Photo courtesy existentist and licensed by Creative Commons.

I recorded a program from the History Channel last weekend called the Last Days on Earth. In the two hour show, the top 10 ways in which the end of our planet could come about are explored. I’m watching the program now, and so far nuclear weapons, bio-warfare, asteroids and a handful of other items have been discussed. I just saw the teaser for the number one way in which our planet could be extinguished, and I’m afraid it’s global warming.

Before the commercial break, a voice-over said that the planet is experiencing spring arriving two weeks earlier, less snow in the mountains, powerful windstorms and every year now is hotter than the previous year. I do realize this was originally aired in December 2006, but does the History Channel have to lie to get our attention? I’m certain that even the most hardened global warming activist, when presented with the data, would agree that it hasn’t gotten progressively hotter every year. I’m still waiting for temperatures to even match levels from one decade ago. Just in case you missed my post from a few weeks back on the greenhouse gas-global warming connection, here’s the chart:

Greenhouse Gas Emissions vs. Temperature Variance

Does it look like temperatures have increased year-over-year? While I’m a fan of content shown on cable channels like History and Discovery, the truth is often ignored in lieu of captivating programming.

Interviewed for the program is Susan Joy Hassol, co-author of Climate Change Impacts on the United States, who says on the show that we’ve already seen eight inches of sea level rise. She also says that the average number of category four and five hurricanes that we’ve seen globally has nearly doubled over the last 30 years.  Sounds like she’s quoting an article from MIT scientist Kerry Emanuel from 2005 in Nature.  Emanuel later backed off his global warming-hurricane theory.

Also interviewed is Dr. James Hansen, global warming chief for NASA and right hand man of Al Gore.

The program then goes on with the pro-environmental slant, showing clips of William Gray and Fox News proclaiming that global warming is not man-made and that there is no scientific consensus.  Then it’s back to Susan Joy Hassol who says there’s no debate that humans cause global warming, and there’s also no debate that it’s warming.

I personally laugh at all of this foolishness.  The real debate is whether or not scientists have all of the answers and if a trace atmospheric gas has the potential of causing climate shifts.  Of course I’m still curious how climate change altered the Sahara desert some 6,000 years ago, without the aid of SUVs and coal-fired power plants.