For the climate change deniers on our forum, I want to find out if we have different facts, if we have different interpretation of facts, or if we just look at data differently, look at completely different data, believe/disbelieve different evidence, or what.
Which of these facts are disputed by the climate change deniers on the forum?
1) NOAA Mauna Loa CO2 record shows a rapid rise in CO2 levels, with a rise in CO2 levels from 1950 to 2014 of about 80 ppm.
2) Cumulative fossil fuel CO2 emissions from North America based on Regional CO2 Emissions from Fossil-Fuel Burning, Cement Manufacture, and Gas Flaring from the carbon dioxide information analysis center show that this region output over 200 million metric tons of CO2 during this same time.
3) The CRUTEM 4 data shows positive global temperature anomaly data since around 1980, and temperature anamolies of arount 0.8 degrees C since 2000.
4) The World Glacier Monitoring Service, in their 2007 report, reported a cumulative average loss of about 9.5 m of glacial length from 1975 to 2005 in the 30 glaciers it was monitoring.
5) Satellite sea level observations from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center show a sea level rise of about 52mm since 2000.
I could list more facts, but we'll see where the real areas of disagreement are, and exactly how we think about cause and effect. There is obviously a lot more going on.
Which of these scientific concepts do the climate change deniers dispute?
1) Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that traps heat. It is the second most abundant greenhouse gas, after water.
2) The combustion of simple hydrocarbons will tend to produce carbon dioxide in a process of complete combustion.
3) Trapped heat will tend to melt ice. The melting ice produces feedback loop in warming as the albedo of the ice is lowered.
4) The salt from sea water doesn't readily get incorporated into ice, so when it melts, it lowers the density of the melt water and thereby increases sea levels in the face of Archimedes principle.
Which of these climate change conclusions do the climate change deniers dispute?
1) We as a species have been producing a lot of carbon dioxide from our burning of fossil fuels.
2) The production of the CO2 contributes to the global greenhouse effect.
3) That greenhouse effect has been especially stark since industrialization.
4) The results have been noticeable changes in climate like sea level rise (also drastic changes in weather patters and migration of pollinating species, and many other interactions).
5) We need to change our form and style of energy usage to avoid (or at least attempt to avoid) major crises in climate...not limited to, but including, the flooding of coastal habitable regions of the world.
