Mr Creamer makes the same misleading statement that has even been refuted by some of our climate scientists, such as Prof David Karoly, that burning of coal is making the current floods bigger. The present CO2 levels are 392 ppm, and yet history gives us hotter, wetter, drought conditions, flood conditions and cyclones that are much greater and of a higher frequency of events back over the last 150 years when the CO2 levels were much lower level at around 290ppm.
Recent flooding in Queensland, also brought to light the Bureau of Meteorology records for flooding of much higher levels and of much greater frequency during the 1840s, with at least four major flood events.
During the late 1800s to early 1900s the Federation series of droughts caused hardship, loss of stock and major fires. At this time CO2 levels were below 300ppm.
Then he tells us about the dreaded Greenhouse gas, implying CO2 is acting like a “blanket’ high in the atmosphere. That would be difficult to achieve, as CO2 is heavier than the atmospheric mix, and if the atmosphere was in a steady state, CO2 would accumulate at ground level.
Examples: Carbon dioxide can accumulate in unventilated cellars or in a well, and can kill the unwary due to oxygen deprivation. (heavier than air, concentrations of greater than 5000ppm and low oxygen)
Thankfully the average concentration of CO2 is 392 parts per million, a minute amount in comparison to the breathing out by the average person of 4000ppm. And the atmosphere is not in a steady state, wind blows, the earth turns once every 24 hours (speed at equator 1669.8 klm/hour), the sun warms the earth and the atmosphere as it turns, clouds form and dissipate. Heat is lost to the heatsink of outer space. Constant changes are normal, there is no “blanket’.
La Nina translates from Spanish as “the girl child” , an opposite of Le Nino “ the boy child or The Christ child”, because Le Nino usual starts around Christmas, terminology that has come from Peruvian anchovy fishermen, that found during the warming cycle of Le Nino, the fishing was poor, as compared to the cooling cycle of La Nina, when fishing became richer. The El Nino, La Nina cycle is also known as the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle. These changes result in increased rain and cooler conditions for Australia during a La Nina cycle and warmer and dryer conditions during a Le Nino cycle. These cycles have been around long before Mr Al Gore , Mr Creamer or the industrial revolution.
Even the UN’s IPCC shows doubts about warming causes, with its paper on the Level Of Scientific Understanding (LOSU) shows low level understanding of clouds, aerosols, sun’s radiation, UV radiation, Cosmic rays.
The explanation is far from complete, with recent studies into solar radiation and cosmic rays, by many scientists and the European CERN laboratory, the only consensus is from those that want to commit countries to huge payments for carbon taxes, yet the carbon trading exchanges have failed in the US, and are close to failure in Europe. If we act now, as suggested, we will be in the minority, with the US not committing, Canada bowing out of Kyoto along with Japan, China, India and Russia. These countries have their own scientists, whose studies credit the sun and cosmic rays and not CO2 for much of the warming and cooling phases of the earth.
Geoff Hutchesson
