Is The Earth Really Warming?

Despite Al Gore’s insulting declaration that “The debate is over,” the debate continues, and hundreds, if not thousands, of scientists continue to debate this issue and challenge the very heart of environmental issues. Here are some succinct observations from others on the issue.

1. There is no trend in the global satellite temperature record since 1979. (Robert Davis, Professor Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia)
2. Although models suggest a global warming (since 1880) of 2-5C, observable data cannot even show a .5C increase in temperature; and anything less than .5C simply show negative feedback. (Richard Siegmund Lindzen Ph.D. (b. February 8, 1940, Webster, Massachusetts) is a Harvard trained atmospheric physicist and Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Meteorology at MIT.)
3. The determination of the globally averaged temperature is virtually impossible (Lindzen)
4. None of the three standard observable calculations indicate any significant temperature change since the mid 1800s. (Lindzen)
5. The earth’s current average temperature (15 degrees C), is close to the “black body” temperature (the temperature without any greenhouse warming). (Lindzen)
6. For most of the planet, temperature records are very sparse, particularly before 1900. Large ocean basins, desert regions, and mountainous areas are limited in their long term historical temperature records. (Robert Balling, Director of the Laboratory of Climatology at Arizona State University)
7. Since 1751, Europe has warmed by only .5 degrees, and most of the warming occurred between 1890 and 1950, no warming has occurred in the most recent half century. (Balling)
8. Recorded data show some warming has occurred during the colder months of the year, and cooling has occurred during the warmer months of the year. Some scientists choose to ignore the cooling months and report only on the warming months. (Balling)
9. The period of rapid warming in Europe between 1890 and 1950 corresponds precisely to a time when solar sunspots rose most quickly. (Balling)
10. Europe has not experienced warming over the past 55 years. (Balling)
11. Europe represents less than two percent of the earth’s surface, nonetheless, climate models predict substantial warming in Europe. (Balling)
12. There is no evidence to support the prediction for substantial warming in the future. (Balling)
13. Predictive climate changes derived from computer simulations are far from accurate and may be deceptive. (Sylvan Wittwer, Director Emeritus of the Michigan State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Professor of Horticulture)
14. Global satellite readings of temperatures over the earth show there has been no warming. (Wittwer)

Lindzen, Balling, Davis and others observe that in the United States, weather stations in remote areas have been systematically removed and placed near urban areas. Urban areas are known to give higher temperatures than non-urban areas, so the data is now skewed. Further, these scientists report that satellite readings show no temperature increase over the past 30 years. This has caused environmentalists to challenge the use of satellite readings because they tend to dispute the claims of the global warming alarmists. Environmentalists claim that if the surface temperatures are rising, then the satellite readings should reflect that, but they don’t; calling into question the accuracy of surface readings.