OPINION:
The climate is incredibly complex. It follows that the causes of climate change are likewise complex. Yet, in the ethereal world of “settled science,” climate change is simple — as simple as the mantra claiming that as carbon dioxide increases, disastrous atmospheric conditions follow.
This simple narrative is readily countered by a dispassionate review of the relevant data. “Climate at a Glance for Teachers and Students: Facts on 30 Prominent Climate Topics,” by meteorologist Anthony Watts and Heartland Institute President James Taylor is a compendium that succinctly presents and appraises key environmental databases and research.
Five sections cover subjects at the forefront of the climate change issue: “The Atmosphere and Land,” “The Sea and Ice,” “Temperature and Extreme Weather,” “Humans and Animals” and “Scientific and Policy Controversies.”
Within each section, several important, germane topics are addressed, including crop production, drought, floods, water levels, coral reefs, Greenland ice melts, sea-level rise, hurricanes, tornadoes, heat waves, U.S. wildfires, climate refugees, COVID-19 impacts, malaria and mosquito-borne diseases, polar bears, consensus, energy subsidies, national security, and a dozen additional topics. Each topic contains lucid graphics and a sidebar listing “key takeaways” that concisely summarize the material.
The topic of “consensus” was handled quite deftly in “Climate at a Glance.” For instance, the segment relates survey results from questionnaires issued through the American Meteorological Society. As a society member, I took part in the surveys, and like the majority of respondents, I agree that human activities — urbanization is an obvious example — have a substantial impact on climate, but the impact will not necessarily be very negative.
The consensus segment summarizes the conclusions of the 2016 AMS questionnaires thus:
“Although surveys of AMS members show two-thirds believe humans are causing a majority of recent warming … the polling results reveal only about 30 percent are very worried about it. And almost as many — 28 percent — said they are ‘not worried’ or ‘not very worried.’ A plurality of respondents (42 percent) reported they are only ‘somewhat worried.’ … Further, it is important to note that 40 percent of AMS members believe climate change impacts have been primarily beneficial or equally mixed between beneficial and harmful, and only half said they expect the impacts to be entirely or primarily harmful over the next 50 years.”
When compared with an earlier (2012) poll by the AMS, these results indicate an increase in negativity on perceived climate change impacts by members. Only about 53% of the 2012 respondents agreed with the assertion that people are primarily responsible for the recent global warming. And, even for respondents assuming the existence of increasing average planetary temperature, less than 40% of those respondents claimed that the global warming will be “very harmful.”
Regardless of the trend in responses from 2012 to 2016, these results counter the oft-cited, but quite distorted, claim that 97% of climate scientists are true believers in anthropogenic global warming.
The key takeaways sidebar in the consensus segment states the true scientific stance well: “Facts and scientific evidence should always trump claims of ‘consensus.’”
“Climate at a Glance” frequently quotes activists’ allegations — which they make often from truncated trends and cherry-picked data — and then refutes their allegations with objective data. After all, trustworthy data and complete datasets are required, evaluation by subject-matter experts necessary, and perspective is essential for proper data interpretation. “Climate at a Glance” notes, “dire estimates about climate sensitivity have been undercut by real-world data. Climate sensitivity estimates from real-world atmospheric observation data suggest global warming occurring this century is unlikely to exceed 1.5 degrees C.”
“Climate at a Glance” is an amply referenced, helpful resource book that provides a much-needed perspective on the climate change challenge. Teachers and students will benefit tremendously from this slim volume that packs a considerable amount of valuable, readable information.
• Anthony J. Sadar is a Certified Consulting Meteorologist and author of “In Global Warming We Trust: Too Big To Fail” (Stairway Press, 2016).
• • •
Climate at a Glance for Teachers and Students: Facts on 30 Prominent Climate Topics, 2022 Edition
By Anthony Watts and James Taylor
81 pages, April 19, 2022, The Heartland Institute, $9.99
Please read our comment policy before commenting.