Are humans causing global climate change?

Are we?

I asked that question of myself because of all the media commentary getting my attention. Yet, when listening to all this commentary, no facts were given with conclusions. It was more a contest of who could out blah-blah others saying the same thing. What was noticeable was that there were very few opposing conclusions. I’m naturally suspicious of one-sided arguments.

So I decided to research this issue of humans causing global warming — find the facts. I started by reading a book steeped in the opinion that humans are causing global warming, titled “The Ice Chronicles.” The primary claim is the increase of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) over the last 200 years — 1800 to 2000 — the carbon in carbon dioxide creates the greenhouse effect, increasing global temperatures.

A note to the reader: my effort here is to convey what I found in this research and not to change anyone’s view. Readers are welcome to do their own research to validate their own understanding of this topic.

Before I tell you what I found, we have to go to school for a couple paragraphs to help the reader understand what was found in scientific terms. In part of the field of science, a “thing” of unknown contents is first defined by an exact volume and, in this case, then broken down into a million equal parts. It’s always a million parts, nothing else. Science specifies it as parts per million such as 20 parts per million (ppm) or said non-scientifically, 20 out of a million parts.

As an actual example, let’s use earth’s atmosphere. Our atmosphere is composed of the following contents:

• 780,840 ppm nitrogen (N2)

• 209,460 ppm oxygen (O2)

• 9,340 ppm argon (Ar)

• 334 ppm carbon dioxide (CO2 for year 2000 per “The Ice Chronicles”

• 18 ppm neon (Ne)

• 5 ppm helium (He)

• 3 ppm etc. (water vapor, methane, hydrogen, etc.)

The basic claim from the book was that atmospheric CO2 had grown exponentially from the year 1800 to year 2000. It (CO2 increase) was graphically shown and very compelling. FYI, the average CO2 content was about 280 ppm in the year 1800 (per “The Ice Chronicles”). But here’s where things did not seem right.

After some time assessing this information, I realized the “sleight of hand” trick the book’s authors had performed to make their claim. In mathematical terms, these scientists had graphically compressed (made small) the vertical scale that represented atmospheric content (ppm) to make it look like huge increases in atmospheric CO2.

Most readers have heard of the cover-up e-mails where environmental scientists are less than truthful about the climate change issue. I present to you readers what I found that supports this notion that these environmental scientists have been less than truthful.

I mathematically uncompressed the vertical scale and made it show the whole atmosphere, a true-to-scale presentation. Then, I re-ran the numbers. Since I can’t show the reader this true-to-scale graph, I can mathematically show you.

In the year 1800, atmospheric CO2 measured around 280 ppm. So, CO2 increased 54 ppm (334 minus 280) in 200 years. This means atmospheric CO2 changed 0.0054 percent in 200 years. I could stop here and make a conclusion but it would not be entirely representative. Counting down to just the molecules doesn’t properly represent this issue, you need to count down to the atoms. It’s not as onerous as it sounds.

Before proceeding, I have to stop here and explain another view taken by the environmentalists on increasing CO2. If you subtract 334 ppm from 280 ppm and then divide by 280 ppm, it produces an answer close to a 20 percent increase in CO2 across the 200 years. This type of math is very misleading. CO2 is part of the atmosphere, not THE atmosphere. CO2 increase is relative to the entire atmosphere at that time.

The carbon atom (the thing claimed to cause global warming) in the CO2 molecule represents about 2/5 the volume while O2 atoms (which does not contribute to global warming) is about 3/5 volume. Applying these numbers to the CO2 increase value of 54 ppm gives up the final numbers. Atmospheric carbon increased by 21.6 ppm over the last 200 years. I’m skipping oxygen because it’s a non-issue.

Restating it, the carbon content in the atmosphere has increased by approximately 0.002 percent in the last 200 years. At this point it is fair for the reader to ask themselves as I did myself, “What does your gut say?

Are humans causing global warming?” And, it is that simple — a high school science teacher and students could have performed this math and then challenged the “scientific wisdom” of the entire environmental movement and academic supporters.

Not one shred of evidence was offered up to empirically prove that the atmospheric carbon content increase of 0.002 percent in the last 200 years by neither “The Ice Chronicles” nor any of the other environmental organizations (in particular, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) causes global warming. There’s just that huge leap of “environmental logic” (oxymoron alert) that CO2 is increasing, therefore, it must be bad.

It’s time to make another conclusion. Humans have been industrializing for the last 200 years and there’s only been a 0.002 percent increase in atmospheric carbon that cannot be laid solely at the feet of humanity. The real problem is the fraud created by those that manage the environmental movement (including those that give and receive the Nobel peace prize). The environmental movement is a good cause that is poorly managed by liars. Those individuals that support the environmental movement have been grossly betrayed by their leaders and hacks. You are not saving the planet with these lies, you are destroying our way of life, our civilization.

On the matter of global warming, I defer to Occam’s Razor — the simplest answer is usually the correct answer (my interpretation). The planet has been slowly warming since the last major Ice Age (and the Little Ice Age), as one might expect that global temperature will increase melting ice among other things. Only a stupid person would assume that the planet’s climate would stay the same from year to year, century to century, millennia to millennia unless that person has ulterior motives. Can’t imagine what that might be — money, power, creating legacy — sounds little like greedy capitalists.

In the absence of empirical evidence, it is laughably absurd to claim that humans are causing global warming. There are other contributors that generate CO2 not mentioned by this corruption. What part of the 0.002 percent carbon content increase over 200 years do the other contributors share?

Global warming is a natural process and is occurring right now. All we humans have to do now is what we do best, adapt as things change. Those who do not adapt go extinct — there are no other options.

Lastly, if you don’t like my research, do your own research, but do use true-to-scale facts to draw conclusions.

Know this: Reading doesn’t mean you understand it; understanding it doesn’t mean you comprehend it; it’s a growing and learning process. I “listen” to facts but do not listen to blah-blah-blah. Facts by themselves do not draw conclusions but conclusions without facts are nothing more than blah-blah-blah.

Author Crichton is correct in his assertion that environmentalism is the worse fraud perpetrated on our country since eugenics (use the history book on this one and not the dictionary) — a particularly nasty concept started in the late 1800s and went through to the mid-1900s. I guess Mr. Crichton does not like the competition since he is a writer of fiction.

Norbert Chowaniec was born in Palmer, a grandchild of original colonists Gus and Alethea Scheibl. He graduated Palmer High School in 1971 and the University of Alaska in 1985 with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering.