Almost everyone who has ever commented on climate change policy issues from a skeptical perspective has experienced being attacked personally as a ‘climate denier’. The insult is intended as a way to immediately shut down discussion by portraying the skeptic as not only wrong but beneath contempt because he or she has done something that can be compared in its evil and despicability with denying the Nazi holocaust. Far too often, the insult works, even in discussions before regulatory bodies where the level of debate should be based on facts, credible arguments, and mutual respect.
Rarely does anyone stop to analyse why the insult is completely misplaced as well as misinformed.
Let’s start at the beginning. The advocates of government action to virtually eliminate human-related greenhouse gas emissions generally believe that such emissions are harmful and, unless sharply reduced, will cause catastrophic global warming sometime over the next century and beyond. They further claim that this emissions reduction can be achieved by all the countries of the world given current and likely-to-be-available technologies at a moderate cost. Within OECD countries that represent a 32% (and declining) share of global GHG emissions, a further claim is that citizens should take extraordinarily expensive measures to reduce their emissions even if the rest of the world does not.
To believe this, one would have to accept a long series of related arguments.
I will divide the arguments, posed as questions, broadly into two parts: the ‘science’ series (and sub-series) and the economics/technology series.
The Science Series
Is it true that current global trends indicate global warming and other related environmental changes?
How much have ‘average global temperatures’ changed during the period since the industrial revolution?
- Is there such a thing as ‘average global temperatures’?
- How does one measure global temperatures in history and are these accurate?
- How does one measure average global temperatures today, by surface instruments on land and sea, or by satellites, or some combination of the two?
Do the changes in global temperatures show any strong connection/causation with increased concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere?
Read More: Calling Climate Sceptics ‘Climate Deniers’ is an Admission You’ve Lost the Argument
