Paul Kelly writes of middle-class climate moralism (Weekend Australian 23/2/10). I am a geologist and therefore a scientist; I am on a pension supplemented by a reverse mortgage. I am a conservative voter and might be ‘middle-class’.
My messages to the ‘middle class’ are these. Assuming that many of you are not scientists, do not trust the words of every scientist. Some say what they say because their continued salary and status depends on the support of global catastrophism.
Skeptical scientists are sacked because of their views, which is why many are self-employed or choose not to speak the real truth until they retire. You can believe that carbon dioxide is your friend, not your enemy, and is a non-polluting gas that is essential to all life on this planet.
It exists in our atmosphere in very small quantities, together with much larger quantities of water vapour, which is also a so-called ‘greenhouse gas’ that has zero negative consequences for our well-being.
Hundreds of factual data graphs from Antarctica to Iceland to Japan and to buoys in a channel in San Francisco Bay show NO global warming whatsoever for the past 50 years or more, so the push for emissions control and renewables is nothing more than a feel-good fad, albeit one which has the potential to crucify this nation economically.
If you want a grand future for your children, then do everything possible to return this country to what it once possessed – the lowest cost energy in the world, based on the blessings of fossil fuels.
Geoff Derrick
February 25, 2019
ABIX 
First, his claim that there is “no global warming measured in the last 50 years” is demonstrably false. The last few years have been measured as the hottest ever by every meteorological organisation in the world. The factual graphs ALL show significant warming. The NASA GISTEMP, the United Kingdoms HadCRUT and the Berkeley University’s Earth Surface Temperatures (BEST), are all in complete agreement – The global atmosphere IS warming. I wonder exactly what measurements he is looking at.
Second, his claim that because CO2 is a nutrient therefore it is a good thing. Sorry, but just because a little is good for a plant does mean mean that more is better. Plants can only take up so much, depending on the available water and fertilizers. I have killed more plants by too much fertilizer than I ever have from too little.
Thirdly, there’s the comment about CO2 existing in tiny quantities, an unscientific argument if ever there was. If Geoff was really a scientist he would understand that tiny amounts can be very significant. The atmosphere is very big, so the current level 410 parts per million CO2 still represents a huge amount of radiation absorbing potential. CO2 stays up in the atmosphere for thousands of years, water vapour falls as rain.
The recent droughts and flood demonstrate that the fundamental predictions made by Global Warming experts like James Hansen are coming true. A 2 year drought in the 2010s is much more severe than a 2 year drought would have been in the 1950s because of higher average temperatures resulting in more evaporation. Then, when it does rain, we get heavier downpours that results in flooding and erosion, rather than the steady soaking rain that farmers need. This is because a warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture for longer.
Statements to the effect that Australia has always had droughts and floods take no account of the increasing intensity brought about by a more energetic atmosphere.
But the science isn’t settled is it? Well of course not. No science is ever really settled. The theory of gravity isn’t even settled, if it were exactly as Newton and Einstein propose then the galaxies would fly apart. That’s why they built the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland, to find the missing mass. But we still put one foot in front of the other and go about our lives. The point is that the science is settled enough.
Derricks comments are truly in denial of well-documented and verified facts.
regards,
Stephen