Climate Sceptics are quite devious – they rarely lie, choosing instead to use true facts to “prove” their point, being always careful of course to mask the context of what they say sufficiently to make it seem that climate change is some kind of hoax.

One classic example recently posted was the true assertion that carbon dioxide makes up only about 0.05% of the Earth’s atmosphere. What followed however was the assertion that this fact made it impossible for increases in carbon dioxide to cause climate change. This is of course rubbish – as anyone who knows even the basics about the chemistry of gases could tell you.

The fact is that the three most common gases in the atmosphere; nitrogen, oxygen (in it’s O2 form) and argon, do not interact with infra-red radiation. The “green house effect” of almost 100% of the Earth’s atmosphere is just about zero!

The fourth most common gas in the atmosphere is carbon dioxide, and it is this gas that is responsible for the bulk of the “greenhouse effect” which keeps the Earth about 15 degrees centigrade warmer than it would otherwise be. As we increase the amount of carbon dioxide in the air (by taking carbon out of the ground and burning it so that it combines with oxygen to make CO2) we are making this effect greater - with disastrous consequences.

I think we need to have some kind of “rapid response unit” of people who think its important to tell the truth about climate change, and who keep an eye out for when climate change sceptics publish their dangerous nonsense. I have better things to do than refute their stuff all the time, but I can do the odd shift.

If anyone wants to be on this team, let me know and we’ll draw up a rota.

Thanx

Sam