Table of Contents
Acknowledgments v
Foreword vi
List of Figures xi
Introduction: Climate Science and the Non-Expert Problem 1
I Global Warming - The Basics 3
1 Greenhouse Gases - Our Security Blanket 3
Summary - Greenhouse Gases 7
2 Carbon Dioxide - The Foundation of Life, the Food of Plants 8
CO2: The Basics 9
Earth's Carbon Dioxide History 11
Is 400 PPM Really a CO2 Tipping Point? 17
The Social Benefits of Increasing Carbon 18
Summary - CO2 and Humankind 21
3 Temperature - A Question of Degree 23
The Hockey-Stick Graph and 'Unprecedented' Global Warming 23
Why the 'Hockey-Stick' Graph Matters 25
Modern Instrumental Data 27
Some Important Charts 33
Stepping Millions of Years Back in Time 42
Climate Models: Accurate, Inaccurate or Useless? 46
The Ice-Man Cometh - Is Another Ice Age on its Way? 49
Climate and Culture: Very Good and Very Bad 51
Summary 56
II Apocalypse? No! - Climate Apocalypse Myths 57
"97% Consensus" - What Consensus? 59
Water, Water Everywhere - How Droughts are Declining 65
Forest Fires - Fanning the Flames of Needless Panic 71
Famine: The Best Solution is More CO2 and Increasing Temperature 74
Heat and Life, Cold and Death 80
In a Whirl About Tornadoes 89
Hurricanes - Politicizing Tragedy 93
Polar Bears are Doing Just Fine, Thank You 98
Ocean Acidity - Climate pHraud 103
Sea-Level Rise - King Canute Couldn't Stop It - Nor Can We 113
Summary - The Benefits of Principled Inaction 122
List of Inconvenient Facts 124
References 129