REALITY CHECK NEEDED BY CLIMATE DISCIPLES
Cosmic Cycles Control Climate
by Viv Forbes, Science writer
Those who think a war on carbon energy will lower Earth’s temperature need to study climate history.
Temperatures on Earth dance to a cyclical rhythm every hour, every day, every month, every season, every year, and to every beat of the sun-spot and glacial cycles.
These cycles interact to produce a wide range of ever-changing temperatures. Even at the same moment, temperatures vary dramatically from the equator to the poles and from the surface to the stratosphere. For would-be climate “managers” to claim they can calculate a mythical “global temperature” with precision greater than thermometers can measure is statistical nonsense.
It is even sillier for people who cannot accurately forecast next weekend’s weather to claim they can regulate the temperature of the globe by bashing industry and taxing carbon.
What is the role of carbon dioxide in climate? Al Gore did a great job to dramatise the recurring glacial cycles revealed by ice cores in his widely acclaimed work of science fiction. But he missed two inconvenient truths.
First, ice cores show that in the glacial spring-time the temperature rose BEFORE the CO2 levels rose. Therefore the rising CO2 cannot be a CAUSE of the warming – it is a RESULT of CO2 being expelled from the warming oceans.
Second, at the top of every warm cycle, high levels of CO2 in the atmosphere were unable to prevent Earth from cooling into the next cycle of ice.
We are fortunate to live in the Holocene Epoch, the latest warm phase of the Pleistocene Ice Age. The climate history of the Holocene, and its predecessor the Eemian, are well documented in ice core logs. These show that today’s warm Greenhouse Earth is probably nearing its end. It will be followed by Icehouse Earth.
There is no evidence in the climate records that carbon dioxide has a detectable effect on global temperatures. However if our continued use of cheap reliable hydro-carbon energy does slightly delay the onset of the next glacial winter, we and all life on Earth should count ourselves lucky.
Viv Forbes is a qualified geologist who has spent much of his life studying geological and climate history as written in the rocks. He has also spent several years in formal and private study of climatology and meteorology. He is the Founder of the Carbon Sense Coalition and a non-executive director of a small Australian company developing a coking coal mine.
Further Reading:
By far the best reference book I have read on the above subjects is:
“The Inconvenient Skeptic” by John Kehr. This book is written in plain language, but full of sound science, well researched and referenced. I highly recommend it for those wishing to understand what drives our climate. (Hint: It is NOT carbon Dioxide.)
http://theinconvenientskeptic.com/the-book/
Another well-researched and easy-reading book on the long term cycles of ice ages and volcanism is:
“Not by Fire, but by Ice” by Robert Felix:
Original Research on Sunspots and Rainfall Cycles – Prof Will Alexander:
http://carbon-sense.com/2008/05/26/alexander-2008/
The Holocene Warmth as revealed by the Greenland Ice Cores:
http://carbon-sense.com/2009/10/03/climate-always-changing/
The Eemian Warm Period was warmer than today:
http://www.nbi.ku.dk/english/news/news13/greenland-ice-cores-reveal-warm-climate-of-the-past/
Thank you professor Clive we welcome your comments
That’s a rather stupid comment. Obviously not very well read on the total planetary effects on our climate, whether from the cosmos or down to atomic levels
We at Cairns News appreciate the numerous comments we get from Greens. Christine and Sarah are outstanding examples of the knuckle draggers in federal parliament. Editor
”COSMIC CYCLES… mmm – you are into ”horoscop science”, very interesting = have you tried tarot cards reading, it’s more accurate?! Don’t use crystal balls – they are much less reliable, because made in china, from inferior quality !
Magnificent Viv. You put this succinctly and easy to understand. However, you will be labelled a ‘Denier’ by those who usually only listen to the Media and/or Politicians.
For myself, I’ve been very interested in the climate for work reasons, hobby (aviation), volunteer (CFA) and pure fascination with it, with a few minor qualifications as well. I call myself an ‘Analyst’ instead of denier or alarmist.
Most people spruking about alarmism can easily be shut down when one asks them their views on the Croll & Milankovitch theories; orbital variations; sun’s thermal variations; and any of the other 250 + factors that have a bearing on our climate, yet very rarekly mentioned in the Media. One big one, as Viv would be well aware of with his expertise, is the flipping of the magnetic poles due to possibly happen even within the next 100 years+/-.
Many people were not aware of the panic politicians, globally early 1970’s, were in thinking we were heading for an Ice Age and were within weeks of seeding the upper atmosphere with ferrous compounds to warm the climate – this stuff had a half-life of hundreds of years. Skeptics stopped that, thank goodness.
Ice Age – by John & Mary Gribbin (not the Movie!!) is a small yet fascinating book on the aspects of ice ages and history of research into it, and well worth tracking it down.
Al Gore, won his Nobel Prize more for the advertising for his company that deals in Carbon Credits and his procrastination is purely a vested interest. His movie was a very surgical outlook on Global Warming (now incorrectly called Climate Change, which is an on-going process of 4.6 bn years)