Table of Contents
Preface
Manmade global warming is a danger to humanity and the environment, and it must be stopped . This claim represents a leap of faith from what science tells us is theoretically possible, to a belief in worst-case scenarios in which Mother Earth punishes us for our sins against her.
Nowhere is this leap of faith better illustrated than in Al Gores movie, An Inconvenient Truth . Dramatic video of weather events that occur naturally every day suddenly becomes evidence for global warming. Floods? Global warming. Droughts? Global Warming. Ice calving off of glaciers and falling into the ocean? Global warming. Hurricanes? Global warming. Do you see a pattern here? Global warming.
Not to be outdone, the actor Leonardo DiCaprio then hosted a ninety-minute documentary called The 11th Hour , in which nature has more human rights than humans do. I do so admire actors and actresses for their concern over our well-being.
Mr. Gore has admitted that the issue is a spiritual one for him. He is spreading the word, calling on humanity to avert the climatic cataclysm that is just around the corner. He is even training hundreds of disciples to go throughout the world, warning of the coming environmental apocalypse. All we need to do to be saved from the heat of global warming hell is to use more compact fluorescent light bulbs, hybrid cars, and purchase carbon offsets from his company.
Some schools and university professors have even required their students to watch Mr. Gores movie. Our children are having nightmares because of what well-intentioned teachers are telling them about climate change. Fear is gradually replacing reason as a motivating force for societal change, and in todays world we know only too well what religious zealotry can do to a society.
These global warnings are accompanied by an increasing tone of urgency. Not long ago we were told humanity had fifty years to solve the global warming problem. Then, we heard we have only ten years to change our polluting ways. Now, some are claiming we have only five years left. Soon, well be talking about sending a Terminator back through time to fix the problem for us. Maybe the Governor of California can help us with that.
As an atmospheric scientist, I will admit that harmful global warming is indeed a possible outcome of mankinds emissions of greenhouse gases from fossil fuel use. But extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. It is relatively easy to construct a simple computerized climate model that produces catastrophic global warming when its greenhouse effect is cranked up a notch with more carbon dioxide. Ive even done it in an Excel spreadsheet. But it is much more difficult to get even a state-of-the-art climate model to behave realistically when it is compared to the real climate system.
It would be natural for a climate scientist like me to write a book about the science of global warming alone. But my motivation for writing this book is not only because I think the public is getting a biased message on the science. Its also because the human cost of what we might do as a policy response to global warming will be so high. Climate change is indeed a moral issue, but not the one that Mr. Gore claims it is.
Fortunately, amidst all of the frightful climate change news stories, those who are riding the global warming bandwagon are providing no small amount of entertainment. Movie stars, politicians-turned-movie stars, and famous musicians apparently dont notice the hypocrisy of calling for humanity to use less toilet paper while they fly their private jets from city to city. And what could be more ironic than the early 2007 trek to the North Pole to raise awareness of global warming that had to be called off because of cold weather?
If you are interested in the global warming debate, but dont want another boring list of dry scientific facts, then youve come to the right place. The only thing that depresses me more than the thought of reading such a book is the thought of having to write one. While this book will indeed help you understand the reasons why global warming is unlikely to be a serious threat, it will also entertain you.
I believe that we need a large measure of humor when facing those who would kill us with their good intentions. I dont know about you, but I need a daily dose of humor just to keep my sanity. As that famous philosopher-turned-comedian-turned-actor Steve Martin used to say, A day without laughter is like a day without sunshine, and a day without sunshine is like... night.
This is Doctor Bagshaw, discoverer of the infinitely expanding research grant.
Prologue
MARK TWAIN OBSERVED that everyone talks about the weather, but no one does anything about it. Well, todays popular view is that we finally are doing something about the weather. We are making it worse.
Because of humanitys emissions of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels, many scientists are predicting dramatic weather changes ahead. Depending upon which scientists you believe, the extra carbon dioxide we are putting in the atmosphere could melt the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, flooding coastal locations worldwide. It could shut down the Atlantic Gulf Stream and oceanic thermohaline circulation, triggering the rapid onset of a new Ice Age. Global weather circulation changes could cause more severe floods and droughts, altering or even destroying entire ecosystems.
The fear of global warming has galvanized the environmental movement and has led to billions of dollars in federal expenditures to observe and understand the climate system. It has spun off popular movies and helped to solidify political movements, such as the Green Party in Germany. Even a former U.S. Vice President, Al Gore, has written books and made a movie addressing the problem. Global warming has given new purpose to the lives of entertainers and movie stars, some of whom have taken a special interest in the issue.
Oh, and we scientists who make our living off it think its a pretty cool gig, too.
But now, the western worlds fear of global warming and its effects has reached the point of being an obsession. The media is more than willing to spread, and even amplify, the fear that humanity is filling up the Earth, pushing it beyond its ability to sustain us. Mother Nature is suffering as a result of our sins, and humans are now being increasingly blamed for every hurricane, tornado, tsunami, earthquake, flood, and drought that occurs.
Art Bells popular book The Coming Global Superstorm and its movie spin-off, The Day After Tomorrow , are good examples of the publics fascination with fears of global climate catastrophes. I would say that the coming global superstorm has already arrived but it is a storm of hype and hysteria.
I believe that the environmental fears that have consumed the western world stem from two central beliefs. The first is that the Earth is fragile and needs to be protected, even to the detriment of humans if necessary. Many people feel like the climate system is being pushed beyond its limits, past some imaginary tipping point from which there will be no return.
The second belief is that the increasing wealth of nations is bad for the environment. Since technology and our desire for more stuff are to blame for environmental problems, we should renounce our modern lifestyle.
I will argue for exactly the opposite viewpoint: that the Earth is pretty resilient; and that only through mankinds ingenuity and freedom to create wealth do we solve, or at least minimize, environmental problems as they arise.
