I also believed that a consensus of the international scientific community supported these conclusions.
I based these beliefs on information from the popular press, television and political leaders.
Then I began some real research on the topic.
I quickly discovered three critical things:
- First, the Earth has experienced significant warming over the past 18,000 years that has nothing to do with human activity.
- Second, more recent temperature variations demonstrate that there is little or no correlation between levels of atmospheric CO2 and temperature.
- And third, there is no "consensus" among scientists on climate change.
You must also understand what the Earth was like 18,000 years ago. Back then, our planet was at the peak of its most recent major ice age. At 18 degrees Celsius, average ocean surface temperatures were 5 degrees lower than they are today. Half of North America and Eurasia were covered by massive ice sheets thousands of feet thick and sea level was more than 400 feet lower than today. Then, the Earth began a dramatic warming and the ice age ended.