The right-wing nuts and their followers (ignorant political-tribe groupies) would have you believe that “Global Warming”/“Climate Change” is a hoax/fraud/scam. The evidence, particularly as shown by repeat photography of glaciers, shows that Global Warming/Climate Change is real and is continuing. However, “Global Warming Deniers” persist in their ignorant claims that Global Warming is a hoax/fraud/scam.


The original picture above is from http://earthfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/glenn-beck-global-warming.jpg





   Global Warming Deniers misrepresent the scientific facts of Global Warming / Climate Change in multiple ways. The misrepresentations can take the form of paid political propaganda, ignorance, outright lies, etc. The people responsible for these misrepresentations can vary from “think tanks” and lobbyists that are financed by large corporations down to ignorant individuals.


   There seems to be a paranoia among the “Global Warming Deniers”. As a group, the deniers tend to exhibit a fear that various conspiracies/conspirators are out “to get them”. For example, if you run a Google search using << “Global Warming Deniers” paranoia >> you will get millions of hits.

   The same result shows up for prominent people within the Global Warming Denier movement. For example, try running a Google search using << Monckton “world government” >> (alternately << Monckton “big government” >> ) and see what happens.


   There is also an element of ignorance in people who deny global warming. They don’t understand the science of climatology, and don’t care that they don’t understand the science. In many cases, they consider this anti-intellectualism a virtue.

   Then political tribalism takes over. Since the science disagrees with the preconceived political tribalism of Global Warming Deniers, the GWDs are convinced that the “scientists must be wrong” and are part of a conspiracy. Rush Limbaugh (“he flunked everything” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rush_Limbaugh ) is a classic example of this ignorant (and arrogant) political tribalism. Also see “Rush Limbaugh: Climate Change Misinformer of the Year” http://mediamatters.org/research/201112190006?frontpage


   For a critique of Martin Durkin’s movie “The Great Global Warming Swindle”, please see http://www.durangobill.com/Swindle_Swindle.html. The web page also has multiple photographs of what has happened to glaciers over the last 50 to 100 years.




   This web page and its linked pages will provide some information about some of the people and organizations that misrepresent climate science - either from ignorance or willful lying - and sometimes, both.


Christopher Monckton - A vociferous Global Warming Denier Liar
http://www.durangobill.com/GwdLiars/GwdLiarsChristopherMonckton.html
Christopher Monckton has been one of the more vociferous noisemakers among the “Global Warming Deniers”. As is typical of Global Warming Deniers, Christopher Monckton is an expert at making noise, but is scientifically impaired when it comes to portraying reality. (Great qualifications if you want to be a politician or circus side show barker.)


   The “Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine” (OISM) advertises itself as “a non-profit research institute”. Global Warming Deniers frequently promote the “Oregon Petition” which is one of the OISM’s products. In reality, the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine is a farm in very rural Oregon some 6 linear miles southeast of Cave Junction, Oregon. (Population ~1,425  http://www.city-data.com/city/Cave-Junction-Oregon.html) Its founder/owner, Arthur B Robinson, promotes the “Robinson Curriculum” - a “Jesus-Plus-Nothing-Else” home-school system. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RobinsonUsers4Christ/ .


   New Zealand’s Franz Josef Glacier is a good case study of the ongoing retreat of world glaciers as opposed to the claims of the Global Warming Deniers. It has retreated a full mile since the 1920s, but you would never know it if you read the Ice Age Now’s list of “Growing Glaciers”.
Please see: http://www.durangobill.com/GwdLiars/GwdLiarsFranzJosefGlacier.html


   The “Science and Public Policy Institute” sounds very impressive. In practice it is a one-man (see http://scienceandpublicpolicy.org/contact.html ) lobbying outfit (Republican Party) run by Robert Ferguson, whose climatology knowledge consists of “26 years of Capitol Hill experience”.

   There are two good sources for additional information about the “Science and Public Policy Institute” (SPPI). Both are recommended.
1) http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Science_and_Public_Policy_Institute
2) http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/2139


Roger Cohen’s proposed $5,000 bet
A (retired) Exxon Mobil executive’s attempt to use money to promote his personal agenda. (Which is to deny “Global Warming”.)


   “Steve J”  Steve is a typical example of the ignorant political groupies (as in “tribes”) who incessantly repeat the Global Warming Denier propaganda. Steve posts messages to Internet boards, but is embarrassed about revealing his full name. Based on his disdain for top quality educational institutions and his complete ignorance of observed data, it appears that Steve has a poor educational background.






http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2010/11/19/climate-zombie-caucus/


   If someone denies Anthropogenic Global Warming, it is a pretty good bet that the individual involved is a scientifically ignorant Republican. Additionally, it is most likely that that person is a member of the Tea Party Cult. (AGW – Global Warming caused by human activities.)

