British weather experts predicted yesterday that 2008 will cool slightly from 2007, making it the coolest year in the last decade. The so called warming trend we had experienced in the 1990’s appears to be subsiding even as CO2 emissions reach record levels, with the media paying little to no attention. In fact the Associated Press which also ran a story on the British weather experts prediction that 2008 will be cooler than any year in the last decade, ran it under the headline “2008 May Be Among Hottest Years”

The headline ran by the Associated Press is intentionally misleading, as is the reporting by many other major news outlets who ignore all temperature data prior to 1960. Many recall that in the 1970’s the impending climate crisis we were facing was that of global cooling, the consensus report at the time seemed to be that we were heading for a new ice age. Common sense will dictate that for scientists to express concerns about global cooling in the 70’s, the temperatures we were experiencing at the time must have been significantly lower than in prior decades. What we have witnessed since that time has been the climate warming to its pre-cooling temperatures, i.e. back to its normal temperature.

Another report released recently by Russian scientist Habibullah Abdusamatov says that Earth has passed the peak of its warmer period, and a fairly cold spell will set in quite soon, by 2012. Real cold will come when solar activity reaches its minimum, by 2041, and will last for 50-60 years or even longer.

Of course in order to buy into the above theory you first would have to dispel the myth that human activity has a greater affect on the earths climate than the sun. Man made CO2 accounts for less than 10 percent of the CO2 in our atmosphere, yet alarmists continue to push for new regulations to control emissions. They continually state as fact, the theory that temperatures rise as more CO2 is emitted into the atmosphere, while ignoring that in the 1970’s as temperatures were falling, more CO2 was being emitted into our atmosphere than at any point in history prior to that.

Scientists use graphs to show the correlation of higher CO2 and higher temperatures, claiming it is the higher C02 which leads to the higher temperature. The fact is, no one is certain which is the cause and which is the effect. Dr. Oleg Sorokhtin, of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences wrote:

Temperature fluctuations always run somewhat ahead of carbon dioxide concentration changes. This means that warming is primary. The ocean is the greatest carbon dioxide depository, with concentrations 60-90 times larger than in the atmosphere. When the ocean’s surface warms up, it produces the “champagne effect.” Compare a foamy spurt out of a warm bottle with wine pouring smoothly when served properly cold.

Likewise, warm ocean water exudes greater amounts of carbonic acid, which evaporates to add to industrial pollution—a factor we cannot deny. However, man-caused pollution is negligible here.

Of course no amount of scientific evidence will convince political leaders that a tax on emissions is not necessary to save the planet. The tax imposed by the Kyoto treaty, and the current proposal in the United States Congress to institute a cap and trade system here serve the purpose of raising revenue, which is their intent.

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Features, Global Warming, Media, Politics, Taxes