Whoa. New findings have uncovered that decreased solar activity has caused temperatures to rise. From the story in Nature:
An analysis of satellite data challenges the intuitive idea that decreasing solar activity cools Earth, and vice versa. In fact, solar forcing of Earth’s surface climate seems to work the opposite way around — at least during the current Sun cycle.
This finding could turn climate science on its head:
The full implications of the discovery are unclear. Haigh says that the current solar cycle could be different from previous cycles, for unknown reasons. But it is also possible that the effects of solar variability on atmospheric temperatures and ozone are substantially different from what has previously been assumed. “At face value, the data seem incredibly important,” says Michael Lockwood, a space physicist at the University of Reading, UK. “If solar activity is out of phase with solar radiative forcing, it could change our understanding of how processes in the troposphere and stratosphere act to modulate Earth’s climate.”
Some are saying this finding has thrown climate science into chaos.
I think that clearly overstates the case. But I think it is important to highlight because it shows that despite all of the hubristic alarmism and bombastic assertions that global warming theory was a fact, it isn’t. The real fact is that climate is caused by very complex interactive factors that are very hard to predict and computer models are only as good as the information input, one aspect of which has to be the impact of solar activity. Acceding to the proposed international power grab in the name of cooling the planet—which would undermine freedom and further depress our economies—based on theoretical future occurrences and incomplete knowledge, would be extremely unwise.
The good news is that the hysteria has peaked. The GWHs have lost their power to panic. Cap and trade is almost surely dead, and after November, we can bury it.
But the danger hasn’t passed: The EPA may decide to destroy the economy on its own, as in potentially threatening the cattle industry. And bureaucrats are certainly capable of inadvertently (or non inadvertently, take your pick) fudging the books—as happened here in California with an estimate of diesel pollution was three times too high. Yes, I know that this is a different issue than global warming, but as the story notes, it is relevant. From the story:
The setbacks in the air board’s research - and the proposed softening of a landmark regulation - raise questions about the performance of the agency as it is in the midst of implementing the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 - or AB32 as it is commonly called, one of the state’s and the nation’s most ambitious environmental policies to date. AB32, which aims to reduce carbon emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2020, has come under intense political attack this year as the state prepares to elect a new governor. Critics cast the law as a jobs killer because of the expenses to industry and businesses in conforming to new pollution regulations. Supporters say it will reinvigorate the state’s economy and create thousands of new jobs in the emerging green sector.
The economic stakes are too high for this kind of nonsense.
Dear Reader,
You have a decision to make: double or nothing.
For this week only, a generous supporter has offered to fully match all new and increased donations to First Things up to $60,000.
In other words, your gift of $50 unlocks $100 for First Things, your gift of $100 unlocks $200, and so on, up to a total of $120,000. But if you don’t give, nothing.
So what will it be, dear reader: double, or nothing?
Make your year-end gift go twice as far for First Things by giving now.
