Copied from: http://www.pics.uvic.ca/climate_science.php
Climate Science 101
Explaining the Top Ten Myths about Climate Change
Courtesy of John Cook, skepticalscience.com
1. "It's the sun."
Fact: In the last 35 years of global warming, the sun has shown a slight cooling effect. Sun and climate have been going in opposite directions. More information ...
2. "Climate has changed before."
Fact: Natural climate change in the past proves that climate is sensitive to an energy imbalance. If the planet accumulates heat, global temperatures will go up. Currently, CO2 is imposing an energy imbalance due to the enhanced greenhouse effect. Past climate change actually provides evidence for our climate's sensitivity to CO2. More information ...
3. "There is no consensus."
Fact: That humans are causing global warming is the position of the Academies of Science from 19 countries plus many scientific organisations that study climate science. More specifically, 97% of climate scientists actively publishing climate papers endorse the consensus position. More information ...
4. "It's cooling. "
Fact: Empirical measurements of the Earth's heat content show the planet is still accumulating heat and global warming is still happening. Surface temperatures can show short term cooling when heat is exchanged between the atmosphere and the ocean, which has a much greater heat capacity than the air. More information ...
5. "Models are unreliable."
Fact: While there are uncertainties with climate models, they successfully reproduce the past and have made predictions that have been subsequently confirmed by observations. More information ...
6. "Temperature records are unreliable."
Fact: Numerous studies into the effect of urban heat island effect and microsite influences find they have negligible effect on long term trends, particularly when averaged over large regions.More information ...
7. "It hasn't warmed since 1998."
1. "It's the sun."
Fact: In the last 35 years of global warming, the sun has shown a slight cooling effect. Sun and climate have been going in opposite directions. More information ...
2. "Climate has changed before."
Fact: Natural climate change in the past proves that climate is sensitive to an energy imbalance. If the planet accumulates heat, global temperatures will go up. Currently, CO2 is imposing an energy imbalance due to the enhanced greenhouse effect. Past climate change actually provides evidence for our climate's sensitivity to CO2. More information ...
3. "There is no consensus."
Fact: That humans are causing global warming is the position of the Academies of Science from 19 countries plus many scientific organisations that study climate science. More specifically, 97% of climate scientists actively publishing climate papers endorse the consensus position. More information ...
4. "It's cooling. "
Fact: Empirical measurements of the Earth's heat content show the planet is still accumulating heat and global warming is still happening. Surface temperatures can show short term cooling when heat is exchanged between the atmosphere and the ocean, which has a much greater heat capacity than the air. More information ...
5. "Models are unreliable."
Fact: While there are uncertainties with climate models, they successfully reproduce the past and have made predictions that have been subsequently confirmed by observations. More information ...
6. "Temperature records are unreliable."
Fact: Numerous studies into the effect of urban heat island effect and microsite influences find they have negligible effect on long term trends, particularly when averaged over large regions.More information ...
7. "It hasn't warmed since 1998."
Fact: The planet has continued to accumulate heat since 1998 - global warming is still happening. Nevertheless, surface temperatures show much internal variability due to heat exchange between the ocean and atmosphere. 1998 was an unusually hot year due to a strong El Nino. More information ...
8. "An ice age was predicted in the '70s."
Fact: 1970s ice age predictions were predominantly media based. The majority of peer reviewed research at the time predicted warming due to increasing CO2. More information ...
9. "We're heading into an ice age."
Fact: The warming effect from CO2 increases greatly outstrips the influence from orbital changes or variations in solar activity even if solar levels were to drop to Maunder Minimum levels. More information ...
10. "Antarctica is gaining ice."
Fact: While the interior of East Antarctica is gaining land ice, overall Antarctica is losing land ice at an accelerating rate. Antarctic sea ice is growing despite a strongly warming Southern Ocean. More information ...
8. "An ice age was predicted in the '70s."
Fact: 1970s ice age predictions were predominantly media based. The majority of peer reviewed research at the time predicted warming due to increasing CO2. More information ...
9. "We're heading into an ice age."
Fact: The warming effect from CO2 increases greatly outstrips the influence from orbital changes or variations in solar activity even if solar levels were to drop to Maunder Minimum levels. More information ...
10. "Antarctica is gaining ice."
Fact: While the interior of East Antarctica is gaining land ice, overall Antarctica is losing land ice at an accelerating rate. Antarctic sea ice is growing despite a strongly warming Southern Ocean. More information ...