THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume IX, Issue # 184, October 3, 2007
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
GLOBAL WARMING & THE CHESAPEAKE BAY
By Dennis T. Avery
GLOBAL WARMING SKEPTICISM: NATURAL WARNING CYCLES, THE SOLAR LINKAGE, & THE IMPACT UPON
WILDLIFE & SEA LEVELS -- THE SEPTEMBER 26, 2007, TESTIMONY OF DENNIS T. AVERY BEFORE THE U.S. SENATE COMMITTEE
ON ENVIRONMENT & PUBLIC WORKS -- EXPLODING THE THEORY OF IMMINENT CATASTROPHIC CLIMATE CHANGE, DUE TO
GLOBAL WARMING CAUSED BY BUILDUP IN THE EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE OF CARBON DIOXIDE & OTHER GREENHOUSE GASES
PRODUCED BY FOSSIL FUEL USE, HEATING, REFRIGERATION, TRANSPORTATION, MANUFACTURING, & OTHER HUMAN
ACTIVITIES
FULL STORY:
I was invited to testify on September 26, 2007, before the United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public
Works, discussing “The Impact of Global Warming on the Chesapeake Bay.” I told the Committee there was no
man-made global warming impact on the Bay. The Bay has been warmer than now several times because the moderate
1,500-year climate cycles have warmed it at least five times since the Bay was created 12,000 years ago. At least two of
those cycles, and perhaps all of them, were warmer than today.
Our net global warming since 1940 is 0.2 degrees Celsius, with no warming at all since 1998. There’s no evidence that
man-made carbon dioxide (CO2) has added much to this warming, though perhaps 0.1 degree Celsius of today’s heat is
due to the greenhouse gasses. The 1,500-year cycle is instead linked to the sun and the sunspot index.
Nor has a single wild species gone extinct due to higher temperatures. Instead, the birds, butterflies , trees, fish, and
mammals have been extending their ranges, creating more biodiversity per acre than the world has seen in 500 years.
None of the Senators asked me about the cycle, the solar linkage, or the wildlife. You never saw such an eager crowd of
man-made warming enthusiasts. Chairperson Barbara Boxer of California waxed eloquent about her Committee’s recent
trip to the Arctic, where she said the evidence of man-made warming was impossible to miss. She chided Republican
James Inhofe because the extent of Arctic ice had just dropped to its lowest point since the 1930s. She failed to mention
that this couldn’t be global warming -- because the Antarctic ice has just hit a modern high. This is regional climate
cycling, which the Polar Regions are known for.
Senator John Warner (Republican -Virginia) announced that new cap-and-trade limits on greenhouse gas emissions would
be his legacy to the nation. The governors of both Virginia and Maryland testified about how drastically they would
rein in their states’ CO2 emissions — sometime in the future. Biologists testified about the awful impacts on fish species,
oysters and crabs if the Bay were to warm further, and never mind that it happened every 1,500 years. The Director of the
Chesapeake Bay Foundation testified that Annapolis (Maryland’s capital) would soon be flooded by rapidly rising water
levels. Governor Tim Kaine of Virginia said Norfolk was the U.S. area most threatened by sea level rise — except for New
Orleans — and that national defense would be radically impaired if the Navy’s ships had to float on deeper water.
To tug at our heartstrings, Maryland’s Congressman Wayne Gilchrist testified about Chesapeake islands which had
disappeared — including the improbably named Hope Island. The Pastor of the 225 Methodists living on Smith Island
told us his congregation expected to be overwhelmed by another 3 feet of water if fossil fuels were not abandoned
quickly.
But Governor Kaine blew the whole bit. He noted Virginia is celebrating the 400th anniversary of Jamestown’s founding
in 1607. The fort that originally protected Jamestown had been “lost” for centuries, but a clever archeologist had recently
located the right spot to dig — and found the fort, 30 feet from the river. Given that Jamestown was built on a low-lying
island in the first place, that means the level of the Chesapeake Bay has hardly risen at all in 400 years.
Oklahoma's U.S.Senator James Inhofe told us that the Bay has been subsiding ever since the Ice Age, due to the weight
of its own water. The Chesapeake islands have subsided, instead of being swamped.
But how can you believe a global warming skeptic?
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Political Environmentalism Versus Human Progress & Prosperity:
Policy Issues Relating to Energy, Environment,
& Natural Resources
The Earth's Natural History, Global Climate Changes,
& the Future of Human Life & Civilization on the Planet:
Science, Ideology, & Public Policy
Dennis T. Avery is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C., and is the Director of the Institute's Center for
Global Food Issues (www.cgfi.org). Formerly he was a senior analyst for the United States
Department of State. He is the co-author, with atmospheric physicist Fred Singer, of the book, Unstoppable Global Warming:
Every 1500 Years (Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania: Rowman & Littlefield, 2006). Readers may write Avery at Post Office
Box 202, Churchville, Virginia, 24421. Email: cgfi@rica.net
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
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Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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