In case you haven’t noticed, it is interesting that what used to be irrefutable evidence of human-caused “global-warming” is now irrefutable evidence of “climate change”; and–instead of “warming”–the earth is now “cooling”.1 And it’s interesting that while Barack Obama claimed in 2014 that 97% of scientists agreed that “climate change is real, man-made, and dangerous,” a subsequent petition signed by 31,000 scientists said, “There is no scientific evidence that human activity has caused or will cause catastrophic heating of Earth’s atmosphere or disruption of Earth’s climate”.2 Data from NASA, NOAA, and other scientific organizations say the world warmed 0.36°F from 1979 to 2014. However, the bulk of that warming occurred between 1979 and 1998; temperatures have dropped ever since and Earth is 1.08°F cooler than it was in 1998.3
So, what does cause “Climate Change?” It’s cycles of the Sun…Solar cycles. There are times when the Sun gets hotter and times when it cools off, as measured by “Sunspots”. Solar cycles are–bar none–the most devastating argument against man-made “global warming”.3 The Sun is 1.3 million times larger than the Earth; when its temperature changes, our temperature changes. Earth’s distance from the Sun enables it to sustain life, but it must have CO2 (plants need it to complete photosynthesis), oxygen (it is essential to the life of animals), and surface warmth (without CO2, the Earth’s surface would be frozen). Temporarily, Earth’s atmospheric CO2 is rising, but that is not unexpected; Earth has seen and solved such cycles for a very long time.4 The Greenland Ice Core Records for the last 10,000 years show that global warming is due to the repeat of the “Warm Period Cycle”—based on Earth’s 100,000-year Milankovitch Cycle related to Earth’s orbit around the sun.5 CO2 isn’t the culprit, the Warming Period is the true cause of increasing temperatures on Earth.5
The world experiences a normal ebb and flow of climate changes, but–unfortunately–it has become politically popular to make human activities the reason and the culprit. As an example, the latest finger-pointing is a theory advanced by University College of London that European colonization of North, Central, and South Americas resulted in the killing of so many native people that it transformed the environment by reducing atmospheric CO2, cooling the planet, dropping Earth’s temperature by 1.5°C, and causing the “Little Ice Age” of 1300 AD to 1850 AD.6 Fact is though, the Greenland Ice Core Records reveal that Earth’s temperature was completely independent from Earth’s atmospheric levels of CO2 which changed only from 273 ppm, to 283 ppm, over a 4,000 year period surrounding those events.5, 6
To convince the rest of the world, activists of late have focused laser-like on the (alleged) impact of livestock production on climate change, arguing that if only we would all stop eating meat and dairy products we’d qualify as planetary saviors—as if that’s the most important action people could take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.7 It all started when the United Nations issued “Livestock’s Long Shadow” in 20068 and “The High (Greenhouse Gas) Cost Of Meat” in 20139 which focused attention on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions generated by livestock. The choice of titles and the choice of wording in a summary statement were intentionally biased. For example, the second report concluded, “Worldwide, meat production emits 14.5% of all atmospheric GHGs–more than do all other forms of global transportation or commercial activity.” By saying “all other forms” rather than “any other form,” critics interpreted that sentence to say “more than all other forms combined”. Plus, the critics interpreted “Worldwide” to mean “everywhere” in the world–which is not the case. The US EPA10 has determined that–of Total GHG emissions in the United States–31% comes from generation of electricity, 27% is generated by the transportation sector, and 4.2% is a byproduct of livestock production.
The United Nations went after livestock because they wanted to avoid confrontation with the energy and transportation sectors. Many of those who work at the United Nations and some members of the Obama Administration wanted to use the 2006 and 2013 UN reports plus the Paris Climate Accord as vehicles of “worldwide monetary re-distribution”—i.e., taking wealth from the industrialized nations and giving it to the lesser-developed countries. They saw the UN as the tax collector and the distributor of the newfound wealth. The Paris Climate Accord is all about empowering the United Nations, and has nothing to do with the climate.11 The Paris Climate Accord is a money grab; Obama pledged that the US would pay 2% of our GDP to other countries for our sins of being industrialized.12 Climate-change activists believe that reducing meat consumption is the answer to reducing GHG emissions because it affects their lifestyles less than changing their traveling habits, use of plastics, or dealing with the discomfort of a home that is slightly too cold in the winter or too warm in the summer.13 If one truly wishes to reduce their personal GHG contributions, they should travel less, use less electricity, and walk more. Frank Mitloehner (UC-Davis) said, “In short; Yes; what we eat matters environmentally, but it pales in comparison to what we drive, and how we use electricity. So, have a burger. Just make sure you walk to the restaurant.14 Nevertheless, a parade of candidates for the Democrat Party’s nominee to be the next US President identified “meat” as one of the things they would ban if elected to the position.15
