The other global warming

Drudge has a link up to global warming skeptic Professor Timothy Ball, whose refusal to believe in human-forced climate change will no doubt target him as the Big Oil suckling, Neocon warmongering, mean spirited poster boy of the week at the various reality-based blogs and university campuses. So, before his viewpoint disappears from the public eye it might be worthwhile to capture some of it for posterity:

Since I obtained my doctorate in climatology from the University of London, Queen Mary College, England my career has spanned two climate cycles. Temperatures declined from 1940 to 1980 and in the early 1970's global cooling became the consensus. This proves that consensus is not a scientific fact.

With that in mind, here's the station of the week, Leavenworth, Kansas.



The chart stops at 1940. Imagine if Al Gore were around back then? Had the trend continued unabated Leavenworth would now be approaching Panama City. The one in Panama. Of course, it told us nothing (rest of chart) about the cooling that occurred through the 70s, which the professor pointed out caused a knee-jerk cry of global cooling from some researchers.

The most immediate and compelling reason we should be exploring alternative energy sources in this country right now is to free ourselves from foreign oil, not climate change. It's more productive to set goals we can actually achieve.