Does Global Warming Exist? ah .... Yes!

I was recently involved in a Linked-in conversation that turned to a discussion of "Does Global Warming exist".

I was flummoxed that there were still those today, who totally deny the evidence right in front of them and, who state this is all just self serving propaganda and lies.  I was even called a "socialist fascists" which I have to admit, threw me as I certainly do not see myself in that way. 'Global weather changes', which is what I like to call it, is a pretty well accepted fact in my region and in fact across Canada.  Many of the building science seminars and courses I have attended over the last 5 years have had at least some conversation focusing on the changing planet and the unsustainability of our current practices.  There is also a general realization, in the circles I travel, that peak oil is behind us and energy is going to get a lot more expensive in the future.

I can only surmise that those who don't 'believe', have not been exposed to the facts and are ignorant of the issues and existing measured trends.

At the recent BC Building Envelope Council AGM, Keynote Speaker - Dr. Andrew J. Weaver presented the attached presentation.

• 10 of the warmest years on record have been since 1998 (pg 18)

• The energy provided by the Sun to the upper atmosphere has been pretty stable since 1978, but the surface temperature of the earth is rising rapidly (pg 20)

• The arctic sea ice has been declining rapidly, but more importantly the thickness of the remaining ice is dropping which with further increase the decline the covered ocean.  (Pg 22 to 25)

• The extremes of the Earth's Surface Temperature are increasing rapidly (Pg 33/34)

It is really hard to dispute these facts unless your POV is that everyone is going around lying (which is a sad world to live in). Sure there are some scientists who are influenced by the funding providers (on both sides of the debate), but all of them?

I have seen so many consistent concerns by the scientific community, that I choose to believe there is some substance to it, and that we need to take action now!

But there was one slide in particular that highlights the battle we have to move towards a solution on a global scale.  Slide 2 showed that during a series of public opinion poles, 80% of Canadians believed there was strong evidence that Global Warming exists, where only 58% of the USA public believed there was enough evidence to come to the same conclusions. 

As long as one of the largest resource users in the world turns a blind eye to the problems presented by climate change, are any of us going to be successful in addressing it?

Extracted from Dr. Andrew Weavers presentation to BCBEC on September 26/2012