My Global Warming Myth Response

Originally Posted on January 30, 2009

This post is in response to the following article written by John Tomlinson It's Time to Pray for Global Warming

I wrote this in response to John Tomlinson’s article in Flint Journal: It’s Time to Pray for Global Warming. After reading Tomlinson’s article, I decided to look into his research. What I found (as I suspected I would) was that his information is not all that accurate. It is easy for people to take fact and tweak it a bit, or leave out a bit, in order to create their own fiction that backs up their opinions and beliefs. So I looked up Tomlinson’s sources, and sure enough, I found that he created his own skewed interpretation of the facts. Tomlinson's article can be found at the end of my little rant here, so if you don’t know what I’m talking about, you can read it there.

Tomlinson points out that “650 of the world 's top climatologists” claimed that “global warming is a media generated myth”. First of all, over 11,000 participants attended the conference. That means less than 6% of the participants claimed that global warming is a myth. Second, the list of “650 of the world’s top climatologists” was compiled by Oklahoma’s very own jackass, James Inhofe, and it was later discovered that there were actually only 413 people on that list. And of those 413 “top climatologists”, 44 are actually TV weathermen, 20 are economists, and 70 are not even experts in climate science. In fact, several people on this list of supposed global warming skeptics have claimed that their opinions were misrepresented by Inhofe.

Tomlinson also writes “The earth's temperature peaked in 1998. It's been falling ever since; it dropped dramatically in 2007 and got worse in 2008, when temperatures touched 1980 levels”.

But, According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) 2007 State of the Climate Report and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) 2007 Surface Temperature Analysis: The eight warmest years on record (since 1850) have all occurred since 1998.

Tomlinson also cites research from the University of Illinois Arctic Climate Research Center stating that: “Meanwhile, the University of Illinois' Arctic Climate Research Center released conclusive satellite photos showing that Arctic ice is back to 1979 levels. What' s more, measurements of Antarctic ice now show that its accumulation is up 5 percent since 1980”.

But the National Snow and Ice Data Center reports that the year 2008 “continued the negative trend in summer sea ice extent, with the second-lowest summer minimum since record-keeping began in 1979”. They also report that because 2007 held a “record-breaking melt season”, so much ice melted that a “vast expanse of ocean was exposed to low winter air temperatures, encouraging ice growth.” Therefore, it is true that “2008 saw slightly greater ice extent”, but the ice was also much thinner, and therefore melted quicker, so the “rate of ice loss was much faster than average”.

I also decided to visit the source of Tomlinson's claim, the University of Illinois Arctic Climate Research Center website, to determine if Tomlinson’s statements regarding their findings were accurate. The Arctic Climate Research Center has actually posted a statement regarding certain articles that have come out in which the authors have cited their research. This statement claims that “Arctic ice volume is now below its long-term average by an even greater amount than is ice extent or area”. The site also includes “conclusive satellite photos” that show that, while a larger area may have a covering of ice, it is mostly new ice (thin ice). These satellite photos also show that the amount of multi-layer layer ice (“sea ice that is older and generally thicker”) is still decreasing, and has been decreasing drastically since 1979.

Tomlinson also quotes Dr. Kunihiko in his article. Dr. Kunihiko has also been known to encourage others not to concern themselves with their health (because, according to Kunihiko, doing so is a waste of time), and stated that life has no purpose or goal. Wow, Dr. Kunihiko, you sure are an inspiration to us all!

Everyone is entitled to their own beliefs, so if you believe that global warming is a myth, that is your right. I just think that if you are going to write an article to support your beliefs, you should actually provide valid research rather than twist the truth to get your point across.