Tell me again how we’re responsible?

The subject of global warming (or climate change as its fear mongering proponents now call it since temperatures are so stubbornly unwilling to consistently rise) is a divisive subject.  It has become terribly politicized.  It is a cause celebre for the political left.  And global warming’s chief proponents are so off-putting to people who are even slightly to their right politically, that we have a difficult time hearing anything they say.  My case in point…AlGore, literally screams about global warming on many occasions, and I simply can’t hear him.

A meteorologist from a local television station mentioned this week that there had been a reduction in sunspots over the last couple of years, which he said may account for why there has been a “growing” of ice in the arctic and antarctic regions of the world.  I did some checking on this and guess what, he’s right.  Here are some charts that show historical incidence of sunspots.  Click on the graph to enlarge.  [Source:  N.A.S.A.]

Then, I found this chart that supports the idea that variations in solar radiation (read sunspots) affects global temperatures.  More sunspots/radiation, warmer temps, and vice versa.  But they also suggest that volcanic activity or lack thereof, is also a contributor to variations in global temperatures.  Click on the graph to enlarge.  [Source: Harris-Mann Climatology]

I think this is interesting stuff.

But wait!  I thought that global warming was caused by man?  That’s what we’ve been told.  Isn’t it our dependence on fossil fuels for extravagances like modern transportation and energy to produce goods.  I thought man was destroying the planet with his carelessness, inflexibility and indifference.  After all, it must surely have been all the automobile emissions and and smoke from factories that were the cause of the spike in temperatures back in 1100 B.C.  And the reputation for utter ruthlessness of the Vikings back in 1300 A.D. is well deserved considering the carbon footprint they left behind with all of their internal combustion engines.

This changes everything.  When temperature fluctuations boil down to matters that seem slightly beyond our control like the sun and geothermal and seismic activity, what are we to make of the doom saying of the left-leaning political elitists and Hollywood intellectuals?

Like a broken clock that tells the correct time twice a day, climate activists are right from time-to-time if you limit the discussion to temperatures alone.  To the extent that we find ourselves in one of those periods where sunspots are active and we have few or no volcanoes, they can correctly point to an increase in global temperatures.  And the good news for their credibility is, if they can time it just right, they can jump on the global cooling bandwagon because that period will also come.  Then rather than worrying about rolling up our pant legs in the heartland due to rising sea levels caused by the melting of arctic ice, they can convince us to begin wringing our hands that all the water on the planet will be caught up in ice, and ports like Houston and San Francisco will be miles from the ocean, as sealevels decrease. 

The problem for the global warming fanatics is that they are jousting with the wrong windmill.  I believe the term is quixotic.  Sure, mankind can and should do things to protect and preserve our environment.  I support well conceived and thoughtful initiatives that can make a real difference.  And I agree we should reduce our consumtion of oil, and especially our dependence on foriegn sources.  But as I have said elsewhere at this blog, these are for ecomonic and national security reasons. 

Sancho, tell them to saddle up and find a new cause.