climate anxiety. Capitalism, free markets and competition are the rational and scientific solutions to increasing our health and wealth and happiness.