Climate Science You Should Know
By John Clark Matthews
Anyone who thinks they know Earth’s future climate doesn’t know this planet’s history.
The current narrative on climate change leaves out a lot of details.
If we don’t know all the facts, how can we possibly know what’s true.
Yes, the climate is changing. It’s been constantly changing for the last 4.54 billion years.
Climate is influenced by many factors – not just greenhouse gases like CO2.
Below, facts you never knew you didn’t know – and should know.
What geologic period are we in?
Currently, we are in the Quaternary Period which is broken into two different epochs:
* The Pleistocene Epoch - 2.5 million years ago to 11,700 years ago. This period is known for its cyclical ice ages.
* The Holocene Epoch - 11,700 years ago to the present day. During this recent period the glaciers have retreated, and the planet has seen a relatively stable and warm climate.
Most people are surprised by the fact that we are still living in an ice age. Technically, we are in an “interglacial period” which happens at the tail end of an ice age cycle.
During this time in an ice age cycle the planet gets warmer, glaciers and ice caps retreat. This cycle has happened many times in geological history. [1]
What causes ice age cycles?
Three-Shots - Pixabay
About a century ago, Milutin Milankovitch, a Serbian scientist, hypothesized how the predictable, periodic changes in Earth’s orbit and axial tilt could influence the planet’s climate over long periods of time. [4]
The Milankovitch Cycles have three cycles
Eccentricity:
How the Earth
orbits
the Sun
Over time, the pull of gravity from planets in our solar system causes the shape of Earth’s orbit to vary from nearly circular to slightly elliptical. These variations affect the distance between Earth and the Sun - and how much solar radiation reaches this planet. This, of course, causes warming and cooling of the planet.
Currently, Earth’s orbit is approaching its least elliptic (most circular) orbit.
When the orbit is at its most circular, the planet stays closer to the Sun and has warmer weather – like we’re having now.
When Earth’s orbit is at its most elliptical, the planet swings out farther from the Sun and has cooler, ice age weather.
This cycle spans about 100,000 years.
Obliquity:
How the angle of Earth’s axis of rotation is tilted
During the Milankovitch Cycles, the Earth’s axis tilt varies from 22.1° to 24.5°. It takes about 41,000 years to complete a full cycle.
When the tilt is at its maximum, a larger polar region is exposed to more solar radiation during the summer which leads to more rapid melting of the ice sheets.
Currently, Earth’s axial tilt is decreasing from its maximum value – which has more polar ice melting - towards the lower end of the range, which should reduce the amount of melting of the ice caps.
A good way to picture this axial tilt phenomenon: in Alaska, during the summer months, the sun never sets. It’s called the “Midnight Sun”. In this current part of the Milankovitch cycle, the sun only sinks lower in the sky at night. However, when the Earth is tilted to its full extreme, the sun barely moves towards the horizon. This creates constant solar radiation which causes the rapid melting of the polar ice caps.
Even if there wasn’t a single human on this planet the ice caps would now be melting.
Precession:
How Earth’s axis of rotation wobbles
As Earth rotates, it wobbles slightly upon its rotational axis. This wobble is due to tidal forces caused by the gravitational influences of the Sun and Moon that cause Earth to bulge at the equator. This affects the planet’s rotation. This precession wobble cycle spans about 25,000 years.
This axial wobble makes seasonal contrasts more extreme in one hemisphere and less extreme in the other.
The Milankovitch Cycles have a huge impact on the variations of Earth’s climate as they affect the distribution of solar radiation received on the planet’s surface.
How long has Earth had ice caps?
Through most of Earth’s geologic history, the planet was too warm for polar caps. About 50 million years ago, Earth began to cool. Starting about 34 million years ago, ice caps began to build on the poles.
In geologic time ice caps have only been around for 0.75% of Earth’s existence. That’s three-quarters of one percent of the last 4.54 billion years.
