Green Options

Myth: Global temperature data is inaccurate and/or too sparse to be able to establish a meaningful average temperature over the entire planet. Therefore, any claims of global warming are unfounded.

Fact: NASA has collected and acquired massive amounts of temperature data from various sources, including land-based, meteorological stations, sea surface temperature measurements from ships, and measurements taken from satellites. This data encompasses the entire planet, and is run through a [...]

Myth: According to Occam’s razor, the theory that our current climate change is part of a natural cycle is correct.

Fact: Occam’s razor does not apply for two reasons: the theory of natural variation is no simpler than that of anthropogenic global warming, and most importantly, natural variation is not a valid theory, which is a prerequisite for the use of Occam’s razor.

Many times, when engaged in a debate with [...]

Myth: Our current global warming is due primarily to a decrease in cosmic ray intensity.

Fact: The fact is that this theory is extremely new, and has only recently been considered possible. There are still many questions left to be answered and more work to be done on quantifying its effect before such a statement could have any validity. Before we get into the details of why this is, I’d [...]

Myth: These same climate scientists predicted a coming ice age in the 70’s. They were wrong then, so why should we trust them now?

Fact: No, they didn’t. The situation in the 70’s was very different from our current situation. There was no scientific consensus on climate change. There was no international body of scientists looking into the matter, no global effort to deal with climate change, and [...]

Carbon Dioxide MoleculeMyth: Compared to natural carbon dioxide emissions, manmade emissions are insignificant.Fact: The argument is occasionally made by global warming skeptics that manmade carbon dioxide emissions are much smaller than natural emissions. Some skeptics will even quote figures in decimal or percent form, which makes it look even more true. If this is the case, according to their logic, our attempts to stop global warming are futile [...]

Editor's note: We're pleased to welcome Jason Leggett to the Green Options writing team. A civil engineer based in Huntsville, Alabama, Jason started blogging about climate science, and the myths surrounding it, last December at his blog Reasic. He now also writes for Celsias. We're very happy to have him on board, and to bring back our "Green Myth-Busting" series. Myth: Mars is warming primarily due to the Sun and [...]