Global Warming, and Other Foolishness

Success relies upon truth. And that is why I include this little ditty on the so-called "Global Warming" debate. Regardless of where you stand on the issue, please humor me a little and read this through. 

 

Al "Chicken Little" Gore and his cronies want everyone to believe that 1) the Earth is getting continually warmer, 2) it will continue to do so until we meet with disaster, and 3) it's all our fault. They then go forth and spew half-truths in order to build up their following of sheep. As an example: The Global Warming crowd point out that many of the warmest years in recorded weather history (a mere 112 years) have all occurred in the last 20 years. That is their "truth". And here is what they are NOT saying: the last 20 years have also had some of the coldest years on record. 

 

According to the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration which tracks and keeps weather data, this year is the coldest on record, followed closely by 1983 and 1985 and even 2004. And in the years from 1978-2004, 12 of those 26 years were substantially colder than normal. 

 

The GW crowd also seem to miss the fact that some of the hottest years and temperatures on record all occurred between 1911 and 1923, with another scorcher year in 1934. I may be wrong, but I do not believe there were too many SUV's around back then. They also point out that the year 2000 started out warmer than usual. What they do not tell you is that the year 2000 ended up colder than usual. 

 

Other points the Gore crowd conveniently miss in their "inconvenient truth": 1) Four other planets are also warmer than usual, pointing to a possibility that the warming has nothing to do with SUV's or our "carbon footprints", but rather with natural cycles. The south pole of Neptune has become 18 degrees warmer than normal since 1970, simply because planets (including ours) "wobble" on their axis, and sometimes one pole is closer to the sun than the other. Again, Hummers are not to blame. 2) While the Arctic ice is melting, oceanic studies show the ice of Antarctica is getting thicker. Some alarmists cite reports of rising temps in the Antarctic region (the shelf area), but the complete facts from all sources indicate that the temp is rising in less than 30% of the continent, and is substantially cooling in the remaining 70+ percent, for an overall net COOLING of Antarctica. 3) Despite their incoherent rants, Global Warming cannot be responsible for BOTH warmer temperatures and colder temperatures, as they would have you believe. 4) Their predictions of increasing hurricanes simply have not materialized - not a single hurricane hit U.S. shores in 2006. (They predicted 18 in May, changed it to 9 in July, and then kept mum when none hit, hoping we would not notice). And some of the worst hurricanes in recorded history occurred in the 1930's. 

 

Don't get me wrong - I believe the Earth is currently in a trend of some degree of warming (pardon the pun). But I do not believe it is permanent, nor will it result in disaster, nor is it our fault. It is cyclical, as are all things in nature. 

 

So why all the hype and misinformation? As my Dad always said, if you want to understand what is going on, follow the money. You must understand that the only source of income for scientists are grants. And you simply cannot get grants to study something that is not a potential problem. The greater that scientists can hype the problem, the more grant money they can get. It really is that simple. Just like you, scientists must compete to feed their families. You are here because you want to be more successful. That's great. But the first step in achieving success lies in being able to know how to avoid having the wool pulled over your eyes by someone with an agenda. Stop. Think. Research. Learn the truth from those who have the facts, and stay away from those who have an agenda, because they will not provide all the facts. And when someone makes a statement, always ask yourself what they are NOT saying. 

 

If, for example, they tell you that the warmest years have occurred in the last 20, you should immediately seek out how many of those years were COLDER, and by how much. If they say the warming is caused by carbon dioxide, ask for statistical proof (there is no evidence showing any correlation). If you want to know about historical weather patterns, check with NASA, the National Weather Service and others who have the facts. But beware - even they tend to "spin" things in favor of global warming. 

 

So, you must actually track the data, and not just listen to their generalizations. You see, even NOAA will tell you that most of the warmest years were in the last 20. But if you search deeper, they will also mention that the coolest have also been in the last 20 years. You must dig if you are to find the truth. And do not forget the "greenies" - you know, those good (but misinformed) people who want us all to change our lifestyles. They say that electric cars are greener. But in truth, it requires burning more fossil fuels to create the electricity than would be needed to simply use gas - grade school science tells us that there is always a loss when energy is converted from one form to another. And it takes 1.7 times more fossil fuel to produce ethanol than the energy produced by the ethanol. Fuel to plow, plant, irrigate, harvest, transport, and then to process. And those new light bulbs - they require three times more glass (which must be produced in factories that emit carbon dioxide and use fossil fuels); they have mercury and must be disposed of at a hazardous waste site; and the average person lives at least 1.4 gallons of gasoline away from the nearest HazMat site - just to toss out a lightbulb! The "greenies" have been brainwashed by liberals with an agenda - people who only care about making money by selling snake oil. The "greenies" are shown only the facts that the agenda-driven people want them to see - such as USING electricity does not emit CO2. And that is true. But what they do not tell the "greenies" is that PRODUCING that electricity does, indeed, increase CO2 emissions. I hope my readers are wise enough to not be duped by half-truths and disinformation. I hope you take everything with a grain of salt until you have researched the facts (not the hype). And if you do that, you increase your chances of being a success in life.