If I were a climate change naysayer, I would wonder, “Why haven’t scientists who refute human-made climate change gotten together and compiled reports to support their opinion? Where is the spirited debate?”

Solid evidence does prove that the Earth naturally goes through warming and cooling cycles over periods of time. By examining glacial ice cores, ocean floor sediment, tree rings, and other determinants, scientists have devised ways of deciphering historic global temperatures. Explaining the resulting conclusions, one report by noted Climatologist Cliff Harris and Meteorologist Randy Mann states,  “We believe in rather frequent climate changes in our global weather patterns. Geologic evidence shows our climate has been changing over millions of years. The warming and cooling of global temperatures are likely the result of long-term climatic cycles, solar activity, sea-surface temperature patterns and more.” Attributing current trends to natural cycles, they assert, “This [current] pattern completes a 102-year cycle which dates from 1936. And, if history is any indication of what’s to come…we could see a huge stock market crash, global depression, new outbreaks of unknown disease, and perhaps, a third World War …sometime between 2020 to 2038.” Yet, even they go on to say, “However, mankind’s activities of the burning of fossil fuels, massive deforestation, and the replacing of grassy surfaces with asphalt and concrete (the Urban Heat Island Effect), are likely creating more harmful [atmospheric] pollution. Yes, we believe we should be going green whenever and wherever possible.” Once, apparently believing that current warming trends were just the natural cycles of the planet, they now attribute the global warming we are experiencing to “fossil fuel emissions”.

The last warming was 1000 years ago and at that time, studies show, the CO2 levels in the atmosphere were around 280 parts per million. In May 2018 our CO2 was over 411 parts per million. [May 2019 scientific reports show the CO2 levels at 415 ppm.] This is the highest level of CO2 the Earth has seen in 600,000 years. Evidence shows that 55 million years ago, when CO2 levels spiked dramatically and suddenly, a global mass extinction occurred. With our current extreme CO2 levels, we are beginning to experience the same extinction patterns being set into motion in our oceans and reverberating up to our mountaintops.

In 2018 The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) emphatically stated that coal-fired energy and the resulting CO2 emissions must end. We must make the changes necessary now to turn this warming trend around by 2020 if we are to limit global warming to 1.5°C beyond pre-Industrial temperatures. We have already reached 1.0°C of warming, and as we have seen in the last couple of years,  this is enough to create devastating storms, droughts, wildfires, floods and poverty. Without immediate and drastic changes, warming will continue beyond 1.5°C, and the results will be catastrophic and IRREVERSIBLE. We are headed toward a planet uninhabitable by humans.