A simple way to check on the assertions of damage from climate change

Wallace Manheimer

Many have taken the position that the planet is in danger because of carbon dioxide input to the atmosphere caused by burning fossil fuel, they urge us to stop and consider it a moral imperative.  They present specific assertions of the harm this added CO₂ in the atmosphere has done or will do.  But how can anyone check out these claims of this harm, actual or potential?  With the advent of the Internet, it can be as simple as doing a Google (or other search engine) search.   This paper does just that.  There is a tremendous amount of information available at the click of a button.  This data is not at all controversial; it has no political agenda (i.e. there are many charts available, all about the same).  This information is used to check out these claims of gloom and doom.  The data presented here indicates that these claims are either wildly exaggerated, or else concern processes that have been occurring at about the same rate since long before CO₂ in the atmosphere increased.  Furthermore it also emphasizes the fact that the use of fossil fuel has been, and continues to be, the main cornerstone, which has allowed civilization to advance.  It has alleviated abject poverty for billions, and there is no substitute for it at this time.  End the use of fossil fuel, and this worldwide poverty returns.  Thus there is also a strong moral argument for the use of fossil fuel.  If this use of fossil fuel, at some time in the future, does begin to pose a climate risk, the solution is not simply to end it, but rather to balance competing priorities.