Getting Sceptical about Global Warming Scepticism

ISIS Report 25/01/10

Getting Sceptical about Global Warming Scepticism

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John Cook rebuts the most common sceptic arguments against global warming

Who’s a sceptic?

A Gallup poll finds only 58 percent of the general public believe human activity is changing global temperatures. That is in strong contrast to 97 percent of actively publishingclimate scientists who say humans are a significant contributor. Why the great divide between public opinion and scientific experts? Unfortunately, there is no shortage of misinformation and confusion surrounding the climate debate. How does one penetrate the noise to get real scientific evidence? When one scans the many arguments of global warming skeptics [3], a common pattern emerges.

Each argument narrowly focuses on a small piece of the puzzle while ignoring the broader picture. This form of

cherry picking often leads to erroneous conclusions. Human CO2 emissions insignificant compared to natural

emissions?

A typical example is the sceptic argument "Human CO2 emissions are small compared to natural emissions". The argument is as follows: “Land and vegetation emit 439 Gt of CO2 each year while oceans release 332 Gt. In contrast, humans emit only 29 Gt of CO2 a year. How can humans make an impact on climate when our CO2 emissions are so tiny compared to natural emissions?”

While these numbers are correct, they don’t tell the full story. This argument fails to disclose that nature both emits and absorbs carbon dioxide. Land and vegetation make up a strong carbon sink, absorbing 450 Gt per year.

Similarly, the ocean absorbs around 338 Gt per year. As a result, the net natural contribution is less than zero (see Figure 1).

Figure 1  Global carbon cycle

Numbers represent flux of carbon dioxide in gigatonnes [5]

Is it arrogant to presume mere humans could possibly influence the immense, uncontrollable forces of nature? It's

not a question of arrogance. It's simply a question of numbers. Humans are emitting 29 Gt CO2 a year; slightly

less than half of that is absorbed by the natural carbon sinks, so CO2 in the atmosphere is increasing by 15 Gt per year. Our activities in burning fossil fuels and changing land use have upset the natural balance. The recent

rate of increase since the industrial revolution is unprecedented (see Fig. 2). Furthermore, atmospheric CO2 is

at its highest level in 15 to 20 million years, as documented most recently in ice core data.

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http://www.i-sis.org.uk/GSAGWS.php

Or read other articles about climate change
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/climateglobalwarming.php
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MY COMMENT:

The villains' signature: Twist the truth, say Half Truth, invent a truth, give half of the picture by using actual data, but mix it with small lies. Law of polarity says... a whole line of positives becomes negative in output when even one fraction of a negative charge is introduced into the equation. It has nothing to do with the volume or potential.. Man should be more wise nowadays and exercise their own freewill to think, digest, analyze and comprehend anything which is presented to them. There are only 3 types of people... Those who see, those who see what is presented to them... and those who cannot see. (Leonardo Da Vinci) They can invent whatever they want but for those who are enlightened and highly evolved minds... no lies can suffice the real truth. The Truth is... there is already an ecological imbalance... which began during the industrial revolution. Take time to research how much fossil fuel is being burned around the world every day.