Acanthophis Gore pt VIII

TWENTY QUESTIONS FOR GLOBAL WARMING ALARMISTS

Compiled from various sources
(1) The earth has warmed and cooled numerous times in the past and many of those temperature variations have been much greater than anything we've experienced in recent history. So, since we humans do not understand how those temperature swings occurred, how can we be sure that the very mild warming we've seen so far hasn't been caused by normal changes in our climate? Are you willing to gamble our economy on it?

(2) If man's activity is responsible for the roughly one degree increase in temperature over the last century, then why did the global temperatures drop from 1940 to 1975 even though mankind's production of CO2 went up during that period?

(3) We can't accurately predict whether it is going to rain or shine one week from now. We can't accurately predict the weather one year from now (remember the devastating hurricanes that were predicted for 2006?). And in both cases, it is extremely difficult to prove causation. What makes you think Al Gore knows what the weather will be like in 2107? (This is actually understated -- climate is much harder to predict than the weather).

(4) Mars and other planets have also been experiencing global warming. Since man can't be a factor on all of these other planets, doesn't it make sense that a common factor -- perhaps the sun -- might be to blame?

(5) In the 1970's, the consensus among environmentalists was about global COOLING. Now it turns out that was simply a period of global temperatures getting cooler. So -- where did we go wrong in the 1970's and how do we know that we're not making the same mistake today?

(6) Global warming alarmists like to tell you that there is a “scientific consensus”. But more than 17,200 scientists have signed a statement disagreeing with popular global warming theory. And, forgive my pun, they are only the tip of the iceberg. Every week more scientists come forward to express their skepticism. How can anyone credibly claim that there are no real scientists and climatologists that have objected to global warming theology? How can anyone credibly claim that there is consensus on this issue? And what do poll results have to do with science anyway?

(7) You cannot separate proposed solutions from this debate. Even if mankind was responsible for global warming, how would the solutions being offered (like Kyoto or carbon credit schemes) fix the problem? Big developing countries like India and China are exempt from Kyoto and unlikely to sign any deal that ruins their economy. Europe isn't anywhere near to meeting its Kyoto goals. Even backers of Kyoto admit that Kyoto won't solve the problem even if all of its targets are met. To put it another way, if a doctor told you that you had an incurable disease, would you still diet and exercise anyway?

(8) Bill Bryson, a believer of global warming, wrote in his book, “Short History of Nearly Everything” that "for most of its history until fairly recent times, the general pattern was for the earth to be hot with no permanent ice anywhere". Doesn't that seem to suggest that despite everything we hear about the “record high temperatures”, the global temperature is quite a bit cooler than it has been throughout much of earth's history?

(9) Carl Zimmer noted in Discover Magazine that there were periods in the earth's history that much higher levels of CO2 but DID NOT have significantly higher temperatures. Doesn't this cast doubt on the relationship between CO2 levels and the earth's temperature?

(10) If, in geologic history, rises in CO2 have resulted in rises in global temperature, then why does the scientific evidence indicate that the rise in CO2 levels tends to FOLLOW the rise in temperatures by between 600 and 1,000 years?

(11) Scientists often point out that there seems to be a much closer relationship between the earth's temperature and solar activity. Doesn't that seem to strongly suggest that the sun, not mankind, is more likely responsible?

(12) Why do the global warming faithful point to the Mount Kilimanjaro glacier as evidence of global warming when most of the melting occurred before global warming could have been a factor?

(13) Why do the global warming faithful point to declines in polar bear populations when, according to the actual science, polar bear populations are between four and five times larger than they were in the 1950s.

(14) Why did global warming scientists at one time try to pass off the now discredited “hockey stick” graph as objective science?

(15) Global warming theology predicts that temperatures in the stratosphere will rise at a much faster rate than surface temperatures. Why is the exact opposite taking place?

(16) If global warming is rapidly melting the ice caps, why is the Antarctic ice sheet thickening (as was reported in the journal Science)?

(17) Why does Al Gore find it necessary to describe Manhattan being deluged under 20 feet of water, when the IPCC's third report mentioned a top level during the time period discussed of 3 feet sea level rise, the fourth report revised it to 17 inches and, in order to get that figure, they had to deliberately select a variability trough as the starting point and a variability peak as an end-point or else the actual trends would indicate a maximum rise of about the same levels that have been experienced since the Little Ice Age came to an end?

(18) Why do liberals refuse to acknowledge that wealth -- not more socialism -- is the cure for poverty and pollution? Countries with good economies tend to have fewer people in poverty and tend to have cleaner air and water.

(19) If people like Al Gore really believe their own hype and think it is necessary to lecture the rest of us how to live, why can't they get by on less than 20 times the amount of energy that a regular family uses? Why does John Travolta lecture us but refuses to give up his five private jets? I mean, if they really believe the world is about to end, shouldn't they be making the greatest sacrifices to try to save it?

(20) Why do leftists use the phrase “the stakes are high” every time they are about to do something utterly destructive?

environmental