Not ‘made up’
I usually find Cal Thomas to be one of the more well-reasoned proponents of conservative viewpoints, but I read with disappointment today his “30 years of climate panic” commentary.
He argues that the idea that global climate change could be caused by humans is a “made-up problem.”
To support his argument, he quotes a 2015 opinion piece in the Daily Telegraph about Arctic sea ice, by a commentator just like himself.
But he ignores two 2016 articles in the same newspaper, one of which says “NSIDC satellite data going back to 1981 shows an undeniable downward trend in sea ice over the past 35 years,” [Oct. 7, 2016] while the other reports that “Arctic sea ice hit a record low level for the second straight year” [March 28, 2016].
Similarly, he quotes a recent Wall Street Journal opinion piece that claims that global surface temperatures have been flat for the past 18 years.
However, the writers present no evidence to support that claim, because there really is none; just Google “global surface temperatures” to evaluate the science data for yourself.
At the beginning of his article, Cal Thomas says “Predictions, especially those of global significance, should be rigorously examined to see if they have come true.”
He is right.
But Cal should also rigorously examine his own sources, and readers should ask themselves why he is regurgitating the opinions of others rather than coming up with his own, based on a rational evaluation of readily available data.
Andrew Davis,
Sequim