Demographic and Ecological Perspectives on the Status of Polar Bears

Danish researchers analysed ancient pieces of driftwood in north Greenland which they say is an accurate way to measure the extent of ancient ice loss.

Next Tuesday, the Supreme Court hears American Electric Power v. Connecticut, a case that asks whether America's climate change policy can be designed and managed by the federal courts. The answer should be a resounding no.

This article describes how climate research in the Arctic has been stalled the last few years. The reason for the research slowdown has been the increase in Arctic ice which has prohibited a number of ships from delivering supplies to the researchers.

"New evidence on the melting Pine Island Glacier (PIG), one of the melting Antarctic glaciers that some scientists feel may pose a threat to sea level increases, suggests that it is not climate change that is causing the glacier to melt."

As with CO2, atmospheric concentrations of N2O have been boosted by human activity, mostly agricultural, by about 16% since the Industrial Revolution began.

We can only hope that world leaders will do nothing more than enjoy a pleasant bicycle ride around the charming streets of Copenhagen come December. For if they actually manage to wring out an agreement based on the current draft text of the Copenhagen climate-change treaty, the world is in for some nasty surprises. Draft text, you say? If you haven't heard about it, that's because none of our otherwise talkative political leaders have bothered to tell us what the drafters have already cobbled together for leaders to consider. And neither have the media.

Mr. McIntyre's critique isn't going to settle the broader global-warming debate. Indeed, he takes no strong position on whether fossil-fuel use is heating the planet or, if so, how to cope. He just says he has found a flaw in a main leg supporting the global-warming consensus.

According to a new report published by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the livestock sector generates more greenhouse gas emissions as measured in CO2 equivalent – 18 percent – than transport.

"President Obama and his congressional allies’ domestic climate change agenda—'cap and trade'—failed in the last Congress due to extensive opposition to its costly regulations and barriers to growth. Having failed to enact draconian climate change legislation domestically, however, President Obama has quietly shifted some of these efforts overseas by funneling millions of U.S. foreign aid dollars to left-wing causes in poor countries, whose populations largely live on less than $1 a day."

The solutions to global warming are not based on proven science and that the economic cost of implementing those solutions is likely to be massive.

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist or a climatologist to realize this has been a killer weather year. Snowmaggedons in the east; deadly super cell tornados pummeling towns across the Midwest and South; record spring floods throughout the Midwest and Gulf; droughts and deadly fires racing through tinder-dry towns in Texas. Now we're on track to have a possible record-breaking number of hurricanes; three cyclones now spinning in the Atlantic and Gulf could threaten our rain-soaked coasts and waterways.

To help out, I’ve whipped up some commonly asked questions and their answers (below) on global warming to help you better understand the issues involved. As you will see, the science of global warming is far from ‘settled’. It is only because of the political and financial ramifications of global warming that so many people (mainly politicians and those who have vested interests) are trying to convince you otherwise.

Is there a reason to be alarmed by the prospect of global warming? Consider that the measurement used, the globally averaged temperature anomaly (GATA), is always changing. Sometimes it goes up, sometimes down, and occasionally—such as for the last dozen years or so—it does little that can be discerned.

Carbon taxes are not likely to be politically feasible in the U.S. for addressing climate change in the short term, according to Robert Hahn and Peter Passell. The time is now ripe for the U.S. to consider adopting a cap and trade approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Scientists know more than ever before about how the Earth's climate is changing and what that will mean for people, habitats and wildlife across the planet.

Changes in the sun's magnetism and in the reconstructed northern hemisphere's land temperature are highly correlated. The sun's magnetic changes are associated with changes in its total energy output.

Emissions of CO2, which accounts for the largest share of greenhouse gases, grew at an average annual rate of around 2½% between 1950 and 2000.

"This graph is based upon 18 previously published temperature proxies, and so provides the most robust estimate available to date."

The chart shows the global average sea-surface temperature from 1850 to 2008.

Greenland borehole temperatures present temperatures consistent with the thesis of those on the climate change side of the debate. In this case, Greenland has been warmer in the past and has been much cooler in the past.

Sea level curve for the last 5000 years for the Maldives.

The chart shows the temperature histories of the northern and southern hemispheres from 1998 to 2010.

One of the most obvious conclusions from Figure 3 is that the satellite observations and climate models display markedly different time-dependent behaviors in their temperature versus radiation variations, especially over the oceans....

Mental health experts, practitioners and survivors of disasters, all attest to the emotional trauma and community damage from wilder weather, with a warning that worse will come without preventative climate action.

"The government climate scientists and the media often tell us about the direct effect of the CO2, but rarely admit that two-thirds of their projected temperature increases are due to amplification by feedbacks."

This timely report addresses a big gap in the current public debate about climate change and how we should respond to it. There has been much legitimate concern about economic consequences and the risks to property, jobs and export earnings, but there has been a failure to discuss the consequences of climate change for human wellbeing and health.

