Global Warming
“There is no global warming or cooling, period. The Earth’s warming and cooling is self-regulated. Studies that purport to show a warming or cooling trend do not apply to the world in which we live because they are based upon an erroneous assumption.” – Roger Thoney.
I am a registered professional engineer. Engineers bridge the gap between theory and reality, routinely dealing with the application of theory in the real world. I also have a strong background in statistical analysis and method. I became suspicious of claims of global warming when I heard about studies that seemed to tie everything happening in the world to global warming. I decided to conduct my own investigation. The following is the result of that investigation.
1. The Earth’s warming and cooling is self-regulated. This self-regulating process is described by the thermodynamic principles that “all bodies radiate energy at a rate that is directly proportional to temperature raised to the fourth power.” When the atmosphere absorbs energy, its mass radiates energy at a faster rate until it cools. If it is too cool, then the rate of radiation slows until it warms. [A body warms because it absorbs energy; so thermodynamics, the study of energy transfer, is the body of scientific knowledge that applies to “global warming.”]
2. The very notion of a global temperature, or “average Earth temperature,” is inconsistent with the Thermodynamic Definition of Temperature, the definition of temperature upon which science is based. The concept temperature, by definition, only has meaning for a body or system that is in thermodynamic equilibrium. The Earth is not in thermodynamic equilibrium. We would not have changing wind and ocean currents and varying temperatures throughout the air, water, and ground if it were. [Thermal equilibrium (having the same temperature throughout) is a necessary condition of thermodynamic equilibrium.] The very concept of an “average Earth temperature” has no meaning in physical science. Something that does not exist cannot rise or fall.
3. It follows from the definition of temperature that the average value of temperature readings taken from points not in equilibrium is meaningless. For example, your body temperature may be 98 degrees while mine is 102. Our average temperature is 100 degrees, but what does that mean? Nothing, absolutely nothing. Studies that show a warming or cooling trend take temperature readings from points not in equilibrium, average them, and then perform mathematical operations on the averages. They take meaningless data and produce results that have no application to the real world whatsoever.
4. Researchers address this problem of meaning by assuming that the Earth can be modeled “as if it were” in thermodynamic equilibrium. This is a statistically-based assumption that relies upon a line of reasoning that invokes the principle of large numbers for its legitimacy. This assumption gives meaning to the average temperature values that are used as inputs by the computer models; but it is an erroneous assumption in relation to the real world because the Earth is not in thermodynamic equilibrium.
The bottom line is that global warming researchers take meaningless data in the real world and try to make it meaningful by assumption. Their belief in global warming is due solely to making this assumption. Without it, their data and claims are meaningless. Global warming exists, in essence, simply because researchers assume that it does. This speaks to research method and rigor.
This “massaging of meaning” may be acceptable within the scientific and academic worlds; but it separates their studies from the real world, making them meaningless manipulations of numbers in regard to their application to the world in which we live. They are good examples of computer GIGO (garbage in, garbage out) because, in reality, they are based upon meaningless data. If real-world engineers made assumptions like this, then planes might not fly, bridges might collapse under load, and buildings might fall under their own weight
5. Dispelling the Fear of Global Flooding. It is physically impossible to melt all of the ice in Antarctica with its current orientation relative to the sun. See Global Warming Exposed: A Brief Summary for details.
Claims of global warming or cooling have absolutely no application to the world in which we live because the supporting studies are not consistent with basic principles of science and are entirely dependent upon an erroneous assumption. Taxpayers paid hard-earned money to fund many of these studies. What did they get for their money? Why should they continue to fund research studies that have no application to the real world because of the assumptions that researchers make?
It is time for the scientific and academic communities to initiate a research stand-down and re-assess their method and assumptions. If they intend their work to apply to the real world; then they are obligated, as professionals, to ascertain the cumulative effect of their assumptions on their results. At a minimum, they should address the question “Are my results due to the assumptions I made or are they due to a real relationship?” Their credibility rests upon this.