Second Place Winner WUWT Student Essay Contest

Following the first place winner, announced a couple of days ago, it is time for a second place winner to be announced.

We commend everyone who submitted an essay. All were read and appreciated, and it was very difficult to choose a winner as final scoring had some ties, and required a second round of scoring, which caused the week of delay

The second place winner is a young student in Tennessee.

Claire S,

            There is a myth that many people believe to be true, and it leads some to hysteria. These people have blocked traffic on busy interstates and glued or tied themselves to objects in the middle of sporting events, all because of this myth they believe to be true. What is this myth that would lead people to do such things? The answer is global warming. Many people in our society believe that Earth’s temperature is steadily rising and causing all kinds of disasters as a result. They believe that humans are causing Earth’s temperature to rise by emitting carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the Earth’s atmosphere. However, these people have sadly been led astray and do not know that catastrophic man-caused global warming is just a hoax. We know this because of three main facts. There was natural variability of temperatures in the past before man-made carbon dioxide influences, model forecast temperatures have been inaccurate, and the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has been shown to follow, not lead, changes in Earth’s temperature.

            History has shown there has been natural variability of the earth’s temperatures before the Industrial Revolution and man-made carbon dioxide influences. In fact, archaeological finds have shown that the earth was typically warmer in the past than it is today. During the Medieval Warm Period, which was between 900 and 1200 AD, the temperatures were higher. Then the temperatures dropped and then came what we now call The Little Ice Age in the 1700s and 1800s. (Burnett, 2020). The temperatures are now on the rise again, proving that the earth’s average temperature goes in phases between higher and lower. Moreover, artifacts have recently been uncovered by thawing ice in the mountains of southern Norway. The oldest ones date back to 4100 BC, and the most recent date back to approximately AD 1300 at the end of the Medieval Warm Period. (Burnett, 2020). These artifacts were clearly deposited when no ice covered the ground in that region, and the present temperatures are only now exposing the artifacts, proving that temperatures then were the same as or warmer than they are now. Eight-hundred-year-old penguin remains have been found in a patch of melting ice along the Antarctic coast. A land route in Norway has been found because of melting ice, and researchers believe Vikings who inhabited the area used it often in a warmer period much like today before snow and ice blocked it up. Many other near-perfectly preserved animal and human remains have been found in the Arctic and glacial alpine regions in the past decade due to warmer temperatures. Scientists have found evidence that ancient temperatures exceeded current as well as worst-case projected temperatures after studying materials from three lakes on the Svalbardo Archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. According to the scientists, approximately 10,000 years ago temperatures peaked at 7 degrees Celsius warmer than the present. (Burnett, 2020.) Archaeology and history have proven that the earth’s temperature has fluctuated over the years, long before humans began releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and we have nothing to be alarmed about.

            It has also been proven that model forecast temperatures have been inaccurate. Models are predicting temperatures that are a lot higher than they really are. When model forecasts have been compared with reality, over a period of only a few years, they have been shown to be forecasting temperatures that are too warm. The farther out in time that a model predicts, the less accurate it will be. Studies have found a large degree of bias towards warmer projections, and CMIP5 temperature models warm 4 to 5 times faster than actual observed temperature data. They also predict that as the earth warms, crops will be damaged and global farming practices will have to be changed. However, we are seeing rises in the overall production of the staple crops of corn, wheat, and rice as the earth warms (Figure 1). Additionally, there is a considerable amount of warming bias in the CMIP6’s tropospheric readings, and these biases are linked to biases in surface temperatures. Since the CMIP5 models warm much faster than reality, there is no improvement between them and the CMIP6 models. (Lueken, 2022). The U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has refused to acknowledge these problems with the models and allows the media to spread inaccurate information. Sadly, many people are living in fear because of these lies, and governments are making policies that have profound and harmful impacts on people. (Watts, 2021). These harmful policies are based on inaccurate predictions of the earth’s climate sensitivity to increased carbon dioxide in the air. Model forecast temperatures are inaccurate, and it’s time we acknowledge the truth and stop relying on models as a basis of climate policymaking.

            Finally, carbon dioxide is not a thermostat for the earth’s temperature. In fact, there are studies that have shown that temperature rises have caused carbon dioxide levels to rise, not the other way around (Watts, 2010). People claim that since carbon dioxide levels are higher than they have ever been, it must be causing climate change. But this cannot be possible because the earth was as warm or warmer during the Medieval Warm Period. Despite what many believe, humans have very little effect on carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, energy-related carbon dioxide emissions dropped a considerable amount due to a lack of travel and lockdowns (Figure 2).  However, the amount of carbon dioxide in the air has steadily risen despite this (Figure 3). (Watts, 2021.) Based on this knowledge, man-contributed carbon dioxide emissions have very little, if any, impact on the earth’s temperature. Also, if we look at the earth’s atmosphere, we see that it is made up of 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 0.93% argon, 0.04% naturally-emitted carbon dioxide, and only 0.01% man-contributed carbon dioxide. The amount is so small it couldn’t possibly cause the rising of the earth’s temperature. (Lehr, 2019). In fact, rising carbon dioxide levels have only benefited the earth, not harmed it. More carbon dioxide makes more building blocks for plants to thrive and grow bigger, better, and greener. (Legates, 2018). Man-contributed emissions of carbon dioxide do not cause global warming, and we are needlessly hurting ourselves by instituting carbon taxes and other harmful policies.

