"'The Inconvenient Truth' is indeed inconvenient to alarmists"

Just the latest consensus scientific study and Congressional report on global warming for your consideration.


Study: Earth likely hottest in 2,000 years

Thursday, June 22, 2006;
WASHINGTON (AP) -- It has been 2,000 years and possibly much longer since Earth has run such a fever.

The National Academy of Sciences, reaching that conclusion in a broad review of scientific work requested by Congress, reported Thursday that the "recent warmth is unprecedented for at least the last 400 years and potentially the last several millennia."

A panel of top climate scientists told lawmakers that Earth is heating up and that "human activities are responsible for much of the recent warming." Their 155-page report said average global surface temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere rose about 1 degree during the 20th century.
This is shown in boreholes, retreating glaciers and other evidence found in nature, said Gerald North, a geosciences professor at Texas A&M University who chaired the academy's panel.

The report was requested in November by the chairman of the House Science Committee, Rep. Sherwood Boehlert, R-New York, to address naysayers who question whether global warming is a major threat. Last year, when the House Energy and Commerce Committee chairman, Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, launched an investigation of three climate scientists, Boehlert said Barton should try to learn from scientists, not intimidate them.

Boehlert said Thursday the report shows the value of having scientists advise Congress. "There is nothing in this report that should raise any doubts about the broad scientific consensus on global climate change," he said.

Other new research Thursday showed that global warming produced about half of the extra hurricane-fueled warmth in the North Atlantic in 2005, and natural cycles were a minor factor, according to Kevin Trenberth and Dennis Shea of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, a research lab sponsored by the National Science Foundation and universities. Their study is being published by the American Geophysical Union.

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It's a long time in terms of human civilization. Human impact is what we are talking about here.

Who said it was hot 2,000 years ago? They said that was how far back reliable data could be gathered. There are also natural factors in global warming, but the current trend results from massive deforestation in the last 2,000 years and especially the Industrial Revolution in the last 150. Human impacts.

CO2 is only one of the greenhouse gases. It is naturally occuring as is oil, but that is entirely irrelevant. It is a major byproduct of burning fuels and is synthetically produced. Pumping oil out of the earth and distilling it into gasoline, fuel oil, and polymers is not a naturally occurring process. Producing and burning hydrocarbons constitute Human impacts.

 

I'm talking global deforestation since the dawn of man, not US forestation since 1952. You are cherry-picking statistics and then drawing broad conclusions based on inadequate data.

Then bring on these facts and prove it. Here are some facts for you to consider.

http://www.umich.edu/~gs265/society/deforestation.htm
"The process of greenhouse gas increase is quite simple. Carbon dioxide levels increase for a number of reasons; but one of the main factors contributing to the increase of carbon levels is decay of woody material. The only way to help moderate the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is through plant life. Alive plants and trees absorb the carbon dioxide from decaying plants and trees. With a decrease in trees and plant life (due to deforestation) it is much harder to moderate these levels. Ultimately, the amount of carbon will increase due to a lack of plant life present to keep the carbon dioxide levels in check. This whole process leads to an "albedo effect which reflects more heat and light back into the atmosphere than would be the case if the sun shone on green trees". The bottom line is that the increase in the carbon level and other greenhouse gas levels into the atmosphere leads to an increase in temperature, and eventually a change in climate and weather."

http://library.thinkquest.org/17456/deforestationall.html
"Perhaps the greatest potential cause of deforestation lies in the future: climate change. If the greenhouse effect raises the earth's temperature, forests may no longer be able to survive in their present locations. Some may have to migrate up mountain slopes, or to cooler or wetter environments. But unlike conditions following the last Ice Age, global warming will probably happen too quickly for forests to adapt."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4436116.stm
"The speed of global deforestation is showing signs of slowing down because of new planting and natural forest extension, according to new figures. But the world's forests are still being destroyed at an alarming rate, says the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, presenting details from a new report. The numbers measure net loss, taking into account forest growth from new planting and natural expansion. An average 7.3 million hectares was lost annually over the last five years. This was down from 8.9 million hectares (22 million acres) a year between 1990 and 2000."

Don't be a jerk. Can't you just debate the issues without being inflammatory?.