Global Warming/Climate Change Post 5 of 13: The Arguments

Climate Fact of the Week: 
‎On Thursday morning, July 12, 2012, the low temperature at Death Valley, California dropped to just 107°F, after hitting a high of 128° the previous day. Not only does the morning low temperature tie a record for the world's warmest low temperature ever recorded, the average temperature of 117.5°F is the world's warmest 24-hour temperature on record.  Source:  Dr. Jeff Master’s Wonderblog  

Climate Quote of the Week: 
"It's getting warmer. Storms are getting stronger...and it's getting harder to say this is an accident of nature" — Dr. Stephen Schneider.

Post No. 5 in this 13-part series on climate change will consider some of the most common arguments against human-influenced global warming/climate change.

Previous and upcoming posts are listed below for reference. Past post titles will link to back to the original post.

1. :  How I became interested in the climate issue
2. What do these mean, and what’s the diff?
3. :  The debate that isn’t
4. :   Summary of my talk with renowned climatologist Dr. Michael Mann
5. The Arguments:  The most common arguments and responses
6. On Our Watch:  Science tells us that climate change is happening now
7. Yep, We Did It:  Science tells us that this climate change is from OUR activities
8. What It Means to Missouri:  How climate change will likely impact our region
9. Save Money, Save the Climate!:  Simple ideas that save money while reducing CO2 emissions
10. Our Choice:  What we can do to limit further harm while adapting to the changes to come
11. Lead!:  Climate Change is happening.  The United States can lead, or get left behind
12. If We Don’t?  Geo-engineering the climate. What is it and why we don’t want to go there
13. Final Thoughts:  Ethical considerations

 
“The Arguments”

I have to admit, writing this post bothers me.  Let me explain.

Suppose you have a toothache – a bad one.   You would go to the dentist right? (plug here for Rocky Lupardis at ).  The dentist would probably take an image or two and examine your teeth and gums.  Then, based on what he/she found, they would give you a diagnosis, which would probably lead to a filling, crown or extraction ($ouch$).  

If you asked the dentist what was causing the toothache they would probably tell you that one or more of the following: you have poor dental hygiene, eat/drink too much sugar or take too little calcium. They might also say that it could be something “natural” and unrelated to your habits, like misaligned teeth or an abscess. 

Would you argue with your dentist about their diagnosis of what is causing your toothache?   Of course you wouldn’t.  You might ask questions about the options for treating your sore tooth, but you wouldn’t argue with what was causing it to be sore. 

Do you argue with the pediatrician about what is causing your kid’s bad cough? Perhaps you debate your mechanic about why your car is making that funny noise under the hood?   

Unless you have specific education, training or experience in these areas, you likely would not argue with the experts about their findings. You might get a second or third opinion, but you wouldn’t “argue” with the experts on topics that they spend their entire careers in.

Yet somehow we think that we are all “climate experts” and can “argue” with scientists that have years of highly specialized education, training and experience?  Hmmm…

Science comedian Brian Malow has an interesting anecdote about this subject. In an interview in on the University of Minnesota Momentum website, Brian said the following:

"There’s something fascinating about why people don’t trust scientists. I mean we defer to so many experts in our lives. You know, if you have a problem with your plumbing, you call the plumber. If you have a problem with your car, you call the mechanic.  

But for some reason when it comes to evolution or climate change, you’re going to trust some politician and not the experts?  It’s so absurd. What if we greeted plumbers with the same skepticism? “Oh, yeah, right, right. You’re just gonna snake that little thing down there and it’s gonna clear up the problem? Sure. And I’m supposed to believe that?"

OK, enough of my venting, let’s get on with the arguments!

The arguments used by those that think every National Academy of Science, NASA and NOAA are somehow wrong on one of the most studied scientific topics in the history of science generally fall into one of 3 categories: 
“It’s not happening”, “it’s not us”, or “it’s not bad”.

Let's take a look at each type of argument.

Argument:  It’s not happening
Response:  Yes, it is definitely happening, and it’s getting worse

This argument is not used very much anymore as it is becoming more and more obvious to everyone that this is NOT the climate that we grew up with. The temperatures are hotter, the storms, droughts and floods worse and more frequent – all across the globe.

This is not an anecdotal perspective.  All of these events are recorded and tracked over time all across the world.  The climate is deteriorating right in front of us – and it’s getting worse.  Source:  NOAA-Weather Extremes

I’ll provide more insight on exactly how it’s affecting us in post #8.

Argument:  It’s not us
Response:  Yes, it is definitely us and we have known it was us for decades

How do we know it’s us?  Answer:   One Trillion Tons of Carbon Pollution

In the past 50 years, we have added one trillion tons of heat-trapping carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere from burning coal, oil and natural gas.   (Source: U.S. Department of Energy). 

We know CO2 is a warming gas.  Any high school science or physics class can prove this with a simple experiment– and they do. 

Scientists have been pretty sure that burning fossil fuels has the ability to change the climate for over 150 years now – and they have been VERY sure for decades. 

I’ll go into greater detail on how we know it’s “us” in post No. 8 in the series.

Argument:  It’s not bad
Response:  Yes, it is definitely bad

This argument is also not used as much anymore because it is patently absurd. 

You only need to consider the record wildfires the last few years as well as the record storms, floods and heat waves to know that it’s bad – very bad.  We’ll see just how much damage this year’s record droughts will cause. 

These are very high level arguments.  A deeper dive into the many arguments proposed by climate change “skeptics” is beyond the scope of this blog.   I would refer you to “Real Climate.org” or “Skeptical Science.com” both of which are sites run and supported by actual practicing climate scientists.

The next post titled “On Our Watch” is about how climate change is OUR problem, not a problem for distant ancestors.

Author's note to commenters: 
This is sure to be a controversial topic and I’m OK with that. I only ask that you keep your comments civil, respectful, informed and related to the particular subject matter discussed. As you can see from the topic list at the beginning of this post, there are plenty to topics to be talked about over the summer. 

I also ask that if you dispute a claim, that you provide a link to a reputable source supporting your claim.

Disclaimer:  I am not a climate scientist, nor do I claim to have scientific expertise in this subject. Scientific claims made in these posts will be sourced only from highly respected and accredited scientific organizations.