“It is very difficult to get a man to understand something when his tribal identity depends on his not understanding it.”
Michael Bérubé, a literature professor at Pennsylvania State University









A quick look at what has happened to glaciers tells the story.



The original photographs and story can be seen at: http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF17/1731.html

   The (historic) Muir Glacier is an extreme example, but there are many other examples. (If you have Google Earth on your computer, go to 59.012N, 136.163W and look slightly west of due north to generate a view similar to the views above.)



The picture pair above is courtesy of http://www.gletscherarchiv.de/en/fotovergleiche/gletscher_liste

Do you recognize the impressive mountain in the background? Hint: It’s near Zermatt. Switzerland.

   The left picture is a copy of an old post card. The Furgg Glacier can be seen snaking around the front of the tall pyramidal mountain. Also, part of the glacier covers the lower slopes of the tall mountain.

   By 2003 there isn’t much left of the glacier. The very dark area below and slightly to the right of the mountain is the shadow from a 500-foot high cliff below a ridge. One hundred years ago, the glacier was thick enough to completely cover the ridge. If you have Google Earth on your computer, you can see trimlines and moraines that mark the former extent of the glacier. To find the area formerly covered by the Furgg Glacier, just look about 4 miles southwest of Zermatt Switzerland - or alternately, about 2 miles ENE of (and a “tad” down from) the summit of the Matterhorn.




   The above 4-photo sequence shows what has happened to Grinnell Glacier in Glacier National Park since 1938. Grinnell Glacier is in the lower part of the photos, and Upper Grinnell Lake has formed in the basin formerly occupied by the glacier. The long snow/icefield above Grinnell Glacier is the small Salamander Glacier. The last photo was taken earlier in the summer season than the other photos, and thus Salamander Glacier still has more seasonal now than in the other photos. (Note the lack of shadows in the last photo indicating the high sun angle that only exists in late spring / early summer.)

   The photos were taken from the top of Mount Gould. Mount Gould is a strenuous climb but can be easily accessed from the Going to the Sun Road in Glacier National Park. A larger set of the above images can be seen at: http://www.nrmsc.usgs.gov/files/norock/repeatphoto/Pairs/Grinnell/Quad_MtGould/Grinnell_Quad.pdf



   One of the more remote areas of the world that has (or at least used to have) glaciers are the high 15,000 foot mountains on the island of New Guinea.


Oblique aerial photograph looking east at several of the glaciers on Puncak Jaya in 1936. Left to right: Northwall Firn, Meren Glacier, and Carstensz Glacier. Photograph no. S.136 by J.J. Dozy.

The original of the above photograph can be seen at http://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/p1386h/indonesia/infig3.html
A more detailed description at http://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/p1386h/indonesia/indonesia.html includes an interim 1972 photograph.




   The Google Earth view above shows the same area - as of 2002. Most of the glaciers are gone. The rocks are light gray as erosion from the former glaciers removed all the loose soil, and vegetation has not had enough time to become established on the bare rock.

Of note: A small portion of Freeport-McMoRan’s open pit Grasberg mine can be seen in the lower right corner. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grasberg_mine




   The picture above shows then and now photographs of the Upsala Glacier in Argentina. The top photograph was taken in 1928. The bottom photograph was taken in 2004. The top of the bare rock hill on the far side of the lake is nearly 700 feet above the lake level. Of interest, note the light colored trimline on the distant mountains that shows the former thickness of the glacier.

   The Upsala Glacier is one of the larger glaciers that flow out of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field - which straddles the Chile/Argentina border. Of interest, melt water that initially drains eastward off the northern end of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field eventually cuts back through the Andes Mountain Range to end up in the Pacific Ocean. (See the Rio Pascua section at http://www.durangobill.com/AncestralRivers/AncestralRiversSAm.html )







   Global Warming / Climate Change is shifting plant hardiness zones northward. The maps above and below are Print Screen images from an animation by the Arbor Day Foundation. http://www.arborday.org/media/mapchanges.cfm


   Hardiness zones provide a guide as to which plants and trees will grow in a given area. The maps show that plants that grew best in northern Alabama (Zone 7) in 1990 can now be grown across all of Tennessee and most of Kentucky. In the northern plains, the blue Zone 4 has moved north to include most of North Dakota.

   In the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and Wyoming, the blue Zone 4 is rapidly being replaced by the milder Zone 5. Cold winters used to keep Bark Beetles under control, but milder winters are allowing increasing infestations by these insects. In Mesa Verde National Park, the “Mesa” is still there but most of the “Verde” is gone. Fires and beetle attacks over the last 20 years have wiped out most of the trees; and grasslands have replaced the forests.




The following organizations provide evidence that:
1) Global Warming / Climate Change is real.
2) Human activities are by far the largest causative agent.
3) Global Warming / Climate Change is a continuing, ongoing phenomenon.

