BANGOR – What would you think if someone told you that in Greenland, about 9,100 years of the last 10,500 years were warmer than now? Or that the coldest years during this time span were in the late 19th century, at the close of the “Little Ice Age”?

Further, what would you think of the fact that there is nothing unusual about the mild, cyclic warming of our planet over the past century, comparable to the Roman Warm Period or the Medieval Warm Period? The latter enabled the Viking settlement of Greenland, which was later abandoned due to the return of severe cold during that same Little Ice Age.

That’s what Don Easterbrook, professor emeritus of glacial geology at Western Washington University, has determined from analysis of ice cores drilled from the great ice cap — drilling that penetrated to depths corresponding to the onset of the present (Holocene) interglacial period.

Easterbrook also notes that warmer and cooler periods over the last century have shown no correlation with steadily rising CO2 levels, except for the period 1977-1998.

Satellite temperature measurements of our lower atmosphere have shown no significant warming in the past decade despite still-increasing CO2 (a very minor greenhouse gas compared to the most influential one, water vapor).

Robert Felix was an architect and builder when he abandoned his career and devoted the next eight years to pursue his passion, which was to understand what causes ice ages. At the University of Washington, but also in wide correspondence, he mastered a vast scientific literature and concluded that ice ages march precisely in step with magnetic reversals (or excursions) and increased volcanism (about 80 percent of which may be under the surface of the oceans).

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Lesser periods of relative cold — “little ice ages” — also recur in a cyclic pattern.

The last major Ice Age ended very close to 11,500 years ago. The interglacial periods of the last 500,000 years have the same duration, 12,000-14,000 years. Earth’s magnetic field has declined steadily in the last few centuries, which is necessary to a reversal, and the magnetic north pole in northern Canada, in the words of one observer, “is now racing toward Siberia.” Now that would be real “climate change.”

The hyperbole from the worldwide left about doomsday-scenario global warming continues, despite mounting evidence that the “warmists” are wrong. On the surface it’s a classic case of fallacious post hoc reasoning — just because Earth’s temperature and CO2 levels rose together for 20 years doesn’t mean that one caused the other.

Many alarmists are probably subjects of group-think, a well-known phenomenon. For others it’s an opportunity for profiting from investments in “green technology,” or perhaps to make money in carbon trading, or increase their power as bureaucrats. For many in the academic world, it may be desire for government grants, or fear of losing their generous funding if they voice doubts.

Here’s James Hansen of NASA, an originator of “anthropogenic global warming” panic, writing recently for the South China Morning Post: “Americans are not competent to deal with global warming.”

He called Americans “barbarians” and urged his much-admired China to impose high tariffs on American goods until we enact high taxes on carbon emissions.

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Another high priest of the AGW religion, David Shearman, a professor of environmental science, has written “Climate Change and the Failure of Democracy.” Can you guess what his prescription is?

And there are swarms of zealots just as scary as these two. Look at attendees of the recent Copenhagen and Cancun conferences, pressing for massive transfers of money from the developed world (us) to the less-prosperous, who they say will suffer from our irresponsible use of fossil fuels. America has been living too well and the United Nations must set things right, they say.

Sounding far-fetched? John Coleman, founder of The Weather Channel, has recently called AGW “the greatest scam in history” and has despaired that this juggernaut will have to run its course (to what, national suicide?).

Thirty-one thousand well-qualified scientists have now joined a petition, initiated several years ago, to dissuade the U.S. government from implementing the provisions of the Kyoto Protocol (to which now, even the Japanese decline to renew their adherence).

The list of superbly qualified dissidents is growing, and the public is becoming skeptical.

The panic-mongers are redoubling their efforts to enact all kinds of energy-restricting laws and regulations.

Advanced civilizations depend on abundant, affordable energy supplies. If these alarmists are wrong, which seems almost certain, they have damaged our country and the entire world — and plan to do worse.

 


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