In 1975, we were told by “experts” that Earth was cooling; it didn’t happen. We’ve lately been told that we must prevent Earth’s temperature from rising 1°F; to do that, Earth’s human inhabitants would need to commit to using no cars, no planes, and no electricity for the next 33 years.16 It would take many years to raise Earth’s temperature 1°F, but–if it did–it would be beneficial because it would allow us to farm in geographic areas that are further north in North America, Asia, and Europe.16
Much of the climate “science” is political ideology dressed up as science. The Institute of Public Affairs says that even with a significant increase in industrial emissions of CO2, there has been no increase in global atmospheric temperature over the past 17 years.17 Scientists agree that Earth’s weather has changed repeatedly throughout geologic time–long before an increase in CO2. NOAA, NASA, and UN-IPCC based their predictions on computer models with no actual confirmatory data.17 Climate models are not evidence; at best, they offer scenarios of what might happen if their assumptions are correct. Shortly after John Casey3 and John Coleman11 exposed the truth about “global warming,” thousands of emails and documents from “leading global-warming scientists were found…revealing potential conspiracies, collusions, data manipulation, destruction of information, and even admission of flaws that had been buried.18
The vegan/vegetarian anti-meat activists are using Climate Change as their new cudgel, portraying the idea that livestock production is to blame for a lion’s-share of the contributions to total GHG emissions. Their argument suggests that the solution is to limit meat consumption, starting with “Meatless Mondays,” which would show a significant impact on Total GHG emissions.19 EPA (2016) quantified the impact of livestock activities in the US, and found that it accounted for 4.2% of all US GHG emissions–very far from the 18% to 51% that others cite. Comparing the 4.2% to the 27% from the Transportation Sector, or the 31% from the Energy Sector, in the USA, brings it into perspective.20 A “Meatless Monday” per week would cut Total GHG emissions by 0.6% annually; a “Beefless Monday” would cut Total GHG emissions by 0.3% annually.19 Research shows that if every American went vegan, US GHG emissions would only drop 2.5%, and it would create a US food supply incapable of supporting the nutrient requirements of the US population.21
So, where does the carbon dioxide really come from? EPA (2016) identified kinds and proportions of US greenhouse gases as: (a) Fluorinated Gases (3%), (b), Nitrous Oxide (6%), (c) Methane (10%), and (d) Carbon Dioxide (82%).10 Volcanoes, created by the sliding of techtonic plates (geological events dealing with the faulting and folding of the planet’s surface), supply the Earth’s CO2.4 Volcanoes are the key components of the Earth’s thermostat—keeping the CO2 content on Earth’s surface at levels necessary to support life—and making the Earth hotter.4 And, if we don’t have enough CO2, we have no oxygen, and living animals (like us) cannot exist.4 In California, according to the California Air Resources Board–GHG emissions from beef cattle alone produce 0.007% while beef cattle plus dairy cattle produce 0.05%, of all California GHG emissions. Wildfires are the largest contributors to California’s GHG emissions–larger than that from the Transportation Sector and Electricity Generation Sector combined.22
But here’s the bombshell: (a) The recent volcanic eruption in Iceland, in just 4 days, negated every single effort that all of us have made in the past 5 years to control CO2. (b) There are about 200 volcanoes on planet Earth—spewing out CO2…every day. (c) When Mount Pinatubo (in 1991, in the Philippines) erupted, it spewed out more GHGs than the human race had emitted in all of humans’ years on Earth. (d) Isn’t it interesting how the supposed “experts” don’t mention “Global Warming” anymore, but just “Climate Change”; it’s because the planet has cooled by 0.7 degrees in the past century and these “Global Warming” advocates got caught with their pants down.23
REFERENCES:
1 Plimer, Ian. 2019. Climate Change: The Facts. University of Adelaide (Australia).
2 Wall Street Journal. 2014. May Edition.
3 Casey, John. 2014. Dark Winter. Accessed September 8, 2019.
4 The Weather Channel. December 22, 2019.
5 Hamilton, C. J. 2019. The Australian. October 15 Issue.
6 Milman, Oliver. 2020. The Guardian. March Edition.
7 Murphy, Dan. 2019. Drovers. May 10 Issue.
8 Gerber et al. 2006. Livestock’s Long Shadow. FAO-United Nations.
9 Gerber et al. 2013. The High (Greenhouse Gas) Cost Of Meat. FAO-United Nations.
10 Environmental Protection Agency. 2016. Total US Greenhouse Gas Emissions.
11 Coleman, John. 2016. USA Today. April 22 Issue.
12 Fox News. 2015. October 30 Issue.
13 Murphy, Dan. 2018. Drovers. July 27 Issue.
14 Bricher, Julie Larson. 2018. Meatingplace. March 23 Issue.
15 Ingraham, Laura. 2019. Fox News. September 5 Issue.
16 Monkton, C. and R. Litton. 2019. Fox News. October 30 Issue.
17 Graves, Mack. 2019. Meatingplace. September 19 Issue.
18 Keefe, Lisa. 2016. Meatingplace. October Edition.
19 Mitloehner, Frank. 2016. University of California-Davis. April 27 Issue.
20 Van Eenannaam, Alison. 2018. The Conversation. October 24 Issue.
21 Azain, Michael. 2018. American Society of Animal Science. January 28 Issue.
22 California Cattlemen’s Association. 2019. February 13 Issue.
23 Plimer, Ian. 2019. University of Melbourne (Australia). February 20 Issue.
(NOTE: Ian Plimer PhD is an Australian geologist, Professor Emeritus of Earth Sciences at the University of Melbourne and at the University of Adelaide.)
