Jeremy Conlin (Daily Bee, January 23, 2022) references the books of two of his favorite climate change opponents, Joe Bastardi and Roy Spencer. To understand why these are not reliable sources of climate information, search for “Climate Misinformation by Source: Joe Bastardi” and “Climate Misinformation by Source: Roy Spencer”).
Mr Conlin cites an article by a Dutch politician who criticizes a 2016 study showing that 97% of climate scientists agree that global warming is mainly man-made. Since this study was conducted, three more (one in 2019 and two in 2021) have been published using different methodologies to determine the level of agreement. The results of these recent studies show that 98.7% to 99.9% of the most senior and experienced climatologists agree that anthropogenic warming is a reality. (Search “Surveys of scientists’ views on climate change – Wikipedia”)
As Mr. Conlin correctly noted, in 2021 Antarctica’s “period of polar darkness” was the coldest on record. While this is remarkable, in recent decades the northernmost parts of the continent have warmed five times faster than the global average. Climate science involves decades-long trends, not sporadic weather events like the recent Antarctic cold spell. During the Antarctic warm period (our fall, winter and spring), the average trend is for increased warming. Antarctica’s terrestrial ice sheets have been losing mass since 2002. In February 2020, the temperature at Esperanza Research Station reached 64.9 degrees F, breaking Antarctica’s previous high temperature record. (Search “Misleading messages claim Antarctica’s record cold disproves global warming.”)
Jack Debaun
Dover