Solar cycles and climate change
Our Sun is a huge ball of electrically charged hot gas with a powerful magnetic field. Approximately every 11 years, this magnetic field goes through a cycle where it flips poles. This is called a Solar Cycle. [5]
Source: NASA/SDO
During these cycles, solar activity creates sunspots which are magnetic disturbances. During the cycle’s Maximum, there are many sunspots. During the cycle’s Minimum, there are very few if any sunspots.
How solar cycles affect Earth’s climate is a complicated subject. Different scientists have different opinions about how this happens.
Solar Minimums, with unusually low sunspot activity, correlate to unusually cold climatic events
One example: from 1650 to 1710 temperatures across much of the Northern Hemisphere plunged when the Sun entered a very quiet phase now called the “Maunder Minimum”. During this period, there is evidence that sunspot activity was virtually absent for about 70 years. This colder-than-average period is called the “Little Ice Age”. [6]
Pieter Brueghel “Little Ice Age”
Historical records show that growing seasons became shorter, the number of snowy days increased, and the ground froze to several feet. Sea ports were blocked by ice for about 20 miles out to sea. Crops failed leading to mass famine. Humans suffered greatly during this extended cold period.
Solar Cycle 24, the Sun’s previous cycle, had the lowest sunspot count in over 100 years. At first, scientists feared that this cycle might bring on an event similar to the Maunder Minimum which would have caused the death of millions by starvation. Luckily this didn’t happen.
However, some scientists think there could be a Grand Solar Minimum similar to the Maunder Minimum by 2053. [7]
What effect do clouds have on our climate?
Stratocumulus clouds - NASA
Nobel laureate, John Clauser, has some revealing thoughts about clouds and climate change. [8]
Prominent climate reports emphasize the role of CO2 but completely ignore the critical role of clouds in the climate system, according to Mr. Clauser.
His curiosity about clouds began when he was a sailboat racer. He noticed that the output of his solar panels dropped by 50% every time he sailed under a cloud – and when he came out from under the cloud the power instantly went back up.
He quickly realized that cloud cover has a profound effect on Earth’s heat input. Clouds are reflecting a massive amount of light back out into space. He also found out that previous research done on clouds was very weak and that clouds were not well understood.
Virtually all of the current climate studies focused on the effects of human-produced CO2, but these models completely ignore the significance of cloud dynamics.
Earth’s natural thermostat
Clouds play a significant role in regulating the Earth’s temperature, serving as a “cloud-sunlight-reflectivity thermostat” that stabilizes the climate and temperature of the Earth, according to Mr. Clauser.
All clouds appear bright white when viewed from the direction of the sun. They reflect around 80 to 90 percent of incoming sunlight. The reflectivity fraction is referred to as “albedo”. This albedo effect has been completely ignored in the various climate studies.
Oceans make up two-thirds of the Earth's surface and are instrumental in cloud formation.
Minimal clouds result in heightened sunlight exposure to the ocean, triggering increased evaporation resulting in more clouds.
Abundant clouds reduce the sunlight and create cooling, thus curbing evaporation rates and resulting in fewer clouds. The cycles shift back and forth between more sunlight exposure and then less.
This balance acts like a natural thermostat for the Earth’s temperature.
Mr. Clauser contends that this “thermostat” mechanism has a vastly greater influence on Earth’s temperature than the effect of CO2 or methane. He finds it baffling that these significant variations produced by cloud cover have been completely overlooked in climate change research.
“You can’t have weather without having clouds.”
Do volcanoes affect Earth’s climate?
Three-Shots - Pixabay
Surprisingly, according to the USGS (United States Geological Survey), there are 1,350 active volcanoes on Earth at this time. There are typically 40-50 continuing eruptions.
According to the USGS, volcanoes release between 180 to 440 million tons of CO2 a year. [9]
Iceland’s Eyjafjoell volcano is currently emitting between 150,000 and 300,000 tons per day – a figure placing this single volcano in the same emissions league as a small-to-medium European economy.
Because of the current climate change narrative and the biases associated with it, it is difficult to determine how much currently active volcanoes are affecting our climate.
