By Lee Gerhard

I am amazed that the members of American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) go so quietly into night as unfounded fears of carbon dioxide drive their careers, jobs and companies into oblivion. Geologists own Earth Time. Why aren’t you loudly using Earth temperature history to obliviate the already falsified anthropogenic climate panic? I don’t know what the social agenda is that underlies the panic, but I do know this: It’s been getting colder for 4,000 years.

If only climate scientists understood recent history they wouldn’t depend on their theory-biased computer models to forecast dire warming. The minuscule temperature rise we have recently experienced, whatever the cause, is inconsequential noise in the context of temperature history. The professed need to restrict warming to 1.5 or 2.0 degrees Celsius is an artificial construct, with no scientific basis.

What ice core data tell us is that we are nearly 3 degrees Celsius colder than where we were 4,000 years ago, and that temperatures are just now climbing out of the longest coldest time of the last 10,000 years. A deeper dive into geologic history shows that carbon dioxide levels today are a shadow of past concentrations. Today’s concentrations are nearly the lowest ever since plant life began so many millions of years ago. Any global increase in carbon dioxide will be beneficial and have nearly no impact on future temperature. We can hope that there is continued warming, because cold kills.

Why, then, are so many trying to demonize fossil fuels, the very fuels that allow them the leisure to worry about climate change instead of struggling to stay alive? Global society is absolutely dependent upon cheap and plentiful energy for its survival. Why would some demand that society retreat from useful energy sources to bring back mass starvation, poverty and horse-drawn buggies?

To dream of a utopian world is admirable, but to inflict suffering upon society through ignorance of science is deplorable. Ignoring the meticulous scientific contributions of eminent physical scientists such as Alley, Davis, Dansgaard and Lindzen deprives humanity of its precious innovation and creativity only for ideology.

The public is “protected” from empirical data by legacy and social media censors. We thus suffer the consequences of unwarranted regