By Richard Salbato www.unitypublishing.com
The Facts
Question 1:
"Global warming" is a real phenomenon: Earth's temperature is increasing.
False
"Global Warming" is something that has been happening for a long time. The temperature of the earth has been increasing more or less continuously since the time of the cave man.
Approximately 18,000 years ago the earth began a gradual process of warming up after more than 100,000 years of ice ages. Much of North America, Europe, and Asia lay buried beneath great sheets of glacial ice.
By about 15,000 years ago the earth had warmed sufficiently to halt the advance of glaciers, and sea levels worldwide began to rise.
By 8,000 years ago the land bridge across the Bering Strait was drowned, cutting off the migration of men and animals to North America.
Since the end of the Ice Age, Earth's temperature has risen approximately 16 degrees F and sea levels have risen a total of 300 feet! Forests have returned where once there was only ice.
From a geological perspective, global warming is the normal state of our accustomed natural world. Technically, we are in an "interglacial phase," or between ice ages. The question is not really if an ice age will return, but when.
Don't panic when you hear global alarmists warning the earth may have warmed almost 1 degree in the last 200 years. Although this still hasn't yet been proven, it is in fact exactly what should be happening if everything is normal.
If Global Warming stops, then you can start worrying! It means our warm interglacial phase is over and we may be heading into another Ice Age!
Question 2:
The "Greenhouse Effect" is real.
Greenhouse gases allow sunlight to pass through Earth's atmosphere, but as sunlight strikes the earth it is partially changed to radiant heat. Greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, water vapor/droplets, and methane help inhibit the escape of radiant heat back into space.
That is why the danger of nighttime frost is greater when the skies are clear than when skies are cloudy.
Question 3:
The main cause of Global Warming is:
a) pollution from factories and automobiles
b)
orbital eccentricities of Earth and variations in the Sun's output
c) the
Greenhouse Effect
The Greenhouse Effect is not the major factor controlling Global Warming. The news media and certain politicians often speak of "global warming" and "greenhouse effect" interchangeably, like they were one and the same. This is misleading, because global warming occurs in cycles caused mainly by changes in the sun's energy output and the sun's position relative to the earth.
Major Causes of Global Temperature Shifts
(1) Astronomical Causes
· 11 year and 206 year cycles: Cycles of solar variability ( sunspot activity)
· 21,000 year cycle: Earth's combined tilt and elliptical orbit around the Sun ( precession of the equinoxes )
· 41,000 year cycle: Cycle of the +/- 1.5° wobble in Earth's orbit ( tilt )
· 100,000 year cycle: Variations in the shape of Earth's elliptical orbit ( cycle of eccentricity)
(2) Atmospheric Causes
· Heat retention: Due to atmospheric gases, mostly gaseous water vapor (not droplets), also carbon dioxide, methane, and a few other miscellaneous gases-- the "greenhouse effect"
· Solar reflectivity: Due to white clouds, volcanic dust, polar ice caps
(3) Tectonic Causes
· Landmass distribution: Shifting continents (continental drift) causing changes in circulatory patterns of ocean currents. It seems that whenever there is a large land mass at one of the Earth's poles, either the north pole or south pole, there are ice ages.
· Undersea ridge activity: "Sea floor spreading" causing variations in ocean displacement.
For
more details see:http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/paleo/milankovitch.html
http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/enviro/EnviroRepublish_233658.htm
Question 4:
The Greenhouse Effect is caused primarily by:
a) water vapor
b) carbon dioxide
c) ozone-destroying aerosol sprays
Over 95% of the greenhouse effect is the result of water vapor in Earth's atmosphere. But because water droplets held in suspension (clouds) make almost as good a reflector as they do a thermal insulator, there is little rise in daytime temperatures due to the greenhouse effect.
Any greenhouse warming, if it does occur, is limited to primarily increasing nighttime temperatures, which provides beneficial moderation of nighttime low temperatures, but no increase in daytime high temperatures. Dr. Patrick Michaels, Professor of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia, has demonstrated this phenomenon very effectively.
The world's natural wetlands produce more greenhouse gas contributions annually than all human sources combined.
Question 5:
Which most accurately describes the effects of Global Warming in the United States over the last 100 years?
a) temperatures
have risen > 5° C
b) temperatures have risen > 2° C
c) temperatures have risen < 1° C
Temperatures have gone through nearly two complete cycles of warming and cooling over the last 100 years. During the period 1900 to 1940 temperatures were increasing. Then from 1940 to 1980 temperatures were decreasing. Currently, temperatures are increasing back to about where they were in the 1930's.
Overall, the total average annual temperature increase in the U.S. in the last century is so slight the actual amount is uncertain-- maybe 1/3° C.
Question 6:
How much Carbon dioxide (CO2) is in Earth's atmosphere today?
a) 10% or
greater
b) 2% to 10%
c) less than 1/10th of 1%
Carbon dioxide is such a small component of Earth's atmosphere (380 parts per million or 0.038%) that it shows up on the chart below as only a thin line (shown at 2x actual thickness, just so you can see it!). Compared to former geologic times, Earth's atmosphere is "CO2 impoverished."
In the last 600 million years of Earth's history only the Carboniferous Period and our present age, the Quaternary Period, have witnessed CO2 levels less than 400 ppm.
Global Temperature and Atmospheric CO2 over Geologic Time
Late Carboniferous to Early Permian time (315 mya -- 270 mya) is the only time period in the last 600 million years when both atmospheric CO2 and temperatures were as low as they are today (Quaternary Period ).
Temperature
after C.R. Scotese http://www.scotese.com/climate.htm
CO2 after R.A. Berner, 2001 (GEOCARB III)
There has historically been much more CO2 in our atmosphere than exists today. For example:
During the Jurassic Period (200 mya), average CO2 concentrations were about 1800 ppm or about 4.7 times higher than today.
The highest concentrations of CO2 during all of the Paleozoic Era occurred during the Cambrian Period, nearly 7000 ppm -- about 18 times higher than today.
The Carboniferous Period and the Ordovician Period were the only geological periods during the Paleozoic Era when global temperatures were as low as they are today. To the consternation of global warming proponents, the Late Ordovician Period was also an Ice Age while at the same time CO2 concentrations then were nearly 12 times higher than today-- 4400 ppm.
According to greenhouse theory, Earth should have been exceedingly hot. Instead, global temperatures were no warmer than today. Clearly, other factors besides atmospheric carbon influence earth temperatures and global warming.
Question 7:
Carbon dioxide from coal-fired power plants damages forests.
True
False
Earth's first, primitive forests made their prolific debut 300 million years ago during the Carboniferous Period . Before then, the atmosphere held far more CO2 but concentrations declined throughout the Carboniferous Period as plants flourished.
During the Carboniferous Period the atmosphere became greatly depleted of CO2 (declining from about 2500 ppm to 350 ppm) so that by the end of the Carboniferous the CO2-impoverished atmosphere was less favorable to plant life and plant growth slowed dramatically. Today, CO2 concentrations are barely at 380 ppm (0.038% of our atmosphere) and most of that comes from entirely natural sources.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is not to be confused with its poisonous evil cousin carbon monoxide (CO), which can kill humans and animals in just a few minutes. Life as we know it could not exist without carbon dioxide in our atmosphere.
Recent studies indicate CO2 enrichment of 1.5 times the present amount in the atmosphere increases photosynthesis by 45%.
Did you know ...
The fat, curvy towers that look like they are belching white smoke are really only emitting pure water vapor. They are in effect making clouds.
The actual exhaust emissions come from the smokestack, which is the tall skinny tower. Because modern technology makes it possible to remove much of the fly ash and sulfur before releasing smokestack gases to the air, smokestack emissons today are often almost invisible.
Question 8:
Which answer below provides the best explanation for the following temperature record?
a. Industrial
pollution from factories, power plants, and cars caused global warming
b. Natural
variations in global temperatures may occur in roughly 500-years cycles
c. Global
cooling occurred as a result of the Renaissance Period
The primary cause of variations in global temperature is due to the cycles of the sun and Earth's orbit about the sun. In addition to 40-year cycles and 500-year cycles, other temperature cycles include:
· 21,000 year cycle: Elliptical orbit of the Earth around the Sun (precession of the equinoxes)
· 41,000 year cycle: Cycle of the +/- 1.5 degree wobble in Earth's orbit
· 100,000 year cycle: Variations in the shape of Earth's elliptical orbit ( cycle of eccentricity )
Question 9:
Which of the following is NOT true about an increasing greenhouse effect?
a) the
consensus of scientists is that the problem warrants drastic action
b) nighttime temperatures
may increase, but daytime temperatures will not
c) the coldest, driest regions of the planet will warm
first
A warmer atmosphere will allow more humidity and water vapor (clouds) to saturate the skies. Water vapor, especially white clouds, are powerful solar reflectors-- they may even cool daytime temperatures slightly. Any warming, if it does occur, will likely occur as a decrease in the amount of nighttime temperature drop.
Similarly, it is the driest and coldest regions of the earth that would notice the biggest change-- places like Siberia and Canada. Are warmer winter nights in the Arctic Circle really a problem? Desperately Seeking Mission: Why the State Department's Gone Green, Peter VanDoren, 1997.
Question 10:
Which temperature measuring method most accurately measures global warming?
a) ground-based
thermometers
b) orbiting weather satellites
c) weather balloons
Since about 1979, each day satellites measure the temperature over about 80% of the globe to an accuracy of about 0.1 degree C. Weather balloons only make measurements at specific locations that are concentrated mostly over land (1).
The real signature of greenhouse warming is not surface temperature but temperature in the middle of the troposphere, about 5 kilometers up. If global warming is occurring from an increasing greenhouse effect due to CO2 additions by humans the temperature of the middle troposphere should be warming faster than Earth's surface (2,3). However, the opposite has been happening-- which suggests either the surface temperature records are in error or natural factors, such as changes in solar activity, may be responsible for the slight rise in surface temperatures (approximately 0.6° C, globally) that appears to have occurred over the past century.