Below, one historical example of a volcano having a very dramatic effect on climate:
In 1816, Mount Tambora a volcano in Indonesia, exploded - causing the largest volcanic explosion in recorded history. This volcano spewed 24 cubic miles of CO2, sulfur dioxide, dust, and rock into the atmosphere blocking the Sun from view. It is believed this cooled Earth’s temperature by nearly 5.4°F.
This eruption has been linked to a three-year-long weather disaster across the globe. Crops failed due to cold weather and limited sunlight. The eruption brought drought, famine, and very cold weather to many regions.
Volcanoes can most certainly affect climate.
How much CO2 is in our atmosphere?
Currently, CO2 is about 400 parts per million which translates to 0.04%. (That’s four one-hundredths of one percent.) [10]
At the start of the Industrial Revolution, it was about 0.03%, which means CO2 has risen a little more than 1/100th of one percent since the preindustrial era.
So how did such a small rise in CO2 cause global warming?
Contrary to the current narrative, there are many noted scientists who believe, temperature doesn’t follow CO2 – instead, CO2 follows temperature, which itself is due to solar activity.
Simply put, as the planet warms during an interglacial period, CO2 is released from various CO2 reservoirs such as oceans and thawing tundra.
We’ve all seen these dire warnings about the increase in CO2. Please note that these messages never include actual data statistics.
The numbers for historic and present CO2 levels (0.03% to 0.04%) have been rounded out, so that means this dangerous 50% increase is about 0.015%. (That’s fifteen thousandths of one percent.)
According to the current climate narrative, this tiny rise in CO2 is destroying our planet.
It’s impossible to solve a problem if you are ignorant of the facts.
I’ve asked many people these simple questions: “What percentage of Earth’s atmosphere is CO2? How much has CO2 risen since the start of the Industrial Era?
Considering that everyone is extremely concerned about CO2 levels and global warming, it’s very surprising that almost no one knows these simple facts.
When people are ignorant of basic facts they can be easily manipulated.
(For your information: dry air contains 78.08% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, 0.93% argon, 0.04% carbon dioxide, and small amounts of other trace gases.)
Another fact: it wasn’t until 1958 when David Keeling of Scripps Institution of Oceanography initiated monitoring CO2. [11]
So how did they determine the CO2 levels going back to the start of the Industrial Revolution (around 1750)?
CO2 levels are approximated by studying ice core samples, corals, tree rings, ancient pollen, and sediment deposits.
This proxy technique works okay when dealing with general conditions millions or billions of years ago, but it’s not very accurate if you’re spouting numbers down to hundredths of a decimal. Also, there should be plus-minus numbers for margin of error.
CO2 is not a poison
Plants need CO2 to live – just like humans need oxygen. Over most of Earth’s known climate history, CO2 levels have been approximately four to sixteen times higher than now. [12]
Without CO2, there would not be life on Earth, simply because there wouldn’t be any plants. Nor would there be animals which require the oxygen released by plants during photosynthesis.
Without greenhouse gases like CO2, our planet would be too cold to support life. For instance, Mars has no atmosphere, and consequently the average temperature is negative 64 degrees Fahrenheit.
Alan Frijns - Pixabay
Interesting fact: as mentioned, our current CO2 levels are around 400 ppm (parts per million).
During the Early Carboniferous period, global atmospheric CO2 levels were around 1,500 ppm. By the Middle Carboniferous period, carbon dioxide levels decreased to 350 ppm.
How did this happen? Earth was covered pole-to-pole with plants and trees. Through the process of photosynthesis they absorbed the CO2 in the atmosphere – releasing oxygen in the process. (There were no ice caps at this time.)
Another fact to remember: if the atmospheric CO2 dips down to .02, trees and plants start dying. Of course, without plant life there’s no oxygen production so all animal life would die too.
What is the most prevalent greenhouse gas?
Surprisingly, the most abundant greenhouse gas is water vapor. It's responsible for about half of Earth's greenhouse effect. [13]
How much warmer is planet Earth?
The Earth is generally regarded as having warmed about 1.9° Fahrenheit (1.1C°) since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution (around 1750 -1850). [14]
Thomas Jefferson bought his first thermometer while writing the Declaration of Independence. (He was an “early adopter”.) Global temperature record keeping is said to have begun around 1880.
