Mainstream science holds that the burning of fossil fuels is causing the earth to warm rapidly. A scientist published that idea in 1898¹, and through accelerated study it became a consensus by 1996². Only a few scientists still hold that current global warming is due to a natural cause¹⁷, but their voices have been amplified by an oil industry propaganda campaign³x¹⁶ and ExxonMobil-funded policy groups⁴ through the big media outlets⁵. The earth is naturally warmed by the greenhouse effect⁶. Gases such as methane and carbon dioxide (CO2) act like the glass roof of a greenhouse, letting sun rays through to strike the earth’s surface and trapping the resulting heat. Burning of fossil fuels releases the carbon in the fuel as CO2, putting more in the atmosphere to trap more heat⁷. Thermometer readings from the past 120 years show an accelerating rise of average world-wide temperature¹³. Study of ice cores, tree rings and coral gives us indication of temperature for the time before widespread thermometer use. Scientists have pulled ice cores from Greenland and Antarctica that have layers of ice formed as long ago as 220,000 years¹⁴. They have analyzed the layers to get the proportion of CO2 and the temperature, which is indicated by a ratio of oxygen isotopes⁹. Scientists found that the relationship between higher CO2 and methane content and higher temperature holds throughout the millennia¹⁰. They found no warmer time in the past millennium than the present, and throughout all time studied found no period like the present, with its global spike in temperature and no natural explanation¹¹. Further evidence, such as a longer and better temperature record, has made the scientific consensus today stronger than ever¹⁵x¹².

‘ Working Group I: The Scientific Basis; Figure 1′ – IPCC

Sources

¹ ‘The Discovery of Global Warming’ by Spencer Weart “In 1896 a Swedish scientist published a new idea. As humanity burned fossil fuels such as coal, which added carbon dioxide gas to the Earth’s atmosphere, we would raise the planet’s average temperature. This “greenhouse effect” was only one of many speculations about climate, and not the most plausible. Scientists found good reason to believe that our emissions could not change the climate. Anyway major change seemed impossible except over tens of thousands of years.”

² ‘A.2 The First and Second Assessment Reports of Working Group I’ – Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [IPCC] “… the balance of evidence suggests a discernible human influence on global climate.” – Second Assessment Report, 1996

³ ‘Some Like It Hot’ by Chris Mooney “Victory will be achieved when recognition of uncertainty becomes part of the ‘conventional wisdom’.” – American Petroleum Institute

⁴ ‘Some Like It Hot’ by Chris Mooney “… these [free-market, antiregulatory] groups are funded by ExxonMobil, the world’s largest oil company.”

⁵ ‘Contrarians’ by Stephen H. Schneider “… these contrarians are given disproportionate representation in the media (see Mediarology) and by certain governments, especially the Bush Administration, so far …”

⁶ ‘A.1 The IPCC and its Working Groups; Box 1: What drives changes in climate?’ – IPCC “The Earth absorbs radiation from the Sun, mainly at the surface. This energy is then redistributed by the atmospheric and oceanic circulations and radiated back to space at longer (infrared) wavelengths. For the annual mean and for the Earth as a whole, the incoming solar radiation energy is balanced approximately by the outgoing terrestrial radiation. Any factor that alters the radiation received from the Sun or lost to space, or that alters the redistribution of energy within the atmosphere and between the atmosphere, land, and ocean, can affect climate.”

⁷ ‘C.1 Observed Changes in Globally Well-Mixed Greenhouse Gas Concentrations and Radiative Forcing’ – IPCC “the observed increase in CO2 is predominately due to the oxidation of organic carbon by fossil-fuel combustion and deforestation” … “Most of the emissions during the past 20 years are due to fossil fuel burning, the rest (10 to 30%) is predominantly due to land-use change, especially deforestation.”

⁹ ‘What is the Evidence for Global Warming?’ by Robert R. Stewart “b. Stable isotopic composition, especially the ratio (18O/16O) where 18O is the concentration of the oxygen 18 isotope, and 16O is the concentration of oxygen 16 isotope. The ratio gives temperature at which H2O condensed as water or snow. c. Air bubbles trapped in the ice gives atmospheric gas content, especially the concentration of carbon dioxide.”

¹⁰ ‘Deciphering Mysteries of Past Climate From Antarctic Ice Core’ by Vostok Project Members “These [ice core] studies … tie carbon dioxide and methane concentrations to temperature”

¹¹ ‘Paleoclimatic Data Before 1000 Years Ago’ – NOAA “The latest peer-reviewed paleoclimatic studies appear to confirm that the global warmth of the 20th century may not necessarily be the warmest time in Earth’s history, what is unique is that the warmth is global and cannot be explained by natural forcing mechanisms”

¹² ‘The truth about global warming’ By Sandi Doughton, Seattle Times staff “With each passing year the evidence [that greenhouse gases are altering the world’s climate] has gotten stronger — and is getting stronger still.”

¹³ ‘ Working Group I: The Scientific Basis; Figure 1′ – IPCC

¹⁴ ‘Deciphering Mysteries of Past Climate From Antarctic Ice Core’ by Vostok Project Members “The chronology of the ice at Vostok has been established down to 2546 m, which is dated at 220,000 years before present.”

¹⁵ ‘C.1 Observed Changes in Globally Well-Mixed Greenhouse Gas Concentrations and Radiative Forcing’ – IPCC “There is new and stronger evidence that most of the warming observed over the last 50 years is attributable to human activities.” – Third Assessment Report, 2001

¹⁶ ‘Hot and Bothered: An Interview with Ross Gelbspan’ Interviewed By Dave Gilson, April 18, 2005 “… the purpose of this publicity campaign using greenhouse skeptics was to reposition global warming as theory rather than fact.”

¹⁷ ‘The truth about global warming’ By Sandi Doughton, Seattle Times staff “… climate researchers say skeptics are recycling discredited arguments or selectively using data to make points. And as Oreskes showed, few skeptics publish in peer-reviewed journals, which check for accuracy and omissions.”

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By Quinn Hungeski – Posted at G.N.N. & TheParagraph.com