Correlation-Causation

 Climate science deniers sometimes like to parrot scientists. They will say, “correlation does not mean causation”. They say there is not enough proof carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses are responsible for the well documented rise of average global temperatures.

You be the judge. In 1850 Eunice Foote did a simple experiment proving carbon dioxide retains and emits radiant heat. In 1853 John Tyndall did more precise laboratory experiments similarly informing us CO2 is a greenhouse gas.

The question became, if the laboratory experiment is expanded to all planet earth by injecting an immense tonnage of carbon dioxide into the planet’s atmosphere, will the air warm as demonstrated by Foote and Tyndall?

In 1900 Svante Arrhenius wondered the same and did the math explaining how it would happen. But, it was not until 1938 when a curious engineer, Guy Stewart Calendar, found by compiling the earth’s last 50 years of temperature readings, that the earth is indeed warming.

His work inspired Charles David Keeling to track the rise of carbon dioxide concentration in the air. He petitioned for the construction of a meteorological station high on the volcano Mauna Loa. It was completed in 1958. It has the longest continuous record documenting the rapid rise of atmospheric CO2 concentrations.

By 1989 scientists from 68 nations, all convinced the rapid rise of CO2 concentrations would have dire consequences for the earth’s climate, petitioned their respective governments at Noordwijk, Netherlands to take action to curb pollution. Our government alone, led by Republican John Sununu, torpedoed the climate saving movement saying there was not enough correlation to determine causation.

Over the years, scientists have put forth 198* competing theories to explain why the earth is heating. Only one, the greenhouse gas Global Warming Theory perfectly explains earth’s warming.

Global Warming Theory tells us the air near the surface of the earth (troposphere) should warm due to the insulative qualities of greenhouse gasses. The same theory requires the stratosphere, the next highest level of earth’s atmosphere, to cool. NOAA satellites have confirmed stratospheric cooling and it is in line with the predictions of climate scientists.

For over 97% of the world’s climate scientists the debate is over. 

In 1850, the mother of climate science, Eunice Foote, wrote, “An atmosphere of that gas, (CO2), would give to our earth a high temperature;”

Obviously, deniers never got her memo. Many never will.

·       SkepticalScience.com

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