Local Conservative Voice Hosts a Merchant of Doubt - Part II

"Time after time, history demonstrates that when people don't want to believe something, they have enormous skills of ignoring it altogether." - Jim Butcher, Dead Beat

I stated in the first post of this series that I had emailed a question to Robert Rees - host of the Morning Rush on Cities 92.9 - in the hopes that Robert would pose my question to Steve Goreham, author of Climatism! Science, Common Sense, and the 21st Century's Hottest Topic. Robert did ask my question, and as expected, Goreham either couldn't or wouldn't answer it. Before I reveal the question and Goreham's answer, I'd like to explain the construction of the question itself.

I spent some time reading Goreham's website, trying to get a feel for his position on the issue of global warming. Noticeably absent from his site was any attempt to confront any of the evidence for anthropogenic causes. Basically, it's a website chock full of red herrings, and climate change myths. I even watched an interview Goreham did on Fox News on Oct. 24, 2012, and found him providing much of the same of what he does on his website, like putting emphasis on things that are true, but don't call into question anthropogenic global warming. here's a sampling from that interview:

STUART VARNEY: Have we been had?

STEVE GOREHAM: Absolutely. The world is spending over 250 billion dollars a year to try and decarbonize right now, yet more and more evidence shows that climate change is natural, and man-made influences are very very small.

I couldn't verify Goreham's statement that the world is spending over 250 billion a year on decarbonization, but he is correct that climate change occurs naturally, and man-made influences on climate change are small in comparison to natural processes. But none of those facts calls into question any of the evidence supporting anthropogenic global warming (AGW). Arguing that the climate changes naturally shouldn't be confused with an argument that humans can't influence change, and arguing that our contribution is small shouldn't be confused with an argument that small contributions can't have large consequences. So, in the context of discussing AGW, Goreham's statements are simply red herrings, nothing more.

So in constructing my question, I wanted to put Goreham in a position of having to address some actual evidence, since avoiding it seemed to be his standard operating procedure. For me, this was a test of whether he was even familiar enough with the evidence to be able to address it, which would help to determine whether I was dealing with a skeptic, or a denier. A skeptic being someone who takes into consideration all of the available evidence before drawing conclusions, while a denier starts with a conclusion, and ignores all of the evidence that doesn't advance that conclusion's narrative. Goreham's website contains the signature of a denier.

For my question, I focused on 3 facts, which are as follows:

1. Global Mean Temperature is Rising.

Despite claims to the contrary, the global mean temperature is rising. The evidence for this is extensive, and while there are still those who claim it is not rising, their numbers are dwindling, and the remaining hold outs are ignored even in denier circles.

2. CO2 is Rising in the Atmosphere Due to Human Activities.

We know that CO2 is rising in the atmosphere due to human activities because we know how much CO2 humans produce each year, and we also know the extent of the CO2 that is accumulating in the atmosphere. It turns out that the accumulating amount is about half of what we produce. That means that half of our CO2 is absorbed into the carbon cycle, and the other half offsets a natural balance, thus causing it to increase in the atmosphere. This isn't rocket science. We also know that a natural property of CO2 is heat retention. This isn't rocket science either. More CO2 means more heat retention. QED.

3. Radiation Emitted Into Space at the Same Wavelength as that Given Off by CO2 is Decreasing.

This is something that has been uncovered using satellite measurements. We know enough about CO2 to know the specific wavelength of the heat that it absorbs, and later emits. What has been shown to be happening is that as CO2 in the atmosphere increases, the heat emitted back into space at the same wavelength that is absorbed by CO2 is decreasing. This is direct evidence that the increased heat in the atmosphere is due to the increased CO2 in the atmosphere. Again, not rocket science.

There are many more lines of evidence, but I couldn't possibly squeeze them all into my question, so the ones above were the ones I focused on. With that said, here is the question I emailed to Robert:

Mr. Goreham, you claim there is no empirical evidence for man-made global warming, yet we know empirically that the global mean temperature of the Earth is rising, we also know empirically that CO2 is increasing in the atmosphere due to human activities, and we know empirically that decreasing levels of radiation (heat) are being emitted back into space at the same wavelength as that given off by CO2. The climate science community accepts these facts as empirical evidence of man-made global warming, why don't you, and why is your opinion on the matter relevant, as you have no educational background in any of the fields that study climate?

And here is Steve Goreham's answer:

"Yeah, there's a whole bunch of questions there, and of course, we have had some recent warming, and we have uh, some reduced arctic ice and some other ice, but the important thing for people to remember is that uh, melting is evidence of warming, but not what is causing the warming, and that's where everything breaks down. The link between the tiny man-made emissions relative to the rest of the carbon cycle and to say that's causing all these effects like hurricanes, stronger hurricanes and melting ice, that's where everything breaks down."

So, in response to a question loaded with references to empirical links between man-made CO2 and rising temperatures, Goreham simply says warming isn't evidence of what is causing the warming and downplays the significance of CO2 in the carbon cycle. As expected, his answer doesn't even begin to address the question asked, or speak to any of the evidence. Goreham had the opportunity to put the results of his "research" on full display, but he chose instead to go full dodge. I was now officially convinced that Steve Goreham is not a skeptic, he is a denier. He doesn't know what the evidence is, and probably doesn't care, he just knows that peddling doubt pads his pockets. A real charlatan.

I'll address more of the interview with Robert Rees and Steve Goreham soon. I've contacted some experts regarding some of Goreham's statements, and they've confirmed much of what I suspected. Should be lots of fun.