By request--my beliefs on global warming

October 26, 9:31 PMSF Environmental Policy ExaminerThomas Fuller

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I've actually had three people ask me what I believe about global warming--I did a series some months ago, but I think my beliefs have evolved a bit since then, so here goes.

But let's do it differently this time--let's get your opinions on record, too. I'm going to number these statements, and commenters, have at them. I'm also going to put a survey up soon to let you have your voices heard, as well.  But for now, I'm looking for your own opinions--on my opinions. Does that sound a bit egotistical?

1. I believe CO2 is a greenhouse gas, that increasing concentrations of CO2 serve to warm the planet.

2. I believe that doubling CO2 concentrations may trap heat in our atmosphere equivalent to 2 degrees Celsius.

3. However, this heat will not be dispersed evenly, either geographically or temporally, and it could prove a severe disruption to regional economies and ecologies.

4. I believe we should act to reduce the impact of such an event, starting now.

5. I believe Barack Obama's energy policy is an excellent first step.

6. I believe that a generation of climate scientists have tried to make global warming a political football, and have exaggerated or distorted the truth to push politicians into acting more robustly, and too instill a fear-driven sense of urgency in the general public.

7. I believe that this misuse of science will have long-lasting and negative consequences for science, political discussion of scientific issues, and the public's acceptance of science going forward.

8. I believe that both temperatures and CO2 concentrations have been higher in the past, and that the Medieval Warming Period (and the Roman Warming Period and the Holocene Optimum) were warmer than today.

9. I believe that the warming between 1975 and 1998 was largely driven by human emissions of CO2.

10. I believe that data collection and analysis used for climate science has been seriously compromised, inadvertently for land-based measurements, got off to a rocky start for satellite measurements, and has been obscured by horrendously unscientific practices for some of the research centers analysing the data.

So, if you agree with all ten of my points, let me know. Betcha no-one does. But I'll betch no-one disagrees with all ten, either...

Let me know.