Chelm, the mythical Polish shtetl, was where important Jewish folklore took place, and perhaps the most famous of the Chelm stories related to the heated argument as to whether the Sun or the Moon was the most significant celestial entity. The controversy became so heated that the people of Chelm decided to ask the chief rabbi for resolution. After one week of intense study the rabbi announced his decision. “It is obvious,” he said. “The Moon is more important because it sheds light at night when light is needed, but the Sun only provides light during the day, a time already blessed with sufficient light.” According to an update of this legend, there was a 97% consensus of the people, supported by official fact checkers, and only ignorant “Moon Deniers” believed the Sun was more important than the Moon.
Today, in the Global Warming/ Climate Change debate, the Activists tell us that 97% of the world’s scientists agree that the earth is heating up, sea levels are accelerating, tornadoes, hurricanes and forest fires are major concerns, the coral reefs and many animals will be extinct ---and it is our fault! They tell us these disasters are supported by “science” including 97% of the world’s scientists, who predict with “high confidence” that, if we listen to the “Climate Deniers”, there will be a climate catastrophe. This we are told every day by the media, the Biden administration, and liberal universities. The demand for action to prevent a catastrophe is just as foolish as the people of Chelm.
And here is why:
Sea Levels[i]: Probably the most frightening Activist claim relates to Global Warming which will cause the acceleration of sea level rise. This will cause millions of eco-refugees to abandon their flooded homes. We have been subject to multiple projections of flooding disaster including (1) A 1989 Associated Press article warning us that by 2000, entire nations will be wiped off the face of the Earth; (2) In 2005, Climate Activists predicted that 50 million people would be displaced by rising seas by 2010 and (3) A 2020 claim that 3 billion people would likely have to move to avoid rising seas.
The reality is that no sea-coast city has disappeared due to rising seas, which for 100 years have risen at the same slow rate. This includes the 7 largest coastal cities (NY, Los Angeles, Buenos Aires, Calcutta, Mumbai, Shanghai, and Tokyo) which have risen at less than 4 mm. /yr. , with virtually no acceleration. This is about 1 foot in over 80 years, You can check sea level increases yourself at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), US Government website. This differs from Climate Activist reality like Al Gore’s 2007 prediction that the seas could rise 20 feet in the “near future” (according to NASA, the seas have risen only 2 inches in the last 15 years). With typical arrogance, it is unlikely that Gore would consider changing his Climate Change disaster scenario. The following chart is from the US Government’s NOAA and shows that there has been no acceleration in sea level rise for New York City:
Global Warming[ii]: The Activists have assured us that if we do not act now to reduce our fossil fuel use and generation of atmospheric CO2, we will certainly have a Climatic catastrophe. Totally ignored by the Climate Activists is that it is universally and scientifically confirmed even by the NY Times, that, during our lifetimes, 2016 was the warmest year on Earth. This is important to know because history tells us that not only has there been no warming during the last 7 years, but also the Earth has been cooler. This is why it is not scientifically reasonable to claim that there is a significant probability that the next decade will be any warmer than it is now.
More Hurricanes, tornadoes, larger and more frequent fires:[iii] In its entirety this heading is completely false because Google’s climate-related algorithms are so biased, unhelpful and useless. Confirmation for these statements come from the Activists who have almost unanimously agreed that there has not been an increase in hurricanes, and the US government confirms that we have no more tornadoes (NOAA) and fewer forest fires (National Fire Service) then in the past 50 years.
Coral Reefs[iv]: For 30 years, Climate Activists have predicted that the beautiful colors of the coral reefs will disappear
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because of warmer waters and “acidification” (less basic waters). But recently, the largest coral reefs, the Great Barrier Reefs in Australia, have once again become beautiful because the agricultural run-off from farms, refuse and sunscreen lotions were reduced or eliminated.
Animal Extinctions and Polar Bears:[v] In 1970, Activists predicted that by 1985 all-important animal life in the sea would be extinct; In 2014, they predicted that more than one million species would become extinct if fossil fuel emissions were not quickly reduced. Al Gore falsely predicted that 16 species would become extinct. None did. A Yale study concluded that for the last 400 years, there have only been 2 extinctions per year.
Activists have claimed that the extinction of polar bears is inevitable because the melting ice forces polar bears to swim longer distances to find food, which results in exhaustion and drowning. Before 1970 it was legal to shoot polar bears for their skins, but then multi-national laws were passed to protect them, and the polar bear population is three times larger now than 50 years ago.
