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Michael Searcy

Michael Searcy has written 124 posts for Fresh Air. The Scent of Pine.

“Global Warming”: Not A New Concept


Found linked off of our friends over at DeSmogBlog, here is a great video from 1958, discussing the dangers of increased levels of CO2 in our atmosphere.

The Denial Machine


Here is an eye-opening video from Dr. Naomi Oreskes of the University of California at San Diego. As you may or may not recall, it was Dr. Oreskes who surveyed 928 papers on climate change published in the major scientific journals between 1993 and 2003 and found that 75% of the papers published during that … Continue reading

Lake lessons


Severe Drought Drives Political Debate While wildfires raged in southern California, a different type of rage was going on here in the east. You see, Lake Lanier in northern Georgia is drying up. As of October 13, it is 13 feet below normal. This would only be a problem for the local homeowners whose docks … Continue reading

A Closer Look: Predicting the Climate


If we can’t accurately predict the weather next week, how can we predict the climate in a hundred years? Weather is not the same as climate. Weather deals with very short term variability as it pertains to a specific geographical area. As such weather deals with a very large amount of variability day-to-day and even … Continue reading

A Closer Look: Global Temperatures Since 1998


Didn’t warming end in 1998? See also: No Warming Since 1998: Old Claim Given New Life Last Updated: March 9, 2009 No. 1998 is considered widely to be the hottest year globally on record. While anthropogenic global warming (AGW) certainly contributed to the warmth that year, it was supported by what some scientists call the … Continue reading

A Closer Look: Earth’s Climate of the Past


Hasn’t the Earth heated and cooled all on its own in the past? Yes. Many times. There are many natural variations and events that impact the Earth’s climate including changes in the Earth’s orbit around the Sun, changes in the tilt of the Earth on its axis, changes in solar output, volcanic activity, shifting of … Continue reading

You don’t honestly think human activities will destroy the planet, do you?


Absolutely not. The Earth has been around for billions of years, long before the arrival of mankind, and it will likely still be around long after we are gone. The question is not whether or not the Earth will be destroyed but whether or not the changed Earth will be a hospitable place for us … Continue reading

A Closer Look: Warming on Mars


Isn’t Mars experiencing global warming as well? To answer a question with a question, does it matter? If Mars is experiencing warming on a global scale, the only reason to discuss it alongside planetary warming on Earth is to attribute both warming trends to a common source, namely the Sun. However, as discussed in the … Continue reading

A Closer Look: CO2 Lagging Temperature


Don’t increases in temperature lead to increases in CO2, not the other way around? Yes and no. Increases in global temperature can lead to an increase in atmospheric levels of CO2. However, as CO2 is added to the atmosphere, it traps additional heat causing a further rise in global temperatures. Source: U.S. EPA As you … Continue reading

A Closer Look: Human vs. Natural CO2 Emissions


Aren’t human emissions of CO2 a fraction of those from natural sources? Absolutely. Emissions of CO2 from human sources are dwarfed many times over by emissions of the gas from natural sources. However, it is the human emissions that are throwing off the balance. Take mankind out of the equation, and the Earth’s climate reaches … Continue reading

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The Consensus

173 professional scientific organizations (and counting) around the world acknowledge the global impact of rising emissions of greenhouse gases from human activities

The Indicators

Climate Change Indicators Climate Change Indicators NASA GISS - Global Annual Mean Surface Air Temperature ChangeGlobal Temperature Sea level change from 1993 to the present day Global Sea Level Northern Hemisphere Sea Ice Anomaly, 1979-Present Arctic Ice Melt Glacial Retreat, 1980-2010 Glacial Retreat Atmospheric CO2 Concentrations, Mauna Loa Atmospheric CO2 Level