Climate denialists are still out there, still spruiking their dotty denial of basic science. But Exxon knew about the risks of global warming way back in 1982. And proceeded to fund denialist websites, politicians, and stinktanks. Their disgraceful lies and propaganda were then picked up by the hate-for-hire politicians and the toxic sludge of right-wing media, such as the Murdochcracy. So successful have these malignant low-lifes been that there are still some ordinary folk who believe that the science isn't settled (it is) and that transitioning to a carbon-free economy will cause economic collapse (it won't, whereas inactivity on climate will). But Exxon's scientists got it exactly right. They forecast that CO₂ would reach 415 parts per million (ppm) by 2020 (the highest in 3 million years.) And it has. They forecast the consequent global temperature rise of 0.9 degrees C. And we reached that in 2017.
Next time someone tells you that the models haven't correctly predicted global temperatures, point out that the earliest model, by the scientists at an oil company, got it right.
From
Climate Denialist Crock of the Week (Peter Sinclair)
For the record, here's what actually happened to the temperature since 1970:
No comments:
Post a Comment