Fact-Checking The Most Common Climate Alarmist Claims

Below are a series of fact-checks of the 13 most common climate claims such as those made in the recently released Fourth National Climate Assessment Report.

The authors of these reviews are all recognized experts in the relevant fields.

For each claim, a brief summary of the relevant rebuttal is provided below along with a link to the full text of the rebuttal, which includes the names and the credentials of the authors of each rebuttal.

Climate-Change-Claim Fact-Checks With updates through 07/29/21.

Claim: The globe has experienced among the warmest-ever month or year. This claim is recurrent – often monthly.

Fact Check: These claims are totally unsupported by any credible analysis of raw global surface temperature data and its availability.

Moreover, this Global Average Surface Temperature Data invalidation alone invalidates the EPA 2009 GHG/CO2 Endangerment finding, as well as the subsequent EPA findings, claimed a link between rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations and the other Climate Alarmist claims – which are also independently invalidated below by relevant empirical data.

Thus, all such climate alarmist claims are in reality just politically driven fiction. See details here.

Fact Check as of: 05/02/21

Claim: Heat Waves are more frequent and extreme. Heatwaves kill people and greenhouse gases are to blame.

Fact Check: Heatwaves like cold waves are a normal part of our global climate. Heat Waves have been decreasing since the 1930s in the U.S. and globally. See details here.

See Cliff Mass’s excellent “Flawed Heatwave Report Leads to False Headlines in Major Media Blogpost.  “Last week we witnessed a major failure in science communication regarding the Northwest heatwave. A failure that misinformed you and millions of others, and a failure that highlighted glaring weaknesses in the media’s ability to cover important scientific issues.  And it revealed the disappointing behavior of some members of the scientific community.”

See full detailed analysis here. See this why amplified patterns, a feature of cooling climates, are behind the warm and cold extremes in 2021 here. Cold is the real threat. Cold kills up to 20 times more than heat globally and has disastrous economic impacts. See details here.

Fact Check as of: 07/23/21

Claim: Hurricanes have been increasing in number and/or extremity.

Fact Check: Even with a few very active seasons, the decade just ended was the second quietest for landfalling hurricanes and landfalling major hurricanes in the U.S since the 1850s.

The year 2020 saw a record 30 named storms and many Gulf impacts like the late 1800s and active periods this past century, but the Accumulated Cyclone Energy Index (ACE) ranked only 13th highest in 2020. The 1860s and 1880s had the most landfalling hurricanes and major hurricanes.

See this June 2021 NOAA study that though 2020 was technically a record, modern technology is likely a reason including the ability to see storms over the open oceans of the central and eastern Atlantic with satellites that would not have been seen and counted in the pre-satellite era. See 2020 season similarity to the late 1800s here and global comparisons here. See details here

Fact Check as of: 04/26/21

Claim: Tornadoes have been increasing as the world has warmed due to human influences.

Fact Check: The number of strong tornadoes has declined dramatically over the last half-century. More active months occur when unseasonable cold spring patterns are present. Warmer cycles feature fewer big tornado seasons. The number of strong tornadoes has declined dramatically over the last half-century. More active months occur when unseasonable cold spring patterns are present. See more here.

Fact Check as of: 04/26/21

Claim: Droughts and Floods are becoming more severe worldwide due to global warming.

Fact Check: Droughts and Floods. Droughts and floods here have shown no statistically significant trends. Each year wet and dry areas are seen but their locations change, related to ocean warm and cold pools that drive atmospheric patterns that persist for months at a time. See details here.

Fact Check as of: 04/26/21

Claim: Wildfires are increasing due to drought and increasing heat.

Fact Check: Wildfires diminished very rapidly in size and numbers after the very active 1800s. The increase in damage in recent years is due to population growth in vulnerable areas and poor forest management. See details here. See Australia’s Wildfire story here.  See this analysis that shows how public lands are ablaze but private lands are not because they are properly managed here.

Fact Check as of: 08/05/21

Claim: Snow is decreasing as the earth warms, threatening the winter sports industry.

Fact Check: Snowfall has actually been increasing in the fall and winter in the Northern Hemisphere and North America with many records being set. with many records being set. This has been true not only in mountain areas but even in coastal cities and urban areas where snowfall had been rare. See more here.

Fact Check as of: 04/26/21

Claim: Melting of the glaciers and ice caps are causing sea levels to rise at an alarming rate threatening coastal cities

Fact Check: The rate of global sea-level rise on average has fallen by 40% in the last century. Where today, it is increasing – local factors such as land subsidence are to blame. See details here. See how sea level trends are being adjusted here.

Fact Check as of: 12/26/20

Claim: Ice in the Arctic, Greenland, and Antarctic is melting at an alarming rate.

Fact Check: The polar and glacial ice varies with multidecadal cycles in ocean temperatures. Current levels are comparable to or above historically low levels. Arctic ice returned to higher levels with a very cold winter in 2019/20. Ice was the highest level since 2013. See details here. See update here on the AMO, PDO ocean cycles, solar cycles, and Arctic temperatures.

Fact check as of: 11/02/20

Claim: Climate change is endangering the food supply.

Fact Check: The vitality of global vegetation in both managed and unmanaged ecosystems is better off now than it was a hundred years ago, 50 years ago, or even a mere two-to-three decades ago thanks in part to CO2.

The Greening of the planet has resulted and the Sahara desert has shrunk by 8%. CO2 has reduced the vitality of plant life and reduced the water need. The Greening of the planet has resulted and the Sahara desert has shrunk by 8%. CO2 has reduced the vitality of plant life and reduced the water need. See the update here.

Fact Check as of: 02/06/19

Claim: Carbon pollution is a serious and growing health hazard.

Fact Check: The term “carbon pollution” is a deliberate, ambiguous, disingenuous term, designed to mislead people into thinking carbon dioxide is pollution.

Thanks to the use of clean-burning natural gas and other measures, the amount of particulate matter and other criteria pollutants identified by the EPA has declined over 77% and is well below the standards set.

The United States has now the cleanest air in the world according to NASA and the World Health Organization (WHO). See details here.

Fact Check as of: 08/05/21

Claim: Rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations are causing ocean acidification, which is catastrophically harming marine life.

Fact Check: Ocean acidification (really only slightly reduced alkalinity) is often found to be a non-problem or even a benefit.

Numerous scientific studies have demonstrated the robustness of multiple marine plant and animal species to ocean acidification when they are properly performed under realistic experimental conditions here. See also Peter Ridd’s recent finding of a new Record high Coral Cover of the Great Barrier Reef here.

Fact Check as of: 02/03/19

Claim: There is a 97% Consensus of the world’s scientists that climate change is serious and man-made.

Fact Check: The claim of a 97% scientific consensus is contrived fiction. CO2 is not a pollutant but a beneficial gas, particulate matter is. But as shown above, small and large particulate matter is not an issue. As also shown above all the claims of dangerous effects on the climate are also shown to be exaggerated or outright falsifications. See details here.

Fact Check as of: 08/04/20

See the detailed rebuttals here. Each section details the claim and links to a detailed scientific analysis with supporting graphics and links.

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