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Articles:
By Geoff Metcalf
February 10, 2008
NewsWithViews.com
�It is difficult to believe that even idiots ever succumbed to such transparent contradictions, to such gaudy processions of mere counter-words, to so vast and obvious nonsensicality ...� --H.L. Mencken
I recently interviewed Mark Lynas, author of �Six Degrees Could Change The World�. He was promoting the two hour world premier on the National Geographic Channel of the documentary based on his book. I watched the DVD he had sent along with his book and was incensed to hear Alec Baldwin announce �the debate is over.� BULLFEATHERS!
The debate is NOT over. The sycophant supporters of Al Gore�s �the sky is falling� rhetoric just flat out refuse to discuss any and all facts or evidence that contradicts their preconceived opinions, prejudices and gospel.
Scientists, real scientists, continue to debate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of �global warming� and specifically the significance (or insignificance) of man�s contribution to impacting the planet.
Investor�s Business Daily is far from being a fringe rag. �Founded in 1984�IBD editorials are rigorously researched, presenting under-reported - or simply unreported - facts that give you a better insight into the truth behind the headlines.
A recent IBD editorial underscores the reality of the ongoing debate. Notwithstanding Lynas and Baldwin proclaiming �the debate is over,� not every scientist is part of the mythical "consensus."
In fact, scientists worried about a new ice age are seeking funding to better observe something bigger than all the Al Gore hype� the sun.
A 1991 study by the Danish Meteorological Institute using data that went back centuries showed that global temperatures closely tracked solar cycles. Hell-o!
The solar cycle�s data is (within the scientific community) accepted as hugely convincing. Also, the data indicates there IS a potential danger threatening the planet�but it�s not global warming�rather it is global cooling.
Gee, now maybe TIME can say they were supporters of the global cooling theory before they were against it? Twenty years before the Danish report, and before their trendy conversion to the global warming crowd, Time wrote, �The changing weather is apparently connected with differences in the amount of energy that the earth's surface receives from the sun.� Maybe they should have stopped postulating in 1974?
I have interviewed a gaggle of scientists who refute the Gospel According to Gore. Dr. Fred Singer, a decade ago, told me �Whenever the solar activity peaks�you would expect the atmosphere to warm.�
However, he also told me, �The sun has an 11-year cycle and you can clearly see this in some of the temperature records.�
The above referenced Danish study underscores Singer�s claim. Solar activity fluctuates in an 11-year cycle. However thus far in the solar cycle, the sun has been abnormally quiet�historically atypical. The lack of increased activity �could signal the beginning of what is known as a �Maunder Minimum�, an event which occurs every couple of centuries and can last as long as a century.�
The �Maunder Minimum� happened in the 17th century and the slowed down solar hibernation resulted in bitter cold that started around 1650 and hung on with sporadic ups and downs until 1715. The resultant �frigid winters and cold summers�led to massive crop failures, famine and death in Northern Europe.�
Experts report there has been no change in the magnetic field of the sun in this cycle and that if the sun stays quiet for another year or two, it �may� indicate a return to that period of dramatic cooling which would result in massive snowfall and severe Northern Hemisphere weather. Then again it may not.
Despite the wailing and gnashing of teeth by the UN, Gore and the Greenies, German researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Solar Research in Germany �report the sun has been burning more brightly over the last 60 years, accounting for the 1 degree Celsius increase in Earth's temperature over the last 100 years.�
Gosh-oh-golly, go figure�the sub burns brighter than normal for six years and the earth�s temperature increases over the last century 1 degree Celsius. Hmmmmmmm.
Alex Baldwin trumpets Gore/Lynas to announce �the debate is over� but R. Timothy Patterson, professor of geology and director of the Ottawa-Carleton Geoscience Center of Canada's Carleton University, claims (and he is NOT the Lone Ranger) that "CO2 variations show little correlation with our planet's climate on long, medium and even short time scales."
Patterson says, "I and the first-class scientists I work with are consistently finding excellent correlations between the regular fluctuations of the sun and earthly climate. This is not surprising. The sun and the stars are the ultimate source of energy on this planet."
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"Solar activity has overpowered any effect that CO2 has had before, and it most likely will again," Patterson says.
As Dr. Singer told me years ago, �there is a debate going on -- and the public is entitled to know that there is a debate and that the debate is not finished.�
� 2008 Geoff Metcalf - All Rights Reserved
"Geoff Metcalf is a nationally syndicated radio talk show host for TALK AMERICA and a veteran media performer. He has had an eclectic professional background covering a wide spectrum of radio, television, magazine, and newspapers. A former Green Beret and retired Army officer he is in great demand as a speaker. Visit Geoff's
Web Site: www.geoffmetcalf.com. While you're at it - pick up a copy of Geoff's latest book!
E-mail: geoff@geoffmetcalf.com
However, he also told me, �The sun has an 11-year cycle and you can clearly see this in some of the temperature records.�
