Ideas for High School Projects on Climate Alarmism and the CO2 Scare

Lots of ideas for high school projects on the CO2 Scare could be plucked from this video by discerning teachers: three penetrating thinkers and analysts on climate variation (and the current alarmism around it) - Ross McKitrick, Steve McIntyre, and Anthony Watts talking good sense, aided and abetted by Mark Steyn, a penetrating thinker and analyst of current affairs - as well as a lively chairman of this discussion:

See:  https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/11/27/apocalypse-deferred/

And from the comments on that post, here is a link to a video with more explicitly highlighted ideas here for senior pupils doing projects on climate alarmism:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUVqZKBMF7o&feature=youtu.be

(hat-tip: CO2 is Life,  https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/11/27/apocalypse-deferred/#comment-2856368)

And for pupils doing a project on English lit and climate change, or journalism and climate, might well find inspiration here:

https://www.thegwpf.org/content/uploads/2017/07/Clive-James.pdf

And to mark the recent passing of Clive James, here is a relevant poem of his:

Imminent Catastrophe

The imminent catastrophe goes on
Not showing many signs of happening.
The ice at the North Pole that should be gone
By now, is awkwardly still lingering,
And though sometimes the weather is extreme
It seems no more so than when we were young
Who soon will hear no more of this grim theme
Reiterated in the special tongue
Of manufactured fright. Sea Level Rise
Will be here soon and could do such-and-such,
Say tenured pundits with unblinking eyes.
Continuing to not go up by much,
The sea supports the sceptics, but they, too,
Lapse into oratory when they predict
The sure collapse of the alarmist view
Like a house of cards, for they could not have picked
A metaphor less suited to their wish.
A house of cards subsides with just a sigh
And all the cards are still there.
Feverish Talk of apocalypse might, by and by,
Die down, but the deep anguish will persist.
His death, and not the Earth’s, is the true fear
That motivates the doomsday fantasist:
There can be no world if he is not here.
        -- Clive James, The Times, 17 March 2016

[This grand wee poem was also published on this blog in March, 2016:
https://climatelessons.blogspot.com/p/climate-culture-poetry-and-song-from.html]

Climate Sense from a Politician - let your children see this

Aussie MP Rubbishes Climate Emergency Myth.

That invaluable blog, 'Not a Lot of People Know That', has an embedded video of an Australian politician making some telling points about a climate emergency which has become as fashionable as it is unfounded:

https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2019/11/21/aussie-mp-rubbishes-climate-emergency-myth/

More of this please.  Will schoolteachers dare use this short video clip in class?  Let us hope there are still some in that profession who value reality over ideology, and dislike scaremongering about CO2.

Addenda
For more by way of chapter and verse, with lots of illustrations, about there not being a 'climate emergency' try:  https://realclimatescience.com/2019/11/there-is-no-climate-crisis/
'There is no climate crisis, but there is a crisis of climate superstition, fraud, incompetence, and censorship.  And it is being used to terrify children and threaten the future of western civilization.'
(hat-tip: http://climatescience.blogspot.com/2019/11/there-is-no-climate-crisis-and-heres.html)

Or, if you prefer video, here is a good one on this topic by the same author:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8455KEDitpU&feature=youtu.be
(hat-tip: Greenie Watch)

We need to protect children from Climate Chicken Littles

Jim Steele: 

'By perpetuating bogus claims of a world ending in 12 years, the Chicken Littles are doing far more harm than blinding children to scientific evidence that many species, from polar bears to Adelie penguins, are thriving. Our children miss the “important lesson” that a “climate crisis” is only a theory supported by scary narratives, not facts. So how do we protect our children from Chicken Littles who seek to enroll vulnerable minds into their doomsday cults? How do we motivate our children to be good critical thinkers, and not blind group thinkers mesmerized by fear and ‘end of the earth’ scenarios? 

Foxy Loxy invites Chicken Little into the "safety" of his den

We tell children fairy tales to alert them to the real dangers, such as Crying Wolf. In the original Chicken Little tale,  Foxy Loxy offered Chicken Little and friends the shelter of his den so they would be safe from the falling sky. Once inside Foxy's den, they were never heard from again!'

Source: http://perhapsallnatural.blogspot.com/2019/10/chicken-littles-vs-adelie-penguins.html   This post also contains details of climate-scare-deranged 'science' about Adelie penguins.

Jason D Hill's OPEN LETTER TO GRETA THUNBERG

I usually put open letters on climate matters on this Page only:
https://climatelessons.blogspot.com/p/climate-wisdom-open-letters-and.html

But in view of poor Greta's impact on young, and other vulnerable or poorly informed people, I think it deserves a post of its own.  Some extracts follow:

An Open Letter to Greta Thunberg

You are not a moral leader. But I will tell you what you are.

Mon Nov 11, 2019 

Jason D. Hill

 

385

Greta Thunberg:

You have declared yourself a leader and said that your generation will start a revolution. You have comported yourself as a credentialed adult and climate change activist who has fearlessly addressed politicians and world leaders. You have dropped out of school and declared that there isn’t any reason to attend, or any reason for you to study since there will be no future for you to inherit. You have, rather than attend your classes, been leading Friday Climate Strikes for all students in your generation across the globe. Your attendance at oil pipelines has been striking. There, you unequivocally declare that all oil needs to remain in the ground where it belongs.

I shall, therefore, against the backdrop of your activism, address you as an adult rather than as a child.

...

There are a few things that we, the rational adults of the world who are not bowing to you like guilt-ridden obsequious Babbitts need to say to you, Greta.

First, we did not rob you of your childhood or of your dreams. You are the legatee of a magnificent technological civilization which my generation and the one before it and several others preceding it all the way to the Industrial Revolution and the Renaissance, bequeathed to you. That growth-driven, capitalist technological civilization has created the conditions for you to harangue us over our betrayal. It is a civilization that eradicated diseases such as small pox from the word, and that lifted millions out of abject poverty in a universe you think is dying and decaying. It assured you a life expectancy that exceeded that of your ancestors. Most likely by focusing on economic growth which you demonize, and scientific advancement, that civilization will further enhance a robust quality of life and health for your descendants.

Here is a hard truth to ponder, Greta: if the great producers of this world whom you excoriate were to withdraw their productivity, wealth and talents—in short—their minds from the world today, your generation would simply perish. Why? Because as children you have done nothing as yet, with your lives besides being born. This is what we expect of children until such time as they can be producers by learning from their elders. You are understandably social and ecological ballast. You are not yet cognitively advanced to replicate the structures of survival of which you are the beneficiaries.

Children are important installments on the future. We have invested in you. It is you and your smug generation which think they have nothing to learn from the older ones who are failing themselves. Whom do you expect to employ the majority of you if you have neither the job credentials or life competency skills to navigate the world? The future unemployable-skipping- school-on-Friday obstreperous children?

The truth, as one anonymous blogger aptly put it, is that your generation is unable to work up to forty hours per week without being chronically depressed and anxious. Its members cannot even decide if they want to be a boy or a girl, or both, or neither, or a “they.” They cannot eat meat without crying. I might add that your generation needs “trigger warnings” and “safe spaces” as pre-conditions for learning in school. Its members have a pathological need to be coddled and protected from the challenging realities of life. Your generation is the biggest demander and consumer of carbon spewing technological gadgets and devices. An hour without any of them and too many of you succumb to paralyzing lethargy. Your generation is the least curious and most insular set of individuals one has ever encountered. Your hubris extends so far that you think you have nothing to learn from your elders.

Yes, we have betrayed you: by capitulating the world of leadership to bored, attention-deficit children who spout bromides, platitudes and slogans that a rudderless and morally relativistic culture accepts because a significant number of its denizens have become intellectually bankrupt and morally lazy.

...

Read the full letter here:    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2019/11/open-letter-greta-thunberg-jason-d-hill/
(hat-tip: Instapundit)

Climate Scare Warning - New Assault on Children's Minds Imminent

'On Nov. 20-21, 2019, in schools around the world, for ages down to kindergarten, Al Gore's "Climate Reality" group plans to give presentations based on Gore's highly fraudulent "Truth in 10" slideshow. '

Tom Nelson is drawing attention to a new threat to the well-being of children around the world - a new Gore-developed presentation designed to alarm and to upset.  Here is some of the promotion for it on Al Gore's own blog:

'The climate crisis affects all of us. And it’s up to all of us to solve it.

