Imagine Those Feudal Lords Running Around In Their SUV’s

The global warming people have a problem again–the facts just aren’t supporting their claims. Yesterday’s Daily Caller posted an article about a Swedish study that concluded that the earth was warmer during Roman times and during the Middle Ages than it is today.

The article reports:

The study, by scientist Leif Kullman, analyzed 455 “radiocarbon-dated mega-fossils” in the Scandes mountains and found that tree lines for different species of trees were higher during the Roman and Medieval times than they are today. Not only that, but the temperatures were higher as well.
“Historical tree line positions are viewed in relation to early 21st century equivalents, and indicate that tree line elevations attained during the past century and in association with modern climate warming are highly unusual, but not unique, phenomena from the perspective of the past 4,800 years,” Kullman found. “Prior to that, the pine tree line (and summer temperatures) was consistently higher than present, as it was also during the Roman and Medieval periods.”

This is not new information. Another study reported similar data (rightwinggranny.com) last year.

The article at the Daily Caller reminds us that scientific data shows that the earth’s temperature stopped rising in 1998 for no obvious reason. Since that time, scientists have begun to look at solar activity and normal global cycles as the causes for recent temperature changes.
The article concludes:

A study by Dr. Roy Spencer from the University of Alabama, Huntsville found that about half the warming that occurred since the 1970s can be attributed to El Niño weather events, which had a warming effect on the planet.

The Pacific Ocean’s natural warming and cooling cycles last about 30 years, with La Niña cooling being dominant from the 1950s to the 1970s and El Niño warming events dominating late 1970s to the late 1990s. Spencer suggests that the world may be in a La Niña cooling period.

It would be a good idea for all of us to take a step back and take a deep breath. The bottom line here is that we really don’t know. The equation is complicated by the fact that many very powerful people have an economic interest in convincing the rest of us that global warming is real and that we are the cause of it. We need to look carefully before we buy into that argument.

Enhanced by Zemanta