The present news and government-sponsored furor about global warming has ignored all facts that do not follow their desires blindly (OGJ, May 5, 2008, Newsletter). The earth has been warming for the last 10,000 years. Between 10,000 and 12,000 years ago continental glaciers in North America extended into Kansas and Nebraska. Most of the retreat of the ice sheets occurred before man started burning hydrocarbons and generating CO2. Warming of the earth is completely dependant on the amount of energy captured by the earth from the sun. Granted, pollution has increased, but the major problem is unoxidized hydrocarbon molecules present in high population areas.
Carbon dioxide is turned into plant material by green vegetation. More CO2 is captured and converted by trees and grasses than is generated by man. Glaciation has occurred during earth history more than the recent Ice Age. The global warming furor has as a major purpose to thwart our economic success.
It has been a fact that research institutions slant their studies to comply with the political stances of the funding sources. All other facts that dispute the political stances are ignored or denigrated. The year 2007-08 has seen a decline in solar heating with temperatures below normal in many portions of the earth.
Another fallacy is that the rise of oceans will wreck industry when the ice caps on the polar areas melt. A careful study of the amount of water present as ice enters the oceans of the world shows that the rise of the oceans of the world would be less than a couple feet if not less than 1 ft. With higher temperatures, water from the oceans would increase and rainfall would consequently increase also. Therefore, desert regions would become better watered. Major desert regions of the earth would then have the ability to support increased plant growth, which in turn would increase the capture of CO2 by plants and reduction of this substance in the earth’s atmosphere.
A study of the last 1,000 years in the desert regions of the southwestern United States indicates a long period of drought about 600-700 years ago that resulted in displacement of animals into areas with larger streams whose origin was in high mountains. The dry years have been identified using tree growth rings.
In the 77 years of my life I have observed periods of higher temperatures and lower temperatures than at present. We need a concerted effort to stop the scare tactics of those whose major purpose is in opposition to the economic stability of the advanced nations of the world.
DeForrest Smouse
Consulting geologist
Centerville, Utah
