On Apr 21, 6:55 pm, Cato wrote:


Cato

Dispelling Crichton's Myths

Here are just a few contentions that are made by Crichton's "climate
skeptic" hero in the book, together with what the scientific evidence
actually says.



State of Fear: Temperatures in some locations are actually cooling, so
how can the globe be warming?

The facts: True, temperatures are cooling -- in a few select locales.
Global warming refers to a warming of the average global temperature.
It does not preclude cooling in some locations. Indeed, if some
locations are cooling while the globe is warming on average, it
follows that there must be other areas that are warming even faster
than the global average. In fact, that is exactly what is happening in
the Arctic, where temperatures over the past few decades have risen
twice as fast as the global average, with potentially disastrous
environmental consequences (see our January 2005 Solutions
newsletter).

This is but one example of Crichton's selective use of data in his
book to advance a specious argument. The establishment of a global
trend requires that one consider a global database, not data from a
few select sites. As in the case of global temperatures, Crichton
uses selective and incomplete data to argue that glaciers are not
melting and that sea levels are not rising. The fact is that a careful
analysis of the complete global database firmly establishes that ice
over the land and sea is thinning and melting and that, on average,
sea levels are rising.