Timothy Ball on Global Warming

If you think this is becoming a global warming skeptic's blog you may be right. Someone needs to help derail that out-of-control train. With all those jumping aboard it is a disaster in the making.

I received a link to an article by Dr Timothy Ball via e-mail. He is a former climatology professor at the University of Winnipeg. He seems to be trying to inject a little reason into the debate and calm some of the hysteria:

No sensible person seeks conflict, especially with governments, but if we don't pursue the truth, we are lost as individuals and as a society. That is why I insist on saying that there is no evidence that we are, or could ever cause global climate change. And, recently, Yuri A. Izrael, Vice President of the United Nations sponsored Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) confirmed this statement. So how has the world come to believe that something is wrong?

A quick search of the internet revealed, as you might expect, that Dr Ball is reviled by the global warming believers in Canada. The search also revealed that he has said, as I did yesterday, that global warming might be a net positive for Canada.

If you find yourself in a debate with global warming adherents ask them if they believe its net effect on humanity (as opposed to its effect on individual humans) will be negative. They will most likely say that its effect will be negative and might say that it will be disastrous. Ask them then if they would like to have the earth in a cooling trend instead of a warming trend. That is, do they believe that, if the net effect of warming is bad, the net effect of cooling will be good? They most likely will say that cooling is bad too (they did say that just a few years ago). Then ask them if you understand correctly, based on their positions, that they believe the current state of the earth's climate is perfect for human existence. You probably won't get a straight answer to that question. At this point they will start questioning your credentials instead of addressing your question.

Let's look at the issue another way. What is the chance that at this point in time the earth's climate is perfect for human existence? If you have any scientific training at all you know that the chance is almost zero. But if it's not perfect then how do we manage so well? The answer is that we have adapted to and become accustomed to the current state of the earth's climate. We've learned to live with the hand we've been dealt. And that's what we'll continue to do whether the climate warms or cools.

Only egocentric people believe that their world is a perfect world. They are happy with the way things are now for them and care little that change might improve the lives of others.

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