Global Warming

I have to disagree with a recent letter from Dr. Pfeiffer regarding global warming. He credits C02 as the cause, and blames Alabama Power for most of it. He uses an appeal to authority, "The Supreme Court" and compares it’s importance to the shooting of JFK. A bit over the top on both counts.

First of all, C02 is not a pollutant regardless of what the Supreme court says. It is necessary for life to exist. We exhale it, as does every other form of animal life on the planet. All the plant life on the planet need it to survive. Animals exhale it, plants take it in. So if we eliminate it, all life would die. We need it in the atmosphere. It is a natural and necessary gas, not a pollutant.
Second, the earth was much warmer than today during a period spanning the years 800 - 1300 AD. This was known as the Medieval Warm Period. During this time the Vikings colonized Greenland. They traveled the north Atlantic which was free of ice. They established permanent settlements, and grew crops where it is too cold today. The population exploded in Europe due to the excellent growing seasons, and decreased death rates. It was the best of times thanks to nearly five hundred years of good weather with warm temps. The point here is to recognize that during this time there were NO power plants. No automobiles, no factories producing C02. Yet it was warmer than today. A thinking person would have to conclude that C02 and auto’s are not causing the earth to warm. It is a natural cycle. The production of C02 actually follows the warming, not the other way around.

This period ending abruptly. From the 1300's to approximately 1850 the earth experienced what is called "The Little Ice Age". Surface temps fell by several degrees, and the Viking settlements had to be abandoned due to ice and snow and persistent crop failures. The European continent experienced famine and hard times for several hundred years during which time millions died. Again, man and his power plants were not the cause. Beginning in the 1800's the earth resumed it’s warming. Which has continued from the last major ice age that ended about 10,000 years ago. Been warming ever since, with some set backs here and there.

The amount of warming is greatly exaggerated by folks like Mr. Gore and a willing yet ignorant national news media. Scare tactics make good copy. But when you check the facts you find that from 1880 to 2005, global surface temps have increased by only .7 degrees. And that wasn’t straight up. It never is. From 1880 to 1940 temps increased .4 degrees. From 1940 to 1980 they actually went down .2 degrees. Yet this was a time of our most rapid industrialization. Then from 1980 to 2005 temps increased again by .4 degrees. During the last two years surface temps have again decreased slightly.

So, the point is this. Over time, the earth and the sun conspire to change the climate. Man’s influence on the system is absolutely negligible. The termites of the world put more C02 into the atmosphere than we do. I am no fan of the power company, and yes, they should do all they can to insure clean air. But cause global warming? Nope, they didn’t do it, and neither did my jeep.