Is Global Warming a Crisis?

• “No”

  

  “Reports of Environmental Crisis from Global Warming Unfounded”

• “Objection”

  

  “Environmental and social impacts will be immense”
  

Reports of Environmental Crisis from Global Warming Unfounded

National Center for Policy Analysis

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Some scientists and proponents of the theory of human-caused global warming have warned of impending doom if climate change is left unchecked. However, the events they point to are not supported by historical evidence.
 

• Sea levels have risen since the Earth began to come out of the last ice age. However, the rate of sea level rise since 1961, less than two-sixteenths of an inch annually, is far lower than the historic average.
• While ice has melted at the edges and thinned in other locations on Greenland and Antarctica, much of their interiors have thickened due in part to increased annual snowpack. Estimates of the net effect range from ice gains to ice losses. At most, ice loss in the two regions since 1993 has contributed 0.8 mm to annual sea level rise per year—a rate that would total 3 inches by 2100.
• Polar bear numbers increased dramatically from around 5,000 in the 1950s to as many as 25,000 today, higher than at any time in the 20th century. Of the distinct polar bear populations worldwide, only two populations are decreasing. The majority of the populations are stable or increasing.
• Neither the number nor the strength of hurricanes has increased outside the natural range of variability.
• Worldwide weather-related deaths have declined dramatically over the past eight decades.
• Natural variability has produced more frequent and longer droughts in the past than we experience today.

Evidence

Image

Is Global Warming Causing Rising Sea Levels?

Sea levels have risen since the Earth began to come out of the last ice age. However, the rate of sea level rise since 1961, less than two-sixteenths of an inch annually, is far lower than the historic average.

Image

Are the Ice Sheets Melting?

While ice has melted at the edges and thinned in other locations on Greenland and Antarctica, much of their interiors have thickened due in part to increased annual snowpack. Estimates of the net effect range from ice gains to ice losses. At most, ice loss in the two regions since 1993 has contributed 0.8 mm to annual sea level rise per year -- a rate that would total 3 inches by 2100.

Image

Is Global Warming Killing Polar Bears?

Polar bear numbers increased dramatically from around 5,000 in the 1950s to as many as 25,000 today, higher than at any time in the 20th century. Of the distinct polar bear populations worldwide, only two populations are decreasing. The majority of the populations are stable or increasing.

Image

Is Global Warming Causing More Frequent or More Sever Hurricanes?

Neither the number nor the strength of hurricanes has increased outside the natural range of variability (category 1 is the lowest wind velocity and category 5 is the highest).

Image

Is Global Warming Causing More Weather-Related Deaths?

Worldwide weather-related deaths have declined dramatically over the past eight decades.

Image

Is Global Warming Causing More Frequent or More Sever Droughts?

Natural variability has produced more frequent and longer droughts in the past than we experience today.

Next Argument

"No" NCPA

• Scientific Consensus Overstated
  9
• Climate Forecasts Inaccurate
  6
• Computer Models Based on Faulty Assumptions
  5
• Reports of Environmental Crisis from Global Warming Unfounded
  7
• There Are Benefits from Warmer Temperatures and CO2
  6
• Climate Adaptation Better than Mitigation
  5
• Climate Legislation Would Slow Economy Without Promised Benefits
  3
• Carbon Taxes Are the Best Policy for Greenhouse Gas Regulation
  3

"No" The Heartland Institute

• Global Warming Alarmism
  7
• There Is No Scientific Agreement
  7
• Most Scientists Don’t Believe Humans Threaten Earth's Climate
  7
• The Law of Unintended Consequences
  4
• The Politics of Global Warming
  6

"Yes" Sierra Club

• Science Is on Our Side
  6
• Global Warming’s Impact Is Already Happening
  6
• How Much Damage Will Be Done?
  6
• It’s an Economic Crisis If We Do Nothing
  5
• Even Bush, U.S. Military, British Petroleum, Wal-Mart Agree With Us
  4
• Who Are Today’s Skeptics?
  4

"Yes" NRDC

• The Debate is Over: It's Time For Action
  3
• A Little Historical Perspective
  3
• Global Warming is Changing Today’s World
  4
• For Some, Global Climate Change Means Survival
  2
• Corporations Are Part of the Answer
  2
• A Green Economy Means Job Opportunities
  3
• The Cost of Climate Change: We Need To Act Now
  3

Most Objections

• The Politics of Global Warming
  6
• Global Warming Alarmism
  7
• There Are Benefits from Warmer Temperatures and CO2
  6
• Reports of Environmental Crisis from Global Warming Unfounded
  7
• It’s an Economic Crisis If We Do Nothing
  5
• The Debate is Over: It's Time For Action
  3

Is Global Warming a Crisis?

• Yes
• No

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