Global warming, where is thy sting? By Peter Burrows – elburropete@gmail.com April 18, 2015

As much of the nation shakes off another miserable winter, which set records for cold and snow in many areas, the President of the United States and other assorted warmists continue to sound the alarm over the catastrophic effects of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

This is what President Obama said in his State of the Union address January 20: “No challenge – no challenge – poses a greater threat to future generations than climate change.” (1)

In a previous article, “Move over, Neville Chamberlain” I had put forth the notion that what Obama said about Iran not acquiring nuclear weapons because that would be “against their religion,” could turn out to be — and I fervently hope I’m wrong — even more memorably stupid than Chamberlain’s “peace for our time.”  I’m afraid Obama’s climate remark could earn him second place as well.

(Less than two years ago Obama said income inequality was the “defining issue of our time.”(2) That’s also pretty stupid, but falls way down the list.)

Obama showed us his delusions are not confined to the Iranians when he further said in the State of the Union speech, “The best scientists in the world are all telling us that our activities are changing the climate and if we do not act forcefully we’ll continue to see rising oceans, longer, hotter heat waves, dangerous droughts and floods, and massive disruptions that can trigger greater migration, conflict and hunger around the globe.”

This theme was continued on page 12 of the National Security Strategy report released by the Obama White House last February 15: “Climate change is an urgent and growing threat to our national security, contributing to increased natural disasters, refugee flows, and conflicts over basic resources like food and water. The present day effects of climate change are being felt from the Arctic to the Midwest. Increased sea levels and storm surges threaten coastal regions,  infrastructure and property. In turn, the global economy suffers, compounding the growing costs of preparing and restoring infrastructure.” (3)

I’m reminded of Chicken Little.  In some versions of the fable, after running around screaming “The sky is falling,” Chicken Little leads frightened followers to seek protection in the wolf’s lair, with predictable results.  Obama would lead us into the government’s lair of carbon regulations, micromanagement of business and society, also with predictable results: impoverishment, international weakness and the entrenchment of the bureaucratic ruling class.

Fortunately, none of what the President said is true.  “All” of the “best scientists” are not telling us that increasing CO2 will lead to disastrous results.  Some are even saying it will be a good thing.(4 ) In fact, there appears to be a coordinated effort to bring some of those disagreeing scientists into the government lair with intimidations and threats. (5)

But do we really need scientists to form our opinions on global warming? How about some plain old common sense, backed up by what used to be valued in science, real-world evidence?  For starters, is climate change causing nastier weather which in turn is causing increased property damage?  Not according to Warren Buffett, one of the world’s richest men and an early Obama backer.

Buffett owns General Reinsurance, sort of an insurance company’s insurance company, which is subject to big claims when disasters strike.  He said climate change has not increased rates versus five years ago, “And I don’t think it’ll have an effect on what we’re charging three years or five years from now.” He added, “The public has the impression that because there’s been so much talk about climate that events of the last ten years from an insured standpoint and climate have been unusual. They haven’t.” (6)

Buffett’s experience was shared by Swiss Re, another large reinsurance company, that reported “markedly less damage claims than in previous years” in 2014, partly due to no major hurricane making landfall in the United States, the ninth straight year that has happened.  Moreover, the company’s major losses were from especially severe winter storms in the U.S. (7)

Speaking of severe winters, snow was supposed to be becoming rare in Great Britain.  Fifteen years ago a UK climate scientist predicted that snowfall was going to be a “rare and exciting event” for children, who “just aren’t going to know what snow is.”(8) The UK, like the U.S. has had two very rough winters in a row. Eleven years ago, the same scientist predicted the end of the Scottish skiing industry due to lack of snow.  Last year, the BBC reported that the Scottish mountains were the snowiest since perhaps 1945. (9)

Our own Al Gore, who won an Oscar for his 2006 documentary on global warming, An Inconvenient Truth, back in 2008 said there was a 75 percent chance the north pole would be completely ice-free “within the next five to seven years.” (10)  He made the same claim five years ago at a UN Conference on Climate Change, predicting it could happen by 2014.(11) Recent observations show both North and South Poles to be far more stable than alarmists had predicted. (12)

Perhaps the most hysterical forecast was the UN prediction in 2005 that there would be 50 million “environmental” refugees by the end of 2010.(13)  I wonder what the number in 2015, today, was supposed to be? Given this sort of predictive miss, is it any wonder that polls show the public has climate change at the bottom of their concerns?

