Facts Climate alarmists should consider:
Fifteen thousand years ago, the valley we now call home was covered in several thousand feet of ice. That is easily verified through the science of geology. The earth warmed and the ice melted rapidly creating huge lakes, which at some point catastrophically drained down to their current levels. About 12,900 years ago the climate abruptly reversed, plunging the Okanagan back into around 1,000 years of icy conditions, cause unknown but a comet or asteroid impact suspected. Whatever the catastrophe, it was severe enough to wipe out most of the North American megafauna and probably the Clovis People then populating parts of the continent.
Around 11,700 years ago, the climate began to warm again and we finally arrived in our current interglacial period, one of the longest of many in the last few hundred thousand years. By the time the ice receded close to its present extent, sea levels had risen over 400 feet. Within this interglacial period, there have been warm periods and cold periods, some much more significant than the recent warming we are so concerned about.
Unfortunately, over the last 8,000 years there has been a gradual, but inexorable decline in global temperatures as we probably head towards the next ice age. All this can be surmised from global ice core data, sediments and tree rings. This data is freely available online, from the academic institutions that gathered it, and is presented in a form understandable to anyone with a high school science education.
It is obvious from this data that we should indeed be very worried about climate change because it can be abrupt and brutal to life. Although the finer points may be argued, this is fact and most of it happened before any significant human activity. However, climate scientists struggle to explain these rapid, past changes and until they get better at that, I have low confidence in their predictions, which after all, are based on simplistic models. As time goes on, it is becoming clearer that there is an overlooked but vitally important component to climate change — the sun appears to influence climate in ways we never imagined.
There is no doubt humans influence climate, but to think we are the biggest player in this game is foolish and arrogant. For now, be thankful humanity is flourishing in a relatively warm and stable interglacial period. Enjoy it, because it won’t last forever.
David Skelhon
Vernon