Article Deals In Climate Myths, Not With Them

The so-called "hockey stick" graph (courtesy of Wikipedia; created by Robert A. Rohde using public data; ref. source for legend). While this common image itself does not appear in the IPCC's recent Summary for Policy Makers based on the Fourth Assessment Report, the theory that the current global average temperature is the highest it has been in roughly 1,300 years has been upheld by the National Academy of the Sciences and is clearly stated in the IPCC SPM.

Human Events hopes to undermine climate science by spreading their own myths. Color me shocked. No actual science publication supports these claims but of course that doesn't stop a conservative political magazine from publishing them. However, since someone has to set the record straight, I might as well try.

1. The U.S. is going it alone on Kyoto and global warming. – So far, the US isn't doing really anything on the issue of climate change. The notion that Kyoto is a "European Treaty" is false, as there are many non-European who have signed and ratified the agreement (something they forgot to tell you when they mentioned we signed it in this article). As for the claim that it's not working because in Europe, the statistic quoted doesn't really present the whole picture, unless it's already 2012.
2. Global-warming proposals are about the environment. – I'm not sure who is demanding energy rations, but it's not the people proposing solutions to climate change. The key is alternate energy and reducing energy needs. Being more efficient has nothing to do with going without. Of course, if you're "lifestyle" is all about throwing your own money down the toilet, then by all means don't let me tell you have to save money while helping the environment.
3. Climate change is the greatest threat to the world's poor. – Anyone who tells you that climate chang is "more accurately" described as weather is simply mistaken or lying to you; it's that simple. The only "adaption" we need in the way of technological advancements is in the form of alternate energy and more efficient energy uses. It's much harder to adapt to worsening drought or flooding.

4. Global warming means more frequent, more severe storms. – It certainly may, as is pointed out in the IPCC's Fourth Assessment. From the SPM:

   Based on a range of models, it is likely [greater than 66% confidence] that future tropical cyclones (typhoons and hurricanes) will become more intense, with larger peak wind speeds and more heavy precipitation associated with ongoing increases of tropical SSTs.

   Oh, did I just quote that from where they said I couldn't? That's odd.

5. Global warming has doomed the polar bears! – Polar bears can swim, just not forever. Arctic ice is melting and that's where polar bears live. The melting ice has been driving them further south. As for the Arctic cooling, the Arctic is the fastest warming region on the entire planet and any local, short term annomolies will be just that.
6. Climate change is raising the sea levels. – The lie that somehow the IPCC report is distorted just doesn't hold water, especially when the level's rising. This remains a conservative and highly reviewed document, possibly the most peer-reviewed science document ever written. The fact that some opinion editors with no background in science would tell you otherwise means very little.
7. The glaciers are melting! – The global ice mass held is glaciers is receding. Period. You simply cannot point to a few outliers and claim that is science. Of course, there's really no science in this article, anyway.

8. Climate was stable until man came along. – Who even says that? Of course climate changes. The problem is that is currently changing at a rate an entire order of magnitude faster than previously known. Further, we are now most likely warmer than any time in the previous 1,300 years. Oh, the so-called "hockey stick" graph? It's still in the IPCC report, just in written format (sorry, but you have to read and not just look at pretty pictures):

   Paleoclimatic studies use changes in climatically sensitive indicators to infer past changes in global climate on time scales ranging from decades to millions of years. Such proxy data (e.g., tree ring width) may be influenced by both local temperature and other factors such as precipitation, and are often representative of particular seasons rather than full years. Studies since the TAR draw increased confidence from additional data showing coherent behaviour across multiple indicators in different parts of the world. However, uncertainties generally increase with time into the past due to increasingly limited spatial coverage. Paleoclimate information supports the interpretation that the warmth of the last half century is unusual in at least the previous 1300 years. … Average Northern Hemisphere temperatures during the second half of the 20th century were very likely higher than during any other 50-year period in the last 500 years and likely the highest in at least the past 1300 years.

   The notion that the "hockey stick" graph is wrong was proven false last summer when the National Academy of the Sciences determined that it was in fact, correct. Too had Human Events doesn't bother to read the news. Then again, it's not like paleoclimate is the only reason that we know global warming is happening.

9. The science is settled -- CO2 causes global warming. – Man-made greenhouse gases have been determined to be the main cause of the recent changes in climate. The relation between the change in levels of CO₂ and global average temperature is complicated, not simply a one-to-one. However, a relationship has been clearly established and while there are certainly other sources for climate change, the world's body of climatologists are very confident (with greater than 90% certainty) that it is us (man) that is doing the major influencing on the climate.
10. It's hot in here! – It is most likely the warmest that it has been in over 1,300 years, based on paleoclimate proxies. Based on recorded temperatures, we are even more confident in the claim that it is hotter now than ever recorded. Playing shell games with what data you compare it to just doesn't change that. Pretending that being hot is so much better than an ice age is also a red-hearing; as is the case with saying that some problem you are not facing would be so much worse than the one you are doesn't make it go away.

Please consider this article to be on-going, as I'll add more information and links when I get the chance. For an even longer list of climate change myths, please see my previous article "25 Reasons Why You Should Understand Neil Boortz is Wrong."

Jason Coleman is a structural engineering who lives, practices, and writes in Richmond, VA, where he hope the truth wins out so his child will enjoy a better climate. This article is published under a Creative Commons Attribution- Noncommercial- Share Alike 3.0 License.

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