The Consensus and Settled Science:[vi] The claims that there is a consensus that Global Warming and Climate Change are “Settled Science” and therefore no reason for discussing alternative views is simply not true. For example, about twenty years ago, more than 30,000 scientists signed a statement called, The Oregon Petition which stated, “There is NO convincing scientific evidence that human release of carbon dioxide…will…cause catastrophic heating of the Earth’s atmosphere and disruption of the Earth’s climate”. Today numerous groups including the Heartland Institute, Clintel, and Climate Depot deny that a climate problem is settled science; and recently John Clauser, the 2022 Nobel Prize winner in Physics, joined the CO2 Coalition, which opposes the Climate Alarmists view.
Why the majority believe Climate Change is a Problem. It is true that most Americans and hundreds of millions of others believe that we have significant global warming, acceleration of sea rise, more forest fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, animal extinctions, all of which are caused by Global Warming and Climate Change,and believe we must do something about it. Here are some reasons why”
1. Money: Government largesse makes some people (Al Gore is worth over $300 million) rich. Professors can get government grants only if they support the common narrative.
2. Group Think: People don’t want to rock the boat and become part of what seems to be a lonely minority. They want to be a part of the crowd; a part of the mainstream and they don’t have time, energy, or incentive to ignore the claims of the Climate Activists which pervades the climate dialog by the political Left, The New York Times, CNN and Google.
3. The Activist Strategies: The plethora of what have proven to be successful Activist strategies include mischaracterizing consensus as science, using false and selective facts, bad assumptions, language distortion, hiding their mistakes and poor predictions, controlling funding, scaring people, censorship and intimidation.
A couple of examples: (1) They continually mischaracterize weather and climate by telling us that one major hurricane like Hurricane Ida proves there is Climate Change. Climate Change has little to do with one weather event and much to do with weather patterns developed over many years; and (2) headlines such as “Heat-related deaths are expected to rise after 1.7 million people died in 2019 due to extreme temperatures.” (NY Times) when the vast majority of extreme weather deaths are caused by cold weather.
4. Power and control: If you claim that the carbon dioxide molecule is a pollutant, you can control almost anything: Not only require electric cars, wind or solar energy, you also can demand the people not eat meats, must pay carbon taxes, and cannot invest or loan money to companies that produce the wrong type of energy, like fossil fuels.
The solution is you:
Q: What can you as an individual do about these powerful, wealthy and determined forces that support the Climate Change catastrophe scenario?
A: Spread the Truth and explain the real science because The Truth will Out!
What your family, friends and acquaintances should know:
- Global Warming: 2016 was the warmest year. The last 7 years have been colder. There is no likelihood that the earth will get warmer during the next decade. .
- The Sea Level Rise has not accelerated. The US Government (NASA and NOAA) have verified that the sea levels continue to rise at about 1 foot in 100 years as they have for the last 100 years.
- No reason to spend money on Climate Change: the falsely named Deficit Reduction Act will cost, according to Goldman Sachs, over $1 trillion. It makes no sense to spend money on a problem that does not exist. If your friend thinks there is a problem, ask them what is the problem? Then give them this article.
- Government Climate Change Policy has made the rich richer than any other transfer of money in history. The poor don’t buy Teslas which average $66,000, and they are not shareholders who receive dividends from utility companies that benefit from tax credits and subsidies for their wind turbines and solar panels.
- The foolish race to reduce CO2: Reducing atmospheric CO2 will not significantly reduce temperature: 2020 was the Covid year when flying planes and driving cars paused and universities and businesses went into hibernation. We showed that we could reduce atmospheric CO2 by 10%, and we proved that this major catastrophe generated virtually no reduction in temperature.(1/100C). The sun provides us with over 99% of the earth’s radiant energy, and has almost complete control over earth’s temperature which is probably why 2020 was actually our 2nd warmest year. Besides, a decrease in CO2 will be highly unpopular with plant growth.
The best solution to the Climate Change mess is for you to explain the truth and prevent other Americans from acting as foolish as the people of Chelm. Show them that the genuine historical evidence verifies that we have been blessed with climate patterns that have been almost completely consistent during the past 100 years and there is no likely impending disaster.
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[i] See Climate Change: What they Rarely Teach in College, Chapter 2
[ii] Ibid Chapter 1
[iii] Ibid,Chapter 3
[iv] Ibid Chapter 4
[v] Ibid Chapter 4
[vi] Ibid Chapter 1