The “Consensus” On Global Warming Is Crumbling
If you could ever really say there was a consensus to begin with.
The National Academy of Sciences and most major scientific bodies agree that global warming is caused by man-made carbon emissions. But a small, growing number of scientists, including D’Aleo, are questioning how quickly the warming is happening and whether humans are actually the leading cause.
Armed with statistics from the Goddard Institute for Space Studies and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Climate Data Center, D’Aleo reported in the 2009 Old Farmer’s Almanac that the U.S. annual mean temperature has fluctuated for decades and has only risen 0.21 degrees since 1930 — which he says is caused by fluctuating solar activity levels and ocean temperatures, not carbon emissions.
Data from the same source shows that during five of the past seven decades, including this one, average U.S. temperatures have gone down. And the almanac predicted that the next year will see a period of cooling.
The big questions are: Will the crumbling of the global warming consensus get as much media attention as Al Gore’s assertions that there was a consensus? And as scientists back away from their certainty on human-caused global warming will law makers back away from massive reforms based on that certainty?
My guess is “no’ on both questions. Because global warming stopped being about “saving the planet” a long time ago, and started being the excuse du jour for politicians who want to expand the size and power of government. And they’ll protect it to the bitter end.