That is why Al Gore created the Truth in 10 slideshow, a 10-minute presentation that will help you spread a simple message to your community: the climate crisis is urgent, but the solutions are at hand.

Download the presentation, personalize it, practice it at home, and then go out and deliver it. Start with your friends, your family, your school, your house of worship, your business or community center.'

Tom's reaction:  'I think as many skeptics as possible should check out the map here. If a presentation is scheduled at a local school, please take the time to write a complaint letter.  (Please let me know via DM, email, or comment here if you do some pushback).'

Given Al Gore's poor track record on climate, this is not good news.  I daresay he may be hoping to ride on the new waves of publicity being generated by Extinction Rebellion.  These are political initiatives employing blatant scaremongering, and as such should have no place in schools.

Note added 7/11/19.  A recent report on the harm being done to children by such people:   https://www.breitbart.com/environment/2019/09/17/epidemic-of-kids-treated-for-eco-anxiety-over-climate-change/

Parents of Climate-Scared Youngsters should Read This: 'there is no climate emergency'

Some children and young people are obviously genuinely scared by the climate propaganda they have been exposed to by their teachers and others who should've known better.   Being scared about the future is a rotten way to move towards the world of work and achievement.  These youngsters urgently need our help.  Getting them to read the declaration below would be an easy start to what may be a long process:

'There is no climate emergency

A global network of 500 scientists and professionals has prepared this urgent message. Climate science should be less political, while climate policies should be more scientific. Scientists should openly address the uncertainties and exaggerations in their predictions of global warming, while politicians should dispassionately count the real benefits as well as the imagined costs of adaptation to global warming, and the real costs as well as the imagined benefits of mitigation.

Natural as well as anthropogenic factors cause warming

The geological archive reveals that Earth’s climate has varied as long as the planet has existed, with natural cold and warm phases. The Little Ice Age ended as recently as 1850. Therefore, it is no surprise that we now are experiencing a period of warming.

Warming is far slower than predicted

The world has warmed at less than half the originally-predicted rate, and at less than half the rate to be expected on the basis of net anthropogenic forcing and radiative imbalance. It tells us that we are far from understanding climate change.

Climate policy relies on inadequate models

Climate models have many shortcomings and are not remotely plausible as policy tools. Moreover, they most likely exaggerate the effect of greenhouse gases such as CO2. In addition, they ignore the fact that enriching the atmosphere with CO2 is beneficial.

CO2 is plant food, the basis of all life on Earth

CO2 is not a pollutant. It is essential to all life on Earth. Photosynthesis is a blessing. More CO2 is beneficial for nature, greening the Earth: additional CO2 in the air has promoted growth in global plant biomass. It is also good for agriculture, increasing the yields of crops worldwide.

Global warming has not increased natural disasters

There is no statistical evidence that global warming is intensifying hurricanes, floods, droughts and suchlike natural disasters, or making them more frequent. However, CO2-mitigation measures are as damaging as they are costly. For instance, wind turbines kill birds and insects, and palm-oil plantations destroy the biodiversity of the rainforests.

Climate policy must respect scientific and economic realities

There is no climate emergency. Therefore, there is no cause for panic and alarm. We strongly oppose the harmful and unrealistic net-zero CO2 policy proposed for 2050. If better approaches emerge, we will have ample time to reflect and adapt. The aim of international policy should be to provide reliable and affordable energy at all times, and throughout the world.'

This has been signed by hundreds of scientists and climate policy experts.  Monckton of Brenchley describes them as follows: 'The Global Climate Intelligence Group, whose objective is to put the science back into climate science, comprises scientists, professionals and researchers from many nations, has already attracted some 500 signatures for what began life scant weeks ago as the European Climate Declaration.

The group, and the declaration, are the brainchild of Professor Guus Berkhout, emeritus professor of Geophysics in the Delft University of Technology. Professor Berkhout is a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences./

More details here:  https://clintel.nl/prominent-scientists-warn-un-secretary-general-guterres/

Hat-tip WUWT: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/09/28/global-climate-intelligence-group-founded/

What is it like to read calm, rational, highly-informed reasoning on climate? Try Prof Nir Shaviv for starters.

