Addressing Climate Science Denial: A Data-Based Response

Recently, during an ongoing, constructive LinkedIn discussion, Stan Byra was kind enough to share the following article.

Summarily, the article claims to debunk human-caused climate change ????. Let's examine its main claims against the current scientific evidence, and break down the main arguments one by one.

CO2 is an Insignificant Component of the Atmosphere

The article suggests CO2 is too small a component of the atmosphere (0.04%) to matter and that human contributions are negligible. This misunderstands how greenhouse gases work. Learn more about CO2's role from the American Chemical Society

Imagine this: Aspirin is only 0.001% of your body weight, yet that's enough to affect your whole system. Just like medicines don't need large quantities to have effects, CO2's radiative properties make it powerful despite its small concentration.

CO2 Follows Temperature

The article correctly notes that historically, CO2 changes often followed temperature changes. However, this actually reinforces our understanding of climate feedback loops - warming oceans release CO2, which causes more warming. . NOAA explains this relationship in detail

However, today's situation is different: we're directly adding CO2 first, triggering the warming. We can verify this through:

• Isotopic analysis showing the extra CO2 comes from fossil fuels
• Satellite measurements showing less heat escaping at CO2 absorption wavelengths. NASA's CERES satellite data
• The correlation between CO2 increases and corresponding human emission patterns. NASA's CO2 monitoring data

Climate Change Stems from Solar Activity

While the sun obviously influences climate, solar activity has been steady or slightly declining since the 1950s while temperatures have rapidly increased. This rules out the sun as the primary driver of recent warming.

Greenhouse Physics Issues

The article makes some fundamental errors about greenhouse physics. We don't need complex theories - we can directly observe:

• The stratosphere cooling while the troposphere warms (a unique fingerprint of greenhouse warming)
• Nights warming faster than days (another greenhouse signature)
• Arctic warming faster than the tropics (consistent with greenhouse theory)
• Less heat escaping to space at exactly the wavelengths CO2 absorbs

Data Issues

We have multiple independent lines of evidence for human-caused warming (NASA's comprehensive evidence page):

• Temperature records from weather stations, satellites, ocean buoys, and weather balloons all showing consistent warming
• Ice core records showing CO2 levels far above any point in the last 800,000 years
• Satellite measurements of Earth's energy imbalance
• Observed changes in precipitation, ice cover, and ecosystem patterns matching climate model predictions. NOAA's Global Climate Dashboard

For the most comprehensive review of the scientific evidence, see the IPCC's Physical Science Basis Report

The Bottom Line ('cause Stone Cold said so)

Ok, Stone Cold Steve Austin has not chimed in on climate science. Nevertheless, climate science isn't about belief or politics - it's about data and evidence. While it's healthy to question and examine claims, the evidence for human-caused climate change comes from multiple independent sources and methods. The warming we observe matches what basic physics predicted over a century ago when scientists first calculated how adding CO2 would affect Earth's temperature.

This doesn't mean we should panic, but it does mean we need to take the evidence seriously and consider appropriate responses based on the best available science.

Finally, the arguments mostly just sound like conspiracy theories. All of these scientists across the globe are consistently coordinating and sounding false alarms, in order to collect money for more funding, and it's all run by...well whatever, you make the rest of it up!