In 2001-2007, I wrote a weekly column for a couple of
newspapers in northern Arkansas and southern Missouri. In December of 2005, I
wrote a column titled "Black Gold" pointing out that global warming
may or may not exist, and if it does exist it may or not be caused by human
beings (greenhouse gas emissions), depending on which scientific study you
believed. I remained neutral in the presentation and didn't endorse one side or
the other.
Soon thereafter, I received a series of e-mails from a
fellow on the West Coast who tried to convince me that global warming was
primarily caused by humans whereupon I responded with many studies that
disputed this contention.
His response was always that his experts had impeccable
credentials and my experts were quacks.
After much correspondence, which included other subjects as
well, he went into a profanity-laced rant and abruptly ended our e-mail debate
by writing that I should "eat dirt and die."
This piece is dedicated to him.
Steven Milloy has a B.A. in Natural Science and an M.S. in
Biostatistics from Johns Hopkins University, and a Juris Doctorate from George
Washington University. He was on the judging panel for the American Association
for the Advancement of Science Awards and has testified before the U.S.
Congress on environmental issues.
In other words, he's a man of superior credentials, although
I'm certain the West Coast critic would disagree.
Milloy is also the publisher of JunkScience.com, an online
website where he refers to the global warming controversy as the "mother
of all junk science." He contends that climate varies naturally and the
ongoing climate change is within the natural variation.
In his online piece on the subject in 2005, he made several
compelling arguments.
The Kyoto Protocol is an agreement among nations to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions by 8 percent, from the 1990 levels, by 2012. The USA and most of
the European Union signatories have been ignoring it.
Using data provided by those who promote the Kyoto Protocol,
if every country complied with the agreement, the average global temperature
would be reduced by 0.0015 degrees Centigrade. At this rate, it would take 667
years (at a cost of $100 trillion) to hypothetically forestall global warming
by one degree Centigrade.
A Russian study showed that the concentration of greenhouse
gases in the atmosphere is approximately 370 PPM (parts per million) and compliance
with Kyoto would result in a difference of only one or two PPM by 2012.
Former Vice President Al Gore is an ardent global warming
prevention advocate. At a political event on January 4, 2006, he was asked if
he thought the Kyoto Protocol would work. His response was, "Hell
no!" He went on to explain that the main point of Kyoto was to generate
international support for environmental concerns.
Gore had produced a documentary filled with inconsistencies
to promote his alarmist view of global warming.
In it he shows some glaciers that are receding but fails to
even mention that other glaciers are actually growing as well. Also, certain
glaciers in Alaska
have been receding ever since famous outdoor photographer John Muir
photographed them back in the 1800s, long before the onset of manmade
greenhouse emissions.
The documentary also implies that increases in atmospheric
carbon dioxide have historically preceded increases in global temperatures.
However, a 2005 study in the journal Science reports that the opposite may have been true in the past --
that higher temperatures may actually precede increased carbon dioxide levels.
Scientists also point to volcanoes under the oceans,
increases in solar activity and other factors to explain global warming.
Science is like beauty; the truth is always in the eye of
the beholder.
___________
Quote for the Day -- “All weather is sin-related. Lust
causes thunder, anger causes fog, and you don't want to know what causes dew.”
Stephen Colbert
___________
Bret Burquest is the author of 10 books. He
lives in the Ozark Mountains with a couple of dogs and to alleviate global
warming he has vowed to stop farting.
___________
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