Climate science is sufficiently complex and multi-variate to be difficult for us mere mortals to grasp in it's entirety.
The gaps in what passes for climate science are huge. Inconsistencies in the quality of historical temperature records, and atmospheric composition. It is the nature of these scientists to use whatever data they have and form definitive conclusions which over the decades have flip-flopped between global cooling and warming.
We are reasonably capable of taking our current temperature so I do not dispute the claim that we're getting warmer. What I do have issues with are the sweeping conclusions about cause, rate of change, and remedy.
It is a given that our surface temperature is driven by solar output (which varies) and how much of that heat we re-radiate back into space. Upper-atmospheric particulate matter will reflect energy back into space and cause temporary global cooling, like we have measured after major volcanic eruptions. OTOH water vapor (clouds) and the popular bogey man these days CO2, can reduce radiation losses trapping heat in the atmosphere.
The geologic record indicates that we have had warmer and colder periods in the past. It kind of goes with the neighborhood to expect future change too. A larger surprise would be the global temperature not changing over time.
Some well known (Chicago) economists looked at this question years ago and suggested that with our crude understanding of heating/cooling mechanisms we could take direct action to cool or warm the globe by grabbing these known levers and giving a push or pull. I do not advocate doing anything like this yet. IMO we are still bumping around in the dark trying to find our ass let alone know the answers. Climate is very complex so we must be very careful before we mess with mother nature. First do no harm.
The full scale attack on carbon and fossil fuel is consistent with government's universal appetite for power and control over all aspects of the economy. If they can stand up some natural disaster as an avoidable calamity to justify their power grab, the sheeple will think it's all good.
The best I can say is that I do not know with any certainty, but I am pretty damn sure they don't know either. I consider myself relatively capable with science and I have been paying close attention to this for several decades. One of my first jobs back in the '60s was working in a machine shop that supported oceanographic research ships (for Columbia University). These ships would map the ocean floor with a form of sonar, and take cores of the ocean floor which get reviewed later to form a historical record from the sedimentation layers.
We are prudent to invest in researching this further, but the carbon tax and similar strategies just seems like politicians doing what they do. Nobody believes that such a scheme will really do anything more than make people feel better about themselves, while saddling the economy with huge costs from this global guilt trip.
JR