Admittedly, the contest over global warming is a challenge for the referee because it's a tag-team match, a real free-for-all. In one corner of the ring are Science and Reason. In the other corner: Poisonous Polluters and Right-wing Ideologues.

This report is divided into 4 chapters that address the impact climate change has on: health, death rates, on agriculture and forestry, and the political economy. The report also offers a series of policy recommendations.

"This collection of eight articles and reports on Al Gore’s film, 'An Inconvenient Truth,' .... includes the complete text of Justice Michael Burton’s October 2, 2007 British High Court decision, which found Gore’s film was “partisan” and “propaganda” and should not be shown to students without a guidance document pointing out Gore’s mistakes and exaggerations."

"This 880-page rebuttal of the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)....provides an independent examination of the evidence available on the causes and consequences of climate change in the published, peer-reviewed literature examined without bias and selectivity."

The following report summarizes results drawn from national level surveys in the United States and Canada that examine public perceptions regarding various aspects of climate change.

Scientific debate continues regarding the extent to which human activities contribute to global warming and what the potential impact on the environment might be.

The data set of proxies of past climate used in Mann, Bradley and Hughes (1998, "MBH98" hereafter) for the estimation of temperatures from 1400 to 1980 contains collation errors, unjustifiable truncation or extrapolation of source data, obsolete data, geographical location errors, incorrect calculation of principal components and other quality control defects. We detail these errors and defects.

"The popular notion that polar bears are declining or already expatriated worldwide has been initiated and perpetuated by environmental organizations and individuals who apparently believe that current subpopulation numbers and trends are an insufficient basis for an appropriate status determination."

"The only consensus over the threat of climate change that seems to exist these days is that there is no consensus. The much-heralded 2007 United Nations report on greenhouse gas emissions has served as a catalyst for lawmakers to burden traditional energy sources with regulations in favor of so-called clean energy."

On the basis of current evidence, it is difficult to sustain the notion that climate change is the greatest threat to public health or the environment today. But what about the future?

Livestock’s long shadow helps raise the attention of the general public to the very substantial contribution of animal agriculture to climate change and air pollution, to land, soil and water degradation and to the reduction of biodiversity.

The sensitivity of the climate system to an imposed radiative imbalance remains the largest source of uncertainty in projections of future anthropogenic climate change.

A 50,000-year-long temperature history at GRIP and a 7000-year history at Dye 3; the Last Glacial Maximum, the Climatic Optimum, the Medieval Warmth, the Little Ice Age, and a warm period at 1930 A.D. are resolved.

Greenhouse gas emissions, primarily caused by fossil fuels, are the main drivers of climate change. Through the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the international community agreed that global greenhouse gas emissions need to be halved relative to 1990 by 2050.

"The object of this essay is not to say which of these seven theories is right or 'best,' but only to present them to the reader in a format that allows reflection and balanced consideration. Such dispassionate interest in the subject has been lacking in recent years, and the scientific debate has suffered for it."

This booklet was written for busy state elected officials who need to stay well-informed about the energy debate. It covers 10 of the most important energy issues facing the country, with each section ending with recommended actions and suggested readings. A thorough bibliography appears at the end of the booklet.

"We check the main predictions of the climate models against the best and latest data. Fortunately the climate models got all their major predictions wrong. Why? Every serious skeptical scientist has been consistently saying essentially the same thing for over 20 years, yet most people have never heard the message."

I am a strong supporter of a clean environment. We need to be vigilant to keep our land, air and waters free of real pollution, particulates, heavy metals, pathogens, but carbon dioxide (CO2) is not one of these pollutants.

"This paper aims to describe the evolution of US greenhouse gas emissions and of US domestic climate policy to date, in particular the essentials of the current leading legislative initiative – the Lieberman-Warner 'Climate Security Act' – and discuss some issues of the policy design."

Understanding the concept of geologic time and some basic science can give a new perspective on climate change and the energy future.

In this podcast, Patrick J. Michaels discusses the 2009 G20 summit and the worldwide struggle over climate change and emission issues.

In this clip, Al Gore ... [compares] skeptics of climate change to racists during the Civil Rights Movement. Gore was sitting down for an interview with Alex Bogusky of the Climate Reality Project, and suggested that young people today whose parents do not believe in climate change are asking the same questions now that race-conscious young people in the 60s asked their parents.

The EPA's role is to develop regulations based on science from laws passed by Congress to protect human health and the environment.

A dedicated, unabashed, free market capitalist, T. J. Rodgers takes a businessman's and engineer's view of global warming.

It is an honor for me to join this distinguished group of leaders from nations around the world. We come here in Copenhagen because climate change poses a grave and growing danger to our people. All of you would not be here unless you, like me, were convinced that this danger is real. This is not fiction, it is science. Unchecked, climate change will pose unacceptable risks to our security, our economies, and our planet. This much we know.