Perhaps no indicator shows public skepticism better than the market for oceanfront properties. One would think that such prime real estate would be dropping in value around the world if people were seeing evidence that the oceans were starting to noticeably rise. One would be wrong.

Google “Zillow Key West” and check the prices.  One I liked was for $1.4 million but was only a canal front home, last sold for $174,000 in 1985.(14 ) I think they made a lot of improvements.  Try “Zillow Key Largo” if you want to look for Bogie and Bacall. There was one for $5.6 million I liked. It was last sold in 1994 for $2.4 million.(15)

Of course, maybe these values would have gone up much more but for global warming. Which brings up a cynical observation: maybe global warming is a scare to keep prices down so rich global warmers can pick up some cheap real estate.  Leonardo DiCaprio, for example, another warmist, is building a resort on an island off the coast of Belize that looks like a speedboat wave could sink it. (16)
Maybe Leonardo has read some studies casting doubt on the idea that sea levels are rising. (17) (18) Regardless, he epitomizes the fact that the real world is not cooperating with Chicken Little.
In science, when observations do not match the predictions put forth by a hypothesis or theory, the theory is recognized to be wrong.  Yes, climate change is occurring, BUT THE RESULTS ARE NOT CATASTROPHIC.  The real “deniers” are those who deny real world facts and continue to make hysterical forecasts.
It is apparent that the subject of manmade global warming is no longer a scientific issue. It has become almost like a religion, where beliefs are acts of faith.  Fortunately, most people are not buying into the “religion,” so there is still hope that real science will someday prevail.
In the meantime, let’s answer the question of this article, “Global warming, where is thy sting?”  You don’t feel it in catastrophic weather events, population upheavals, or global agricultural disruptions, but take a look at your electricity bill, fellow New Mexicans.  See those charges for “Renewable Energy Rider?”  Mine totaled $3.73 last month.  Notice that renewable energy is INCREASING your bill, not reducing it.
All for what? To satisfy the quasi-religion of Global Warming.

(1) http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/president-calls-climate-change-greatest-threat-future-generations-state-union/
(2) http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/04/obama-income-inequality-minimum-wage-live
(3) https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/2015_national_security_strategy.pdf
(4) http://news.heartland.org/newspaper-article/2015/03/20/why-i-am-climate-change-skeptic
(5) http://www.wsj.com/articles/climate-free-speech-1426548714
(6) Buffet ins http://www.cnbc.com/id/101460458
(7) http://notrickszone.com/2014/12/18/worlds-second-largest-reinsurer-swiss-re-sees-huge-drop-in-losses-from-
naturalmanmade-catastrophes-in-2014/#sthash.97fJ6u1G.dpbs
(8) http://dailycaller.com/2014/03/04/top-5-failed-snow-free-and-ice-free-predictions/
(9) ibid
(10) http://iceagenow.info/2013/12/years-al-gore-predicted-north-pole-ice-free-5-years/
(11) http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2009/12/gore-new-study-sees-nearly-ice-free-arctic-summer-ice-cap-as-early-as-2014/1#.VTG2ZZPBU4o
(12) http://wattsupwiththat.com/2015/01/05/polar-ice-caps-more-stable-than-predicted-new-observations-show/
(13) http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2011/04/12/flashback-2005-un-predicts-50-million-global-warming-refugees-2010
(14) http://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/pmf,pf_pt/45803346_zpid/days_sort/26.426309,-77.709045,23.895883,-83.070374_rect/7_zm/?view=map
(15) http://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/Key-Largo-FL/pmf,pf_pt/45832389_zpid/52766_rid/days_sort/25.48791,-79.793015,24.855288,-81.133347_rect/9_zm/?view=map
(16)https://www.google.com/search?q=leonardo+dicaprio+belize&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=qngwVcGVJdC1ogTi54CABQ&ved=0CCUQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=609
(17)www.climatedepot.com/2013/07/04/the-latest-paper-from-swedish-sea-level-expert-dr-nils-axel-morner-for-the-last-40-50-years-strong-observational-facts-indicate-virtually-stable-sea-level-conditions/
(18) http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/05/20/new-study-finds-sea-levels-rising-only-7-in-per-century-with-no-acceleration/