So how did scientists determine the historical temperature statistics we see today?
The same way CO2 levels were determined: by studying ice core samples, corals, tree rings, ancient pollen, and sediment deposits. [15]
Once again, proxy techniques are adequate for determining general temperatures for a period, but exact numbers down to a tenth of a degree is absurd. As in all cases, scientific data should have plus-minus numbers reflecting margin of error.
One fact that should be mentioned (and never is): the official historical preindustrial temperature used for comparison was determined towards the end of the Little Ice Age. This fact compromises the present narrative. [16]
One thing for certain: If the average temperature today was the same as when George Washington was living, it would be outright supernatural. Earth’s climate is constantly changing.
Have there been periods of sudden warming not fueled by human produced CO2?
Yes, the Younger Dryas period is an example. Towards the end of the last ice age a sudden cooling period disrupted the prevailing warming trend and the Northern Hemisphere returned to ice age conditions. The onset of the Younger Dryas took less than 100 years. This period lasted roughly 1,300 years.
This period ended very abruptly when temperature rose by as much as 50°F (10°C) in just ten years. There is no consensus on the cause of this sudden warming - except it wasn’t caused by human activity.
The Younger Dryas is merely the last of 26 major climate episodes over the past 120,000 years. These episodes are characterized by abrupt beginnings and endings with changes taking place on timescales of decades or centuries – not thousands or millions of years.
The Roman Warm Period
Another example of a sudden warming is the Roman Warm Period (RWP). From about 1 AD to 500 AD, global temperatures were about 3.6°F (2°C) warmer than present – supposedly, it was the warmest period of the last 2,000 years. This historical warming is linked to intense solar activity – not human-produced CO2.
Roman agriculture and society thrived during this warm period.
The Medieval Warm Period
Yet another example is the Medieval Warm Period (MWP) from about 900 –1300 AD, when global temperatures were about 1.8° to 3.6 °F (1 to 2 °C) warmer than modern temperatures.
Facts to know about the MWP
According to historical records it was possible for three crop rotations a year. Vineyards thrived from Scotland to Cornwall. The skeletons of the period indicate that even the very poorest people were eating exceptionally well in contrast to evidence from skeletons before and after that period.
Historical records also state that the poor were able to live comfortably in rough shelters. Ancient houses that still stand today show us strong evidence that it was a very warm period.
It’s believed that the MWP was caused by an increase in solar radiation and decrease in volcanic activity which created a La Niña-like event that changed weather patterns. CO2 was not a factor in the warming.
This period is often cited as evidence that the consequences of global warming are not all negative – especially in regard to agriculture and the greening of the planet.
Please note: Oxygen isotope studies in Greenland, Ireland, Germany, Switzerland, Tibet, China, New Zealand, and elsewhere, plus tree-ring data from many sites around the world, all confirm the existence of a global MWP.
What is Confirmation Bias?
Confirmation bias is the selective collection of facts that supports and confirms a researcher’s theory while ignoring or rejecting evidence that supports a different conclusion.
Example: Over a period of many decades, several hundred papers were published establishing the Medieval Warm Period (MWP) and the Little Ice Age (LIA) as global climate changes.
It was very surprising when the Mann et al. study (1998) concluded that neither the MWP nor the LIA actually happened on the basis of one tree-ring study.
How could a tree ring study be accurate going back to 1300 AD? Finding trees over 700 years old would be limited to very few locations. Determining a global climate change would be impossible.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) 3rd report (Climate Change 2001) completely ignored the several hundred scientific publications detailing the global climate changes during the MWP and the LIA and used the solo Mann et al. tree-ring study as the basis for the now famous assertion:
“Our civilization has never experienced any environmental shift remotely similar to this. Today's climate pattern has existed throughout the entire history of human civilization.” (Gore, 2007).
This is a perfect example of confirmation bias. All previous science that doesn’t agree with the preordained conclusion is rejected. The IPCC’s dire statement was obviously designed to scare people into submission.
