Global warming? Sure. But man causing it? No way

By Thomas Oellerich

This is in response to Bob Sheak's thoughtful and provocative commentary on man-made global warming (The NEWS, Sept. 10). I agree with him with respect to global warming. I strongly disagree with him as to its being man-made.

In their book, "Unstoppable Global Warming" (2008), S. Fred Singer, a climate physicist, and Dennis T. Avery, senior fellow of the Hudson Institute and former senior analyst in the U.S. Department of State, tell of Eric the Red leading Norse families to settle on Greenland around 985. The Vikings had found a huge new uninhabited island, its shores covered with green grass for their cattle and sheep. It was surrounded by ice-free waters where there was an abundance of codfish and seals. They could grow vegetables for their families and hay to feed their animals through the winter. The colony thrived.

It grew to 3,000 people with 12 churches by the year 1100. They were benefiting from the Medieval Warming, a major climate change lasting about 400 years. Little did they realize that this grassy domain was doomed to the Little Ice Age. Their northern settlement was crushed by glaciers by 1350. Their southern settlement was iced over by 1410. Could they have staved off the climate change "“ perhaps by having had larger herds of cattle giving off methane?

The climate changes that occurred in Greenland reflect the natural climate 1,500-year cycle that has taken place over the past one million years and that governs most of the earth's almost constant climate fluctuations. The cycle shifts have occurred regardless of whether CO2 levels were high or low. Rather, they are related to changes in solar activity. That is, humans do not cause climate change.

Interestingly, Denmark began to re-colonize Greenland in 1721 when the Little Ice Age began to lose its grip on the island. Today, 150 years into the Modern Warming, Greenland has a population of 50,000 or so people and thousands of sheep. The ruins of the Norse cathedral and the bishop's palace have been partially restored. Greenland is becoming a popular tourist attraction, and this will last for as long as the Modern Warming lasts "“ probably several hundred years.

It is incredible that anyone would refer to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for guidance on the matter of climate change. The 1995 Second Assessment report claimed to have found a "human fingerprint" in global warming "“ an assertion it has never documented. That assertion was included in the summary for political and not scientific reasons. The document was edited to take out five different statements specifically saying no such "human fingerprint" had been found. The U.S. government employee, Ben Santer, admitted making the changes under pressure from top U.S. government officials. And this action has been repeated this year as the EPA center director quashed a report that warned against making hasty "decisions based on a scientific hypothesis that does not appear to explain most of the available data."

As of March of this year, more than 700 international scientists dissented from the IPCC assertion that global warming was man-made. I cite just a few. UN IPCC scientist Dr. Steven M. Japar, an atmospheric chemist who was part of the IPCC's Second (1995) and Third (2001) Assessment Reports, challenged the IPCC's claims, asserting that the temperature measurements show that the hot zone predicted by the climate model is non-existent. "This is more than sufficient to invalidate global climate models and projections made with them."

Mathematical physicist Dr. Frank Tipler, professor at Tulane University, ridiculed man-made claims: "Whether the ice caps melt, or expand "“ whatever happens "“ the (man-made global warming) theorists claim it confirms their theory. A perfect example of a pseudo-science-like astrology." And chemist Max S. Strozer, who formerly served as a U.S. Department of Defense aerospace chemist, wrote that "Scientists across the globe are catching on "“ global warming is not real science. There is a sucker born every minute who believes in it, and Al Gore is playing the role of P.T. Barnum." And who is the biggest sucker "“ our president and members of his administration. They need to be aware that sharply higher energy prices and loss of energy sources are likely to produce a quick and loud backlash in this nation.

Lastly, as stated by meteorologist Mark Nolan of WKYC-TV: "I'm not sure which is more arrogant "“ to say we cause [global warming] or that we can fix it."

Editor's note: Thomas Oellerich, MSW, PhD, is a retired associate professor of social work at Ohio University. He lives outside of Athens.