Interestingly, in the 5 years leading up to 2007 the temperature of the mid troposphere has actually decreased slightly and surface temperatures have ceased warming -- even as CO2 concentrations have continued to increase (4). This should not be happening if CO2 increases to the atmosphere are the primary driver of global warming.
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Surface -vs- Satellite Temps |
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References
(1) Satellite Measurements of Atmospheric Temperature Change: New Results from Old Satellites; presentation by Carl A. Mears and Frank J. Wentz, Remote Sensing Systems, November 2005.
(2) Climate Change Science; Compiled by Ken Gregory, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, November 11, 2007.
(3) Climate experts debate in NYC, March 2007-- specifically, testimony by Dr. Richard S. Lindzen, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
(4) Tropospheric and Stratospheric Temperature Record from Satellite Measurments, The National Climatic Data Center, NOAA Satellite Information Service, April 27, 2003 update.
Space and
Science Research Center
www.spaceandscience.net
PRESS RELEASE, Monday June 15, 2009
SSRC 3-2009
Reviewing Climate Change and Cap and Trade Programs to Insure Investor
Protection
Based upon information supplied to it by the Space and Science Research Center (SSRC),
the Securities and Exchange Commission has begun a review of the Obama administration’s carbon trading, ‘emission
allowance,’ and climate change permitting programs to insure investors are
adequately protected.
According to SSRC Director, John Casey,
“The reason for our request to the SEC is straightforward. Since global warming has ended, there simply is no need to implement a
massive government tax or investment/trading programs in a vain attempt to
control it. The natural repeating cycles of the Sun which caused the past
global warming have now reversed to a normal though potentially dangerous cold
phase. The unbelievable $646 billion tax on the people paid for through cap and
trade programs and spelled out in the proposed 2010 federal budget is the
largest environmental tax in the history of the United States. It is also
completely unnecessary. Here we are creating a huge tax and investment system
to counteract something that does not exist and yet not spending the first
dollar to get our country prepared for the rapidly advancing coldest weather in
over 200 years!
As a result, the SSRC in conjunction with its parent company, have asked the
SEC to insure that publicly traded companies and their investors are protected
from the real prospect of what I believe could be highly risky if not illegal
(“worthless securities”) trading in climate change control instruments. In a
March 19, 2009, letter to SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro, I have asked that she
take several definitive steps to protect investors. The least of these steps is
that the SEC needs to insure investors are provided full and accurate
disclosure of climate change investment risks. Investors should be told that
there is no global warming and that the coming cold weather may make any such
investment vehicles worthless in a few years as the world comes to recognize
man made climate change for the failed concept that many experts believe it is.
I can see investors, Wall Street firms, and public companies losing tens if not
hundreds of billions of dollars because of these climate change control efforts
by the Obama administration.”
On whether a political appointee such as Chairman Schapiro will do anything to
interrupt the climate change and global warming programs of the Obama administration, Casey voiced optimism saying,
“Chairman Schapiro has been given a free hand and wide ranging mandate to
revamp the SEC and toughen its investor protections in light of a wave of
scandals and other financial crises that have rocked Wall Street over the past two
years. I am hopeful that she will stand up to partisan politics by making all
such climate change controlling investment programs contain full disclosure of
the risks involved. I would like her to go beyond that as specified in my
letter by for example, halting all carbon trading. I have not announced the SEC’s review previously to allow them sufficient time to
look into the matter. Now that the SEC has had the ball in their court for the
past three months, I hope we will see a ruling soon, especially with climate
legislation now being considered by Congress.”
In looking at the climate change question objectively Casey injected, “The SSRC
is the leading independent science research organization in the United States
on the science of and planning for the next cold climate era. I was the
recipient of heavy and often irrational criticism from all sectors when I first
announced my research and the forecast of the next climate change to the media,
US
government, and the scientific community.
Now that my predictions have come to pass, scientists and prominent leaders from around the world have now joined the fray in the effort to spread the word about the dramatic changes taking place in the Sun and what really causes climate change on Earth.
Accordingly, the SSRC is now the most quoted source on the world wide web on the subject of the climate change to this
new cold era. I will continue my efforts to alert the media, our government,
and the American people on how this next climate period will unfold and what effects
it will have on everyone. This request to the SEC for investor protection and
disclosure of the inherent risks of carbon trading is another logical step in
support of that mission. The on going process of the SSRC to speak the truth
about climate change will also accelerate as the cold weather gets closer. This
Wednesday for example, the SSRC will issue a new climate forecast, the most
important of its kind in over two years. It will provide a more detailed
schedule for how soon the deepest cold will arrive and start to create food
shortages in the United
States because of expected crop damage. In
the meantime, let’s hope the SEC does the right thing by protecting investors
from the folly that is called ‘man made climate change.’ ”
Letter to SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro
Additional Statements from the Space and Science Research
Center:
· Changes in the Sun’s Surface to Bring Next Climate Change
· New Climate Change Theory Gains Influential Support
Click here for information on the Space and Science Research
Center and a brief Bio of its director John
L. Casey