Many dare to disagree about a climate emergency
Recently, Mr. Clauser (mentioned earlier) joined another Nobel Laureate and more than 1,800 scientists and professionals in signing the World Climate Declaration (WCD). [17]
This declaration asserts that there’s no “climate emergency”, that climate change science isn’t conclusive, and that the Earth’s history over thousands of years shows a constantly changing climate.
One of the reasons this group has emerged is the fear that the government is going to declare a climate emergency and seize powers like the U.S. and other governments did during the COVID pandemic.
The WCD is also concerned about the rise of expensive, corrupt programs with solutions that are worse than the problems.
“Half the truth is often a great lie”
- Benjamin Franklin
Facts matter. There is a lot of relevant scientific information that has not been brought to the public’s attention. If people don’t have all the facts, how can they possibly know what’s true?
Love is all we need but, unfortunately, it’s fear that drives our world. A great part of fear is caused by ignorance.
With fear and ignorance comes tyranny.
Conclusion
The start of the Holocene Epoch, around 11,700 years ago, marks the start of the current interglacial period. Temperatures rise and ice caps melt during this part of the cycle.
The current narrative insists that it’s human-produced CO2 and methane that’s causing climate change. Meanwhile, galactic cycles such as Earth’s orbit, axis tilt, solar cycles, cloud albedo, and all of the other forces affecting our planet’s climate are never considered in climate studies or even mentioned to the public.
It is my sincere belief that there are people in power, using fear tactics to exploit the public’s ignorance of climate science with the intent to take away our freedom “for the greater good” and make trillions of dollars in the process.
Surprisingly, the climate facts in this article are still available on the internet. Yet none of this reassuring information is ever presented by the legacy media. The news is always negative with the obvious intent of invoking fear.
This constant bombardment of negative facts is damaging the mental health of a large part of the American public – especially young people. There’s an entire generation suffering “future anxiety”.
The general consensus: Why sacrifice and plan for the future if there isn’t one.
The technology to create unlimited, clean, free energy has existed for many years. Greed and corruption have hidden it from the public.
References:
[1] How Long has Earth had Polar Caps?
[2] Glacial Periods in Earth’s History
https://openoregon.pressbooks.pub/earthscience/chapter/12-1-glacial-periods-in-earths-history/
[3] New Evidence We Are Entering An Ice Age Termination Event - EXPLAINED
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCt2MhOzWVE&list=PLZkrbGmaA1eBzcCfiF4Ij3_hMWG200fK0&index=2
We could be 16 years into a methane-fueled 'termination' event significant enough to end an ice age
https://www.space.com/climate-change-termination-event-end-ice-age
[4] Milankovitch cycles
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milankovitch_cycles
[5] What is the Solar Cycle
https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/solar-cycles/en/
[6] The Original Climate Crisis – How the Little Ice Age Devastated Early Modern Europe
[7] Modern Grand Solar Minimum will lead to terrestrial cooling
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23328940.2020.1796243
[8] Nobel Winner Refutes Climate Change Narrative, Points Out Ignored Factor
[9] How many active volcanoes are there on Earth?
[10] Carbon Dioxide 101
https://netl.doe.gov/coal/carbon-storage/faqs/carbon-dioxide-101
[11] A Brief History of Carbon Dioxide Measurements
https://airs.jpl.nasa.gov/news/111/a-brief-history-of-carbon-dioxide-measurements/
[12] A Graphical History of Atmospheric CO2 Levels Over Time
https://earth.org/data_visualization/a-brief-history-of-co2/
[13] Steamy Relationships: How Atmospheric Water Vapor Amplifies Earth's Greenhouse Effect
[14 ] Exactly How Much Has the Earth Warmed? And Does It Matter?
[15] Exactly How Much Has the Earth Warmed? And Does It Matter?
[16] How accurate are the measurements for CO2 and temp for 400,000 years ago? I never see error bars in charts.
[17] There Is No Climate Emergency – A Message to the People
https://americanstewards.us/1609-scientists-there-is-no-climate-emergency/