Study: Nature responsible for global warming, not man

July 27, 11:45 AMDenver Weather ExaminerTony Hake

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A new peer reviewed study calls into question the
science behind the manmade global warming theory.

A new peer-reviewed study calls into question the so-called ‘consensus’ on the causes of global warming by saying that “Nature, not man, responsible for recent global warming.”  The new study authored by three Australian scientists and published in the Journal of Geophysical Research says that the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) accounts for the vast majority of temperature variability. 

Authored by Chris de Freitas (University of Auckland in New Zealand), John McLean (Melbourne) and Bob Carter (James Cook University), the new study is sure to cause waves among those debating the causes of global warming.  Completely contrary to the mainstream media’s portrayal of climate change, the study says, “little or none of the late 20th century global warming and cooling can be attributed to human activity.”

Lead author de Freitas said in a press release, “The surge in global temperatures since 1977 can be attributed to a 1976 climate shift in the Pacific Ocean that made warming El Niño conditions more likely than they were over the previous 30 years and cooling La Niña conditions less likely."

We have shown that internal global climate-system variability accounts for at least 80% of the observed global climate variation over the past half-century.

The effects of El Niño and La Niña are well known to even laymen and the two year study has concluded that ENSO is directly related to global temperature rises in recent decades.  The authors have been able to directly correlate the past 50 years of average global temperatures with ENSO cycles.  Temperatures were found to have lagged ENSO events by approximately seven months consistently.  De Freitas said, “We have shown that internal global climate-system variability accounts for at least 80% of the observed global climate variation over the past half-century.”

If ENSO is indeed responsible for 80% of global temperature changes, manmade contributions to global warming would appear to be highly insignificant, much like a growing chorus of scientists have been claiming for some time.  Australia, much like the United States, is considering cap and trade legislation that would attempt to limit carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by forcing businesses to buy credits for their emissions. 

No scientific justification exists for emissions regulation, and that, irrespective of the severity of the cuts proposed, ETS (emission trading scheme) will exert no measurable effect on future climate.

Concerns about the cost to consumers and the negligible effect it would have has the measure stalled in the United States Senate for the time being.  Carter specifically addressed carbon trading schemes saying “No scientific justification exists for emissions regulation, and that, irrespective of the severity of the cuts proposed, ETS (emission trading scheme) will exert no measurable effect on future climate."

Co-author McLean drew attention to the fact that current climate models cannot even accurately reproduce known temperature changes.  Previous studies have shown that the climate models used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) fall outside acceptable scientific boundaries.  McLean said, “When climate models failed to retrospectively produce the temperatures since 1950 the modelers added some estimated influences of carbon dioxide to make up the shortfall.”

More Americans are doubting man's effect on the climate and a growing number of scientists are raising their voices of dissent.  Will this new study help to turn the tide against what had been called a 'consensus?'

• Abstract: Influence of the Southern Oscillation on tropospheric temperature