Arguments Against It
Not everyone agrees that climate change is a threat to our future – some experts think we’ve got it all completely wrong because the climate system is very complex, so predicting climate change is like rolling dozens of dice: you can be sure what your final result will be because there are so many possible results.
These sceptics, or `climate change deniers’, disagree for example that climate prediction is a mature science stretching back to the 19th century. The sceptics argue that climate prediction is a relatively modern science, which has emerged only in recent decades thanks partly to the development of computers and that data from previous centuries is unreliable.
At most, the sceptics argue that we have a 50-year span of accurate measurements and what they indicate is a very gentle warming trend.
Moreover, this minor trend could have easily been caused by irregularities such as volcanic eruptions or El Nino events (major fluctuations in ocean temperatures in the Pacific which affect climate).
While most experts agree that weather patterns must be studied for many years to get an idea of what a "normal" climate is, some scientists have argued that the current climate changes we are experiencing might actually be part of our "normal" climate. They argue that although the global surface temperature has risen in the last 200 years, it is still very low compared to the time of the dinosaurs, 65 million years ago.
Many parts of the climate system are unpredictable, so no one can be sure how it will change our future. While global warming might cause the sea level to rise, this situation will also create more water to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere with and so global warming is further reduced.
Weather balloon and satellite readings show that the lower troposphere, the layer of Earth's atmosphere most at risk from global warming isn't warming and therefore the climate model predicting the effects of global warming is wrong.
Sceptics also argue that while environmentalists are very keen to show photographs of polar bears struggling on supposedly melting icebergs, it is estimated that there are now 22,000 polar bears compared with 5,000 in 1940 and there are several reputable scientific studies that have shown that the mass of the Greenland ice sheet is actually expanding.
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Climate Change
Quick Facts
Introduction
What is Global Warming ?
The Evidence
How Much Hotter ?
Pressures on Antarctica
Arguments Against It <<
The Political Response
Conclusion
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