What is some proof that Global Warming is natural?

Question

I'm doing a report, and my side is supposed to say that Global Warming is natural. I need facts to back my report up. (websites would be helpful!!!)

P.S. there are facts to support that Global Warming is caused by humans, so i know there has to be some for natural ability.

WEBSITES WOULD BE BEST

Answer 1

Laura, your assertion that the earth has only warmed 3 degrees since the end of the last ice age is exactly the type of mis-information that shows that global warming proponents don't rely on facts for their arguments. You are understating the warming by at least 167%.

The facts is that the earth showed warming of approx. 8*C (14.5*F) from the end of the last ice age. The rise of 0.6*C in the last century is not even the largest in the last 10000 years. Warming (and subsequent cooling) of about 2.75*C in ONE CENTURY was seen approx. 2700 years ago.

Answer 2

One way to suggest proof of warming would be to look to the past to show how climate changes. One example, is the time period of the climate optimum, where the temperature was actually warmer than it was today.

There was also a period, known as the roman warming period, where sea levels were roughly 15 feet higher than today. During that period, it has been observed that olives grew much farther north than they have in recent times.

Look at the transition from the little ice age to present day temperatures. The earth clearly warmed. The climate prior to the little ice age was what allowed the vikings to make it to greenland where they settled, and then were essentially killed off by the sudden cooling of the little ice age. Naturally, the earth has warmed since that period prior to industrialization.

There is a book, called "Unstoppable Global Warming" that suggests a roughly 1500 year warming and cooling cycle driven primarily by the sun's solar output. Some excerpts are in the links below.

This should be a good start I think.

Answer 3

The strongest proof is the planets history of climate shift, changes that took place before human industrialization.

Look up the medieval warm period, it's the most recent major climate shift.

You might also want to look up what a TINY percentage of total green houses gas comes from human activities. Or you could go another direction and show that the connection between CO2 and temperature are actually backwards in the popular global warming myths. Increased temperature causes an increase in CO2.

Or, the during the 4 decades of heaviest industrial growth ( 40s-70s) the average temperature actually went DOWN.

And finally, there is proof that the temperature in the past was much higher than it is now. As shown by fossil evidence of tropical forests in Alaska.

Answer 4

There is a fundamental problem here, basically people who think like lawyers trying to do science. This is, I suppose, an inevitable result of politicization of Global Warming: if you want political action, you've got to do politics, no matter how distasteful.

The right has recently engaged in outright propaganda to further the idea that global warming is not occurring. They engage in ridicule and personal attacks on Al Gore. They bring up irrelevancies, such as the overblown proponents of "global cooling" thirty-five years ago. Further irrelevancies: all of the various natural drivers of global temperature, including solar output, natural greenhouse gases, volcanoes, the end of the ice age, historical warm and cold periods. The main thrust of their argument is the idea that "CO2 is not proven to be a greenhouse gas", and they base this argument on lack of evidence for CO2 as a positive temperature driver in the fossil record (lack of evidence is not evidence of lack). Of course CO2 certainly *is* a greenhouse gas, but the physics behind this assertion is complicated and therefore dismissible.

This site should be very helpful:

Answer 5

My favorite proof is that at the end of the Wisconsonian Stage of the Pleistocene Epoch there was 10,000 feet of ice on top of Wisconsin. Maybe it has all melted because Prometheus gave fire to mankind, but I doubt it. For the last 1.6 million years the Earth has been in a rare period of Global Cooling, with three stages of glaciation occurring. Most proponents of Global Warming never consider the fact that the Earth is on average warmer than it is now, and that ice, even at the polar regions is rare. Geoscientists do not understand why Pleistocene glaciation occurred, nor can they predict if another round of glaciation is imminent. If so, I doubt the residents of Milwaukee would like two miles of ice on top of their homes.

Answer 6

That's easy. Have you ever heard of the ice age? Well there has been more than one. New York was buried under a mile of ice at various times in the past.

Where did the ice go? It melted.
Why did it melt? Global warming.

Did humans cause global warming 15,000 years ago? No, there were far fewer people and no gas guzzling machines. Thus, that warming was natural.

Answer 7

Volcanoes produce greenhouse gases naturally - they always have and they always will. In fact the most common gases that vent out of volcanoes and hot springs are H2O and CO2 (these are the most efficient greenhouse gases). In fact, if it weren’t for some amount of natural greenhouse global warming we could not have evolved here at all. There are many evidences of past (pre-industrial revolution, pre-human) climate variations caused by Earth’s orbital variations (do a web search for Milankovitch Cycles). There are also evidences of past volcanic activity causing sudden global warming episodes (do a web search for volcano dinosaur extinction). However, keep mind that you should be very careful using web information resources on this subject. It’s such a heated topic, with so many political and cultural ramifications, that there are many sources of misinformation out there.
Good luck.

Answer 8

Well, global warming IS natural(in a very minuscule amount)....however, humans are intensifying the fact. The idea that glaciers have subsided and the findings of fossils of sea creatures in places that are now land are a couple of pieces of evidence suggesting that warming is a natural process as this took place before humans corrupted the environment...HOWEVER....the earth has warmed .6*C or 1*F in the last 100 years. This may seem like a small number but in comparison, the temp of the earth only rose 3* between the ice age and 100 years ago......

Answer 9

The last ice age is a good starting point. Compere the ice age temps with today's temps and the amount of human CO2 input. Sure there has been an increase in CO2 by humans but that doesn't give a cause for the end of the ice age.

Answer 10

global warming is natural to some extent... but what would happen over lets say 1000 years is now happening over a few decades were speeding up the process... and the people that don't get this don't want to see it cause they refuse to believe that they/we are the reason for this problem