COP27 Chirping

Vincent J. Curtis

27 Oct 22

The twitterverse is alive with warnings about climate collapse if we don’t stop global temperatures rising by 2℃ by the year 2100.  We have to put on sackcloth and ashes right now to avoid divine punishment for our sins of success, they warn.

The Secretary-General of the UN, who is no scientist, is offered as an expert on the matter.  No one of a scientific bend can take this nonsense seriously, which is why lack of seriousness is made up for by loudness of message.  “DO THIS OR ELSE!!” they warn.

Exactly what happens at 14℃ that doesn’t happen at 12℃ (a difference of 2℃) that would cause the global climate to “collapse” is never stated.  Nitrogen boils at -196℃ and oxygen at -183℃, which is why the earth has an atmosphere.  Ice melts at 0℃ and water boils at 100℃, which is why the earth has liquid oceans and polar ice caps.  But what happens at 14℃ that could cause climate collapse?  Nobody ever says.

Wide areas of the earth experience 2℃ temperature changes on a daily basis, and certainly on an annual basis, but nowhere is there anything like a climate collapse.  In many portions of the earth temperatures rise from single digits to well over 20℃, and yet nothing resembling climate collapse occurs.

Likewise, nobody says what the level of CO2 in the atmosphere will be in 2100 that will cause a 2℃ or more rise in temperature.  Estimates range from 480 to over 1000 ppm, but until there’s a firm grasp on how much CO2 there will be, no one can say that the temperature rise will be above 2℃.

There’s a lot of elaborate and sophisticated hand waving about climate change “science.”  But when you get down to the nubs and ask basic questions, there’s nothing there.

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