Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
CLIMATE DISHONESTY: EXTREME MISREPRESENTATION ABOUT EXTREME
WEATHER
As predictions of extreme global warming have completely failed to materialize, there has been more of
an emphasis on extreme weather as a reason to oppose fossil fuels. But this is misleading. The prediction
of catastrophic climate change is based on the idea that
warming
will cause extreme weather.
Figure 4.4: Storm Energy Is Normal
Source: Maue (2011, updated June 2014)
And the data bear this out. As might be expected, given that there has been little warming, there has
been little change in the trends of various types of storms. For example, here are the most up-to-date data
as of mid-2014 on “Accumulated Cyclone Energy,” which is what would need to increase if the frequency
and/or intensity of storms were to increase. As the data show, this is, like most things in climate, a dynamic
variable—one that shows no dramatic changes recently. There is theoretical debate about how this would
change if it had been warming dramatically—but it hasn't been warming dramatically.
Unfortunately, because people have been led to believe that CO
2
somehow causes climate change
in
addition to,
not as a consequence of, global warming, it seems plausible to blame individual hurricanes
on CO
2
, even though the temperatures haven't increased. It is disingenuous for climate activists to blame