NASA
http://climate.nasa.gov/warmingworld/
http://www.nasa.gov/worldbook/global_warming_worldbook.html
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/GlobalWarmingQandA/
http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/graphs/Fig.A2.lrg.gif  (The graph)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Climatic Data Center
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/globalwarming.html

World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
http://www.wmo.ch/pages/about/wmo50/e/world/climate_pages/global_warming_e.html

American Meteorological Society
http://www.ametsoc.org/policy/2007climatechange.html

National Center for Atmospheric Research
“How do we know Earth is warming now?”
http://www.ncar.ucar.edu/research/climate/now.php

Earth System Research Laboratory - Global Monitoring Division
“Climate Forcing”
http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/about/climate.html

University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
http://www.ucar.edu/research/climate/warming.jsp

Jet Propulsion Laboratory - California Institute of Technology
“Global Climate Change” “How do we know?”
http://climate.jpl.nasa.gov/evidence/

American Geophysical Union (world's largest scientific society of Earth and space scientists)
“Human Impacts on Climate”
http://www.agu.org/sci_soc/policy/climate_change_position.html

American Association for the Advancement of Science
“The scientific evidence is clear: global climate change caused by human activities is occurring now”
http://www.aaas.org/news/press_room/climate_change/mtg_200702/aaas_climate_statement.pdf
http://www.aaas.org/news/press_room/climate_change/

U. S. National Academy of Sciences
“Climate change is real”
http://www.nationalacademies.org/onpi/06072005.pdf

National Science Foundation
“Global Warming Greatest in Past Decade”
http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=112206

U. S. Geological  Survey
“Glacier and Landscape Change in Response to Changing Climate”
http://www.usgs.gov/global_change/glaciers/default.asp
Time lapse video: “Glacier Erasure: South Cascade Glacier in a Changing Climate”
http://wa.water.usgs.gov/projects/glacier/video.html

Geological Society of America
“The Geological Society of America (GSA) concurs . . . that global climate has warmed and that human activities (mainly greenhouse gas emissions) account for most of the warming since the middle 1900s.”
http://www.geosociety.org/positions/position10.htm

National Snow and Ice Data Center - Global Glacier Recession
“We live in a time of increasing greenhouse gas concentrations with an attendant warming of the climate.”
http://nsidc.org/glims/glaciermelt/

United Nations Environment Programme/World Glacier Monitoring Service
“Global Glacier Changes: facts and figures”
“There is mounting evidence that climate change is triggering a shrinking and thinning of many glaciers world-wide”
http://www.grid.unep.ch/glaciers/  (Introduction and links to a 26 MB WGMS report)

The United States Energy Information Administration
“Greenhouse Gases, Climate Change, and Energy”
http://www.eia.doe.gov/bookshelf/brochures/greenhouse/Chapter1.htm

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
“Report: Human activity fuels global warming”
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2007/climate.html
Also: “The new projections are . . . the median surface warming in 2091 to 2100 is 5.1°C
http://globalchange.mit.edu/pubs/abstract.php?publication_id=990

California Institute of Technology
“How We Know Global Warming is Real”
“The science behind human-induced climate change”
http://www.gps.caltech.edu/~tapio/papers/skeptic_2008.pdf

Stanford University
“Global warming . . . is now well documented and accepted by scientists as fact.”
http://solar-center.stanford.edu/sun-on-earth/glob-warm.html

Atmospheric Sciences - University of Illinois - Champaign
“Evidence continues to mount that human activities are altering the Earth’s climate on a global scale.”
http://www.atmos.uiuc.edu/research/01climate.html

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
“Global Warming”
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12457

Scripps Institution of Oceanography (University of California - San Diego)
http://scripps.ucsd.edu/img/climate_flyer.pdf

The UK’s Met Office Hadley Centre
“Climate change - the big picture”
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/corporate/pressoffice/myths/index.html
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climatechange/guide/

The UK’s Royal Society
“Climate change controversies: a simple guide”
http://royalsociety.org/page.asp?id=6229

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Based in Switzerland)
“Climate Change 2007: Synthesis Report”
http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/syr/ar4_syr_spm.pdf

Japan Meteorological Agency
“Global Warming Projection Vol.7”
http://ds.data.jma.go.jp/tcc/tcc/products/gwp/gwp7/index-e.html

The Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society
“Our climate has changed substantially.” “Global climate change and global warming are real and observable.”
http://www.amos.org.au/publications/cid/3/t/publications

Royal Society of New Zealand
“The globe is warming because of increasing greenhouse gas emissions.”
http://www.royalsociety.org.nz/Site/news/media_releases/2008/clim0708.aspx

National Geographic Magazine
http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/

Scientific American Magazine
http://www.sciam.com/topic.cfm?id=global-warming-and-climate-change

Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_change
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenhouse_effect
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenhouse_gas


Also please see “The Great Global Warming Swindle” is itself a Fraud and a Swindle
http://www.durangobill.com/Swindle_Swindle.html


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