To say that global warming causes a specific weather event is like saying someone robbed a bank because of poverty. Moreover we don’t know if the person who robbed the bank was poor. If global warming is climate change then raising prices is inventory change, and gaining weight is health change.
So far as I know there are two real, large, verifiable and widely accepted scientific studies that show undeniable and factual evidence of global warming. One of those studies shows very strong statistical evidence of human interference as a cause of warming a specific area of the USA. There is no need to cite those studies here since the science is widely accepted. So much is the science accepted that millions of people ridicule anyone who even appears to question that science.
To be clear, I am not questioning the science, I am questioning the widely held beliefs of lay people. These people do not know or care about the science. They just know global warming is affecting their lives and their weather today, even though the science is not clear. Further the ridicule and disdain these lay people show to those of us who think for ourselves is ironic. Those who ridicule are the stupid ones, and their ridicule is harmful to humanity.
Obviously throughout global history this earth has experienced climate change. There is a well-accepted theory of a mini-ice age that was over about 1800 AD, but is coming back soon due to increased sun spot activity. I don’t think scientists are blaming human activity for sun spots. But there is evidence of human interference with global temperature. There is only inference and innuendo that such interference has caused, is causing or will cause climate change.
Yes the polar ice is melting, yes the Pacific Ocean is warmer, yes temperature averages around the globe in most areas have gone up, especially night time temperatures. But where is the causal relationship between the temperature change and a weather event? Many scientists predict weather events will be more severe and more frequent. But data on such storms, at least very accurate data, are from satellites and those have only been a reliable source of data since about 1979. That doesn’t say anything about our storms 50 years ago or more.
I am not denying global warming or climate change. But to ridicule people for questioning data that does not exist is a common pass time among the uneducated majority. The correct scientific answer “we don’t know” is an answer that will get you ridiculed if you say it in public. “Of course we know”, they say. “Of course this snow fall is due to global warming”. “Anyone who questions the evidence is denying global warming”, they say. Not so, there is no such evidence. There is good evidence for global warming, but not for climate change.
A Cyclone in the Pacific is not due to global warming. Well. Maybe, but probably not. Most years there are cyclones in the Pacific regardless of global temperature. So, to say that such a weather event is due to global warming is a stretch. But saying what I just said in many circles is enough to bring ridicule upon you. And those who say “yes well of course the cyclone is due to global warming” are the same people who will say that a bank robber chose to rob a bank because of poverty.
He or she might have been poor, might have been influenced by poverty, but then again maybe not. “We don’t know” is the best answer we have. But “we don’t know” is not a satisfying answer, so we just make up an answer that might be true. “It must have been poverty.” And the cyclone must be global warming. And those of us who want to understand the situation better are worthy of ridicule.