The appalling, unhinged demonstrations on climate by schoolchildren, and their tragically duped and exploited figurehead Greta Thunberg, are a bit wearisome to say the least.  So, by way of a break, let us have a read of a calmer, highly-informed climate commentary from a penetrating rather than a brainwashed mind - that of Professor Nir Shaviv:

'Political and corporate leaders gathered for the climate week in New York City have urged significant action to fight global warming. But, given the high costs of the suggested solutions, could it be that the suggested cure is worse than the disease?

As a liberal who grew up in a solar house, I have always been energy-conscious and inclined toward activist solutions to environmental issues. I was therefore extremely surprised when my research as an astrophysicist led me to the conclusion that climate change is more complicated than we are led to believe. The disease is much more benign, and a simple palliative solution lies in front of our eyes. 

To begin with, the story we hear in the media, that most 20th-century warming is anthropogenic, that the climate is very sensitive to changes in CO2, and that future warming will, therefore, be large and will happen very soon, simply isn’t supported by any direct evidence, only a shaky line of circular reasoning. We “know” that humans must have caused some warming, we see warming, we don’t know of anything else that could have caused the warming, so it adds up.

However, there is no calculation based on first principles that leads to a large warming by CO2—none. Mind you, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports state that doubling CO2 will increase the temperatures by anywhere from 1.5 degrees to 4.5 degrees C, a huge range of uncertainty that dates back to the Charney committee from 1979.

In fact, there is no evidence on any time scale showing that CO2 variations or other changes to the energy budget cause large temperature variations. There is, however, evidence to the contrary. Tenfold variations in CO2 over the past half-billion years have no correlation whatsoever with temperature; likewise, the climate response to large volcanic eruptions such as Krakatoa.

Both examples lead to the inescapable upper limit of 1.5 degrees C per CO2 doubling—much more modest than the sensitive IPCC climate models predict. However, the large sensitivity of the latter is required in order to explain 20th-century warming, or so it is erroneously thought.

In 2008, I showed, using various data sets that span as much as a century, that the amount of heat going into the oceans, in sync with the 11-year solar cycle, is an order of magnitude larger than the relatively small effect expected simply from changes in the total solar output. Namely, solar activity variations translate into large changes in the so-called radiative forcing on the climate.

Since solar activity significantly increased over the 20th century, a significant fraction of the warming should be then attributed to the sun, and because the overall change in the radiative forcing due to CO2 and solar activity is much larger, climate sensitivity should be on the low side (about 1 to 1.5 degrees C per CO2 doubling).

In the decade following the publication of the above, not only was the paper uncontested, more data, this time from satellites, confirmed the large variations associated with solar activity. In light of this hard data, it should be evident by now that a large part of the warming isn’t human, and that future warming from any given emission scenario will be much smaller.

Alas, because the climate community developed a blind spot to any evidence that should raise a red flag, such as the aforementioned examples or the much smaller tropospheric warming over the past two decades than models predicted, the rest of the public sees a very distorted view of climate change—a shaky scientific picture that is full of inconsistencies became one of certain calamity.

With this public mindset, phenomena such as that of child activist Greta Thunberg are no surprise. Most bothersome, however, is that this mindset has compromised the ability to convey the science to the public.

One example from the past month is my interview with Forbes. A few hours after the article was posted online, it was removed by the editors “for failing to meet our editorial standards.” The fact that it’s become politically incorrect to have any scientific discussion has led the public to accept the pseudo-argumentation supporting the catastrophic scenarios.

Evidence for warming doesn’t tell us what caused the warming, and any time someone has to appeal to the so-called 97 percent consensus, he or she is doing so because his or her scientific arguments aren’t strong enough. Science isn’t a democracy.'

Read the full essay here: https://www.theepochtimes.com/how-climate-change-pseudoscience-became-publicly-accepted_3093372.html

[Hat-tip, and for more links to writing by Prof Shaviv, see Climate Depot ]