Slowing Down Global Warming

  

Week 2 | Discussion

Slowing Down Global Warming
Climate change is a tricky topic these days because much of what we hear about it has little to nothing to do with actual science. For example, we are constantly bombarded with ideas like “reputable scientific studies continue to show that the earth is warming” and claims that “a rise in the release of carbon dioxide (CO2) must be stopped”. However, there is a dirty little secret behind all of this talk…it has all happened before.
Did you now that climate change was not always called “climate change”? In fact, it was once called “global warming” in the early 1900s and then “global cooling”, then “global warming” again, and cooling, until it finally changed to “climate change”. Here’s the record of the changes in name:

Global Warming – early 1900s when the polar areas were melting dramatically
Global Cooling – during the 1930s and 1940s when the earth was cooling (remember the harsh winter during World War II that stopped the Germans from taking down the Soviet Union?)
…then people forgot about the issue…
Global Cooling – 1960s and early 1970s
Global Warming — 1980s and into the 1990s (then some massive volcanoes erupted and caused the earth to cool again from the volcano dust blocking sunlight)
Climate Change – 2000s to present

Regardless of which side of the issue we are on, there are certain things we need to consider with all science; that is, that science is built on fact, not consensus. Consider the following facts and explain how a person could reach different conclusions about climate change? Provide specific examples and consider the following in your response:

Despite all of the supporting climate change research that exists, none of it is actually based on empirical evidence; it is based on computer models similar to that used for predicting the next day’s weather.
Similar warming has been detected on other planets in our solar system.
Google the “11-year sunspot cycle”; how might the energy output of the sun affect climate?
What can we make of the dispute between NASA satellites showing no climate change and NOAA ground stations showing global warming?
What are some of the scandals that have leaked in recent years showing climate scientists faking date to support their research? Has that helped or hurt the climate change argument?
How could we explain changing climates on earth, both in recent decades and throughout earth’s history?