The Myth of "Global Warming"

The one issue on the political spectrum that people are simultaneously the most passionate and least educated on is the new sacred cow of the left: Global Warming.

Apparently by 2050 the ice caps are going to be completely melted, they'll be growing grapes in central Canada and the only part of NYC that won't be under water will be the antenna on the Empire State building (I would have said the top of the Freedom Tower, but honestly-given their progress to date- I don't think they'll have it built by then).

Al Gore has declared the issue as non-debatable and everywhere you go you hear about "the consensus" that global warming is happening (shocking- an issue that liberals don't want to debate about). Why is the debate over? Because Al Gore made a movie? These scientists don't think the debate is over.

The Earth's climate patterns do not change in a human lifetime. They change and evolve over thousands of years. The years 800 A.D. - 1300 A.D. saw a significant rise in global temperatures (a phenomenon known as the Medieval Warm Period). Then, something called the "Little Ice Age" hit around 1600 A.D.- and continued well into the 19th century!!! Somewhere in the 1800s, temperatures started to rise again. I can allready hear the smarmy retort: "Well that is when the Industrial Revolution began to take off!" - Fair enough...

What industrialization was occuring during the 500 year warming period during the Medieval Period??? How do we account for that warming? Obviously, to any person with any sense of logical reasoning skills this is evidence that human activity is not the only factor that can heavily impact the climate.

Here's a list of some other factors that have climate-changing potential:

Solar Activity- That's right folks, the sun effects the climate on Earth (Duh!). We are currently in a period of increased solar activity (read- the sun has been burning brighter and hotter over the past 150 years than it usually has [fyi- this started around 1850...]) NASA predicts that this cycle of solar activity is coming to an end and in 2022 the cycle will change and it will be one of the weakest periods of solar activity in recorded history (every action has an equal and OPPOSITE reaction).

Volcanic Activity- Increased volcanic activity has a cooling effect on the global climate. All the ash released creates a build up of SO2 which rises into the upper atmosphere and reflects the sun's rays back out into space. We haven't had massive, large eruptions in a while, but even one eruption can have vast effects on the climate. Ever hear of the "year without a summer?"

Other factors to consider:

We do not have accurate temperature records that date back past 1862 (when the first worldwide temps were actually recorded).

Even when we started taking the temperature records in the 1860s, most of them were done in major cities- which have notoriously higher ambient temperatures than outlying areas for a variety of factors.

An assessment of the 1,221 ground weather stations around the country (by Anthony Watts) that are used by NASA to measure the "official" average annual temperature of the United States has uncovered that 70% of the sites fail to meet government standards for obtaining accurate temperature readings (too close to buildings, on "blazing rooftops," too close to a/c exhausts, etc).

January 2008 was the 2nd coldest Janurary in the past 15 years.

NASA has obtained recent satellite images of the polar ice caps that show that the level of coverage has returned to normal levels (as reported by Josefino Comiso of NASA, strangely the story was only picked up by Canada's version of NPR).

Gilles Langis, a senior ice forecaster with the Canadian Ice Service in Ottawa, has found examples of ice coverage being thicker than normal in some locations.

The global temperature has dropped sinceJanuary 2007 (Anthony Watts did the research for this conclusion).

Add to all of this the fact that China and North America are having record winters and snowfalls and BAGHDAD, IRAQ received its FIRST SNOWFALL IN HISTORY this winter.

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From everything I've just listed above, I don't think the "debate is over" on climate change. In fact, I think it is just beginning. Environmental groups (especially those that donate a lot of money to political campaigns) want the debate to be over before it starts. They want us to sign up for the economically devastating Kyoto Treaty (which was voted down in the Senate by a bipartisan 99-0 vote). They want us to pour TRILLIONS of dollars into "green" industries and "solutions" to a problem that we 1) may not be contributing to and 2) if we are contributing, we may not be able to change much (or more likely: at all).

The debate is not over. Free thinking Americans everywhere should seriously analyze this issue and ask the tough questions. The media is not going to do it for you!!! In fact, the media, if anything, unethically blocks and harasses the opinion of those who urge caution, more research and sanity when talking about global warming.

This issue is important, and has HUGE economic consequences- not only for us living today, but for our children. What will they to them in 2050 if we are in a cooling period and we can not grow the crops necessary to drive our "bio-fuel" cars? Sanity, logic and reason need to be restored to this issue as opposed to the hype, hysteria and unnecessary alarmism we are seeing today