As Congress and the Administration considered new legislation to reduce the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that contribute to climate change over the last year and a half (a process that has now stalled), the Environmental Protection Agency simultaneously began to exercise its existing authority under the Clean Air Act to set standards for GHG emissions. The Administration has made clear that its preference would be for Congress to address the climate issue through new legislation. Nevertheless, it is moving forward on several fronts to define how the Clean Air Act will be used and to promulgate regulations.

Produced by the English Parliament, this piece of climate change legislation seeks, among other things, "to set a target for the year 2050 for the reduction of targeted greenhouse gas emissions; to provide for a system of carbon budgeting; to establish a Committee on Climate Change; [and] to confer powers to establish trading schemes for the purpose of limiting greenhouse gas emissions or encouraging activities that reduce such emissions or remove greenhouse gas from the atmosphere...."

The legitimate questions that have been raised about the processes used to generate climate change science and policy have thus far been cast aside. The reluctance to engage in conversations with people who have doubts or question the veracity of climate science is at the heart of the wrong doing that undermines trust in climate change science.

Commonly known as the Lieberman-Warner bill, this document sought "To direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to establish a program to decrease emissions of greenhouse gases, and for other purposes." The bill, however, failed to pass the U.S. House and Senate.

The recommendations that this distinguished organization makes can have a profound effect on the world's environmental and economic policy. By being here today, I hope to underscore my country's and my own personal concern about your work, about environmental stewardship, and to reaffirm our commitment to finding responsible solutions. It's both an honor and a pleasure to be the first American President to speak to this organization, as its work takes shape.

This report summarizes the science of climate change and the impacts of climate change on the United States, now and in the future.

The main activity of the IPCC is to provide at regular intervals Assessment Reports of the state of knowledge on climate change. The latest one is "Climate Change 2007", the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report.

"The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement linked to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The major feature of the Kyoto Protocol is that it sets binding targets for 37 industrialized countries and the European community for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. These amount to an average of five per cent against 1990 levels over the five-year period 2008-2012."

For centuries Americans have drawn strength and inspiration from the beauty of our country. It would be a neglectful generation indeed, indifferent alike to the judgment of history and the command of principle, which failed to preserve and extend such a heritage for its descendants.

"By Repowering America with a transition to a clean energy economy and ending our dangerous over-reliance on carbon-based fuels, which is the common thread running through all three of these crises, this bill will simultaneously address the climate crisis, the economic crisis, and the national security threats that stem from our dependence on foreign oil."

What is the origin of popular perceptions? I hope it will become clear that the designation, 'skeptic,' simply confuses an issue where popular perceptions are based in significant measure on misuse of language as well as misunderstanding of science.

This document provides a copy of some weather observations from 1922. According to the document, individuals were beginning to see signs of melting Arctic ice due to warming trends. The observations in this article suggest that warming and cooling cycles have been a part of recent climatic history.

This is an issue which has been of great concern to me for a long time. When I decided to seek this office back in 1991, I did it after having spent more than a decade as a Governor deeply frustrated by what seemed to me too often to be inevitable, persistent, aggravating conflicts between the impulse to promote economic opportunity for the people that I represented and the clear obligation, the moral obligation, on all of us to try to preserve this planet that we all share.

Despite convincing evidence that observed climate changes do not portend a calamitous future, global warming alarmism is invading nearly every aspect of our society.

Lomborg presents us with a second generation of thinking on global warming that believes panic is neither warranted nor a constructive place from which to deal with any of humanity's problems, not just global warming.

This book refutes the widespread belief that increased industrial activity is causing potentially catastrophic global warming.

Sure, it's fiction, but it also made quite an impact on the public's perception of the global warming debate. Crichton subtly takes aim at politicized science in this techno-thriller about eco-terrorism.

This link features the Congressional Budget Office's research and analysis on climate change and its economic impacts.

The Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change was created to disseminate factual reports and sound commentary on new developments in the world-wide scientific quest to determine the climatic and biological consequences of the ongoing rise in the air's CO2 content.

The site's goal is to engage in a national public debate on the scientific merit of Kyoto and the Global Warming issue, and to educate the public through dissemination of relevant, balanced and objective technical information on this subject.

"The purpose of the Petition Project is to demonstrate that the claim of 'settled science' and an overwhelming 'consensus' in favor of the hypothesis of human-caused global warming and consequent climatological damage is wrong. No such consensus or settled science exists. As indicated by the petition text and signatory list, a very large number of American scientists reject this hypothesis."

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the leading international body for the assessment of climate change.

National Review Online’s Planet Gore blog was launched in February 2007 to track the news, data, and misinformation that feed the global-warming/climate-change debate. The blog additionally serves as a resource for accurate information about fossil fuels, alternative energy, environmental activism, the climate-change political process, and Al Gore’s carbon footprint.

The Climate Institute is a non-partisan, independent research organisation that works with community, business and government to catalyse and drive the change and innovation needed for a low pollution economy and culture.