            Catastrophic global warming caused by humans is a man-made myth. We know this because archaeologists and careful research have shown that there are natural temperature variations and phases. Artifacts have been found buried beneath ice and snow that is only now starting to melt, meaning they must have gotten there when the ice wasn’t there. Computer models, such as the CMIP5 and CMIP6 have been known to predict higher temperatures than compared to reality. Climate change scientists know about this, but they refuse to acknowledge it while the media spreads inaccurate information. Finally, humans do not cause the earth’s temperature to rise by emitting carbon dioxide. Carbon taxes and other harmful climate policies are being implemented around the world, and yet they do nothing to lower the temperature. Man-made catastrophic global warming doesn’t exist, and it is time to stop hurting ourselves by acting as if it does.

Figure 1. This graph shows the overall world production of wheat, rice, and maize from 1960 to 2020. Source: https://climaterealism.com/2022/03/inside-climate-news-confuses-models-with-reality/

Figure2. U.S. energy-related carbon dioxide emissions by end-use sector (2000-2020). Source: https://climaterealism.com/2021/04/eia-u-s-co2-emissions-declined-11-in-2020-no-change-in-rising-atmospheric-carbon-dioxide/

Figure 3. The rise of CO2 and the temperature. Source: https://carbon-sense.com/2013/10/14/co2-vs-temperature/

Works Cited

Baraniuk, C. “Climate Change Has Revealed a Huge Haul of Ancient Arrows in Norway.” NewScientist, 25 Nov. 2020, https://www.newscientist.com/article/2260700-climate-change-has-revealed-a-huge-haul-of-ancient-arrows-in-norway/

Blakemore, Erin. “Lost Viking “Highway” Revealed by Melting Ice.” National Geographic, 15 April, 2020, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/lost-viking-highway-revealed-melting-ice

Burnett, H. Sterling. “New Archaeological Finds Shows Earth Is Typically Warmer than Today.”   ClimateRealism, 2 Dec. 2020, https://climaterealism.com/2020/12/new-archaeological-finds-shows-earth-is-typically-warmer-than-today/.

EIA. “Monthly Energy Review.” EIA, 26 July, 2022. https://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/monthly/

G.M., Willem. “Early Holocene Temperature Oscillations Exceed Amplitude of Observed and Projected Warming in Svalbard Lakes.” AGU, 3 Dec., 2019. https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2019GL084384

Lueken, Linnea. “Inside Climate News Confuses Models with Reality – ClimateRealism.” ClimateRealism, climaterealism.com, 31 Mar., 2022, https://climaterealism.com/2022/03/inside-climate-news-confuses-models-with-reality/.

Singer, Andy. “Video: CO2 Is Not a Pollutant! – ClimateRealism.” ClimateRealism, climaterealism.com, 31 Aug. 2018, https://climaterealism.com/2018/08/co2-is-not-a-pollutant/.

Singer, Andy. “Video: The Truth About Carbon Dioxide and Global Temperature – ClimateRealism.” ClimateRealism, climaterealism.com, 9 Aug., 2019, https://climaterealism.com/2019/08/video-the-truth-about-carbon-dioxide-and-global-temperature/.

Taylor, James. “Antarctic Penguin Remains Show Present Temperatures Are Normal.” ClimateRealism, 2 Oct., 2020. https://climaterealism.com/2020/10/antarctic-penguin-remains-show-present-temperatures-are-normal/

Watts, Anthony. “Two Studies Confirm Climate Models Are Overheated – ClimateRealism.” ClimateRealism, climaterealism.com, 17 Aug. 2021, https://climaterealism.com/2021/08/two-studies-confirm-climate-models-are-overheated/.

Taylor, James. “CO2 Levels Highest in 3.6 Million Years, Yet Temperatures Are Not Following Suit – ClimateRealism.” ClimateRealism, climaterealism.com, 21 Apr. 2021, https://climaterealism.com/2021/04/co2-levels-highest-in-3-6-million-years-yet-temperatures-are-not-following-suit/.

“The Carbon Sense Coalition » CO2 vs Temperature.” The Carbon Sense Coalition » CO2 vs Temperature, carbon-sense.com, https://carbon-sense.com/2013/10/14/co2-vs-temperature/. Accessed 26 July 2022.

Watts, Anthony. “A Study: The Temperature Rise Has Caused the CO2 Increase, Not the Other Way around – Watts Up With That?” Watts Up With That?, wattsupwiththat.com, 9 June 2010, https://wattsupwiththat.com/2010/06/09/a-study-the-temperature-rise-has-caused-the-co2-increase-not-the-other-way-around/.

Watts, Anthony. “EIA: U.S. CO2 Emissions Declined 11% in 2020 – No Change in Rising Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide – ClimateRealism.” ClimateRealism, climaterealism.com, 15 Apr. 2021, https://climaterealism.com/2021/04/eia-u-s-co2-emissions-declined-11-in-2020-no-change-in-rising-atmospheric-carbon-dioxide/.



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