Look at Earth's history - climate change nothing new

One of the main jobs of Earth scientists is to unravel the history of the Earth. They have determined that climate change has been with us throughout Earth’s history.

The Earth has undergone thousands of episodes of cooling and warming. In fact, for about 80 percent of Earth history, the Earth has had a warm and damp climate, with no polar icecaps. As Elmer Fudd might say, “those changes occurred long before wascally Wepublicans were dwiving stately sport utility vehicles.”

Life would indeed be dull without The Simpsons, Teletubbies and 24-hour sports channels, but the inquiring mind may want additional information. Thanks to the miracle of the internet, information on these geologic events can be easily reviewed and understood by the general public with just a few keystrokes.

The evidence for historic climate change comes primarily through the study of sedimentary rocks. The texture, composition, and isotopic character of the sedimentary rocks deposited throughout geologic time bear silent witness to the changing climate since different climatic regimes results in subtle differences in those sedimentary rocks.

Thousands of studies have been completed which have resulted in a relatively complete understanding of changing climate throughout Earth history. These various studies are published, and then reviewed by thousands of other Earth scientists. This process of peer review is one of the cornerstones of scientific methodology, whereby honest mistakes can be rectified and outright humbug can be discarded.

That is the way science works.

Earth scientists have determined that over the last 11,000 years, mean sea level has risen by about 500 feet. Dr. W. Tad Pfeffer, a respected Earth scientist from the University of Colorado in Boulder, has determined that about 90 percent of that sea level change occurred from about 9,000 B.C. to about 4,000 B.C., long before “mean-spirited” Republicans began snatching toys from weeping children.

Sea level change has also occurred countless times throughout Earth history prior to the arrival of Homo Sapiens. A recent paleo-climate study was presented to the Canadian Senate by Dr. Ian Clark, an Earth Science professor from the University of Ottawa. He showed the science-deficient politicos, using just a few simple graphs, that there was a very close correlation between solar energy output and global temperature.

Energy from the sun is not constant.

He also showed another graph which conclusively demonstrated that global warming precedes an atmospheric carbon dioxide increase by an average of about 800 years (that means that carbon dioxide increases do not create global warming). That presentation can be seen by anyone, free of charge. It can be accessed by typing in Ian Clark on youtube.com OR go to youtube.com/watch?v=hDKSkBrI-TM&t=457s.

And finally, those who may eventually benefit from the lucrative proposed carbon credit business don’t want you to know that nearly 90 percent of the Greenhouse Effect, which permits life to exist comfortably on Earth, results from water vapor in the atmosphere.

For the graduates of Cletusville High School, that simply means that almost all of the Greenhouse Effect results from water vapor. Thus, even if carbon dioxide and methane were completely eliminated from the atmosphere, there would be little effect on climate change.

It seems almost unbelievable, but no focus group, study club, political action committee, workshop, task force, professional facilitator or other scientifically illiterate entity will be able to reduce the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere by one iota.

What could have caused this gross misconception regarding historic climate change that currently prevails? Why is there a pervasive hysteria about a natural event that has occurred continuously throughout Earth history?

There are two likely possibilities. The first might be the widespread scientific illiteracy spawned by the failed public education system. The second might be the idol worship and resultant preposterous scientific credibility granted to semi-literate entertainers by pop culture, providing airhead entertainment idols with the same or greater credibility as competent scientists.

The taxpayer will be saddled with the eventual cost of ignorance resulting from crony capitalism and trendy, crackpot “green technology” schemes that require government subsidies to survive. That is the way government works.

Once you check out Dr. Clark’s presentation on youtube.com, you will be light years ahead of the Cletusville High School alma mater. Climate change is indeed real. Anthropogenic climate change is a hoax.

James Ebisch is a geologist who has spent the last four decades studying Earth Science. He has a bachelor of science degree in geology from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh and a master of science degree in geology from Sul Ross State University, Alpine, Texas.