I doubt Nelly could have ever suspected “Hot In Herre” would present a more coherent understanding of global warming than every corporately-funded denial campaign.
Not long ago, I ended up discussing global warming with a friend over drinks. I mentioned how there was strong scientific evidence and consensus that global warming is caused by human activity. A friend scoffed at this and I had to backpedal a little since, aside from the consistent shrinking of Arctic ice cap, I had no other specific evidence I could cite. On further research it turns out the evidence of humanity’s role in causing global warming is overwhelming. Below is a brief overview of a small fraction of this evidence.
As early as the 1890s, Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius suggested that human produced carbon dioxide could produce a global warming effect.
Almost a century later the idea Arrhenius had put forward had become clear science. In 1979, the National Academy of Sciences issued these statements in the study Carbon Dioxide and Climate: A Scientific Assessment:
“For more than a century, we have been aware that changes in the composition of the atmosphere could affect its ability to trap the sun’s energy for our benefit. We now have incontrovertible evidence that the atmosphere is indeed changing and that we ourselves contribute to that change. Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide are steadily increasing, and these changes are linked with man’s use of fossil fuels and exploitation of the land. Since carbon dioxide plays a significant role in the heat budget of the atmosphere, it is reasonable to suppose that continued increases would affect climate.”—page vii
“If carbon dioxide continues to increase, the study group finds no reason to doubt that climate changes will result and no reason to believe that these changes will be negligible. The conclusions of prior studies have been generally reaffirmed. However, the study group points out that the ocean, the great and ponderous flywheel of the global climate system, may be expected to slow the course of observable climatic change. A wait-and-see policy may mean waiting until it is too late.”—page viii
Of course, that was 1979, science has advanced since then. Maybe more scientists have come to a different conclusion. That would be lovely, except that scientists today continue to reiterate the point made by the National Academy of Sciences. Here is a smattering of recent statements on global warming:
From the Network of African Science Academies (2007):
“A consensus, based on current evidence, now exists within the global scientific community that human activities are the main source of climate change and that the burning of fossil fuels is largely responsible for driving this change.”
From the American Geophysical Union’s position statement, Human Impacts on Climate (2007):
“The Earth’s climate is now clearly out of balance and is warming. Many components of the climate system—including the temperatures of the atmosphere, land and ocean, the extent of sea ice and mountain glaciers, the sea level, the distribution of precipitation, and the length of seasons—are now changing at rates and in patterns that are not natural and are best explained by the increased atmospheric abundances of greenhouse gases and aerosols generated by human activity during the 20th century. Global average surface temperatures increased on average by about 0.6°C over the period 1956–2006. As of 2006, eleven of the previous twelve years were warmer than any others since 1850. The observed rapid retreat of Arctic sea ice is expected to continue and lead to the disappearance of summertime ice within this century.”
“With climate change, as with ozone depletion, the human footprint on Earth is apparent. The cause of disruptive climate change, unlike ozone depletion, is tied to energy use and runs through modern society. Solutions will necessarily involve all aspects of society.”
From the American Meteorological Society’s information statement, Climate Change (2007):
“In recent decades, humans have increasingly affected local, regional, and global climate by altering the flows of radiative energy and water through the Earth system (resulting in changes in temperature, winds, rainfall, etc.), which comprises the atmosphere, land surface, vegetation, ocean, land ice, and sea ice. Indeed, strong observational evidence and results from modeling studies indicate that, at least over the last 50 years, human activities are a major contributor to climate change.”
From the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2006):
“The scientific evidence is clear: global climate change caused by human activities is occurring now, and it is a growing threat to society. Accumulating data from across the globe reveal a wide array of effects: rapidly melting glaciers, destabilization of major ice sheets, increases in extreme weather, rising sea level, shifts in species ranges, and more. The pace of change and the evidence of harm have increased markedly over the last five years. The time to control greenhouse gas emissions is now.”
“The atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide, a critical greenhouse gas, is higher than it has been for at least 650,000 years. The average temperature of the Earth is heading for levels not experienced for millions of years. Scientific predictions of the impacts of increasing atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases from fossil fuels and deforestation match observed changes.”
That’s all well and good, but these statements are a few years old. Doesn’t “Climategate” debunk all that. Once again the answer is a clear, fact-based, and utterly resounding, “No.” Factcheck.org states that the “Climategate” “e-mails…don’t change scientific consensus on global warming.” Politifact.com, responding to a statement made by the ever-ignorant Senator Inhofe of Oklahoma, point out that “there are reams of data that show temperatures are increasing and that greater concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are largely to blame.”
In the wake of the controversy, several statements reclarify the unambiguous science behind human-caused global warming.
Alan I. Leshner, chief executive officer of American Association for the Advancement of Science, reaffirmed the organizations 2006 position statement, saying “The vast preponderance of evidence, based on years of research conducted by a wide array of different investigators at many institutions, clearly indicates that global climate change is real, it is caused largely by human activities, and the need to take action is urgent.”
The National Academy of Sciences also reaffirm’s it’s 1979 conclusion in it’s 2010 publication Advancing the Science of Climate Change stating that “Climate change is occurring, is caused largely by human activities, and poses significant risks for—and in many cases is already affecting—a broad range of human and natural systems.”
The EPA reported in 2010’s Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990 – 2008 that “Although the direct greenhouse gases CO2, CH4, and N2O occur naturally in the atmosphere, human activities have changed their atmospheric concentrations. From the pre-industrial era (i.e., ending about 1750) to 2005, concentrations of these greenhouse gases have increased globally by 36, 148, and 18 percent, respectively (IPCC 2007).”
The Geological Society of America added its own two cents in this position statement (2010):
“Decades of scientific research have shown that climate can change from both natural and anthropogenic causes. The Geological Society of America (GSA) concurs with assessments by the National Academies of Science (2005), the National Research Council (2006), and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2007) that global climate has warmed and that human activities (mainly greenhouse‐gas emissions) account for most of the warming since the middle 1900s. If current trends continue, the projected increase in global temperature by the end of the twentyfirst century will result in large impacts on humans and other species. Addressing the challenges posed by climate change will require a combination of adaptation to the changes that are likely to occur and global reductions of CO2 emissions from anthropogenic sources.”
“Scientific advances in the first decade of the 21st century have greatly reduced previous uncertainties about the amplitude and causes of recent global warming. Ground-station measurements have shown a warming trend of ~0.7 °C since the mid-1800s, a trend consistent with (1) retreat of northern hemisphere snow and Arctic sea ice in the last 40 years; (2) greater heat storage in the ocean over the last 50 years; (3) retreat of most mountain glaciers since 1850; (4) an ongoing rise of global sea level for more than a century; and (5) proxy reconstructions of temperature change over past centuries from ice cores, tree rings, lake sediments, boreholes, cave deposits and corals. Both instrumental records and proxy indices from geologic sources show that global mean surface temperature was higher during the last few decades of the 20th century than during any comparable period during the preceding four centuries (National Research Council, 2006).”
“[H]umans are a major factor responsible for recent global warming.”
So, if the evidence is so clear and scientific consensus so strong, why do so many people believe that global warming is not real or at least not human-made? The short answer is because companies like ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, GM, Chrysler, Ford, Koch Industries, AT&T, Monsanto, and Dow, and organizations like the Aluminum Association, the National Association of Manufacturers, the American Petroleum Institute, the Western Fuel Association, the National Mining Association, and many others have spent large amounts of money to obscure the public’s perception on climate change in order to ensure their own short term profits at the expense of our planet.
To learn more about who is using lies and deception to minimize public understanding of global warming, please visit our sister blog Guthrie’s Machine, or one of the websites listed below:
DeSmogBlog.com
ExxonSecrets
SourceWatch
The Heat Is Online
Climate Change Denial (Wikipedia)
The books Climate Cover-Up, The Heat is On, and Boiling Point, also offer a clear picture of greed-driven lies behind global warming disinformation.
For a more in-depth look at global warming, I suggest Elizabeth Kolbert’s excellent three part article “The Climate of Man” which you can read in The New Yorker or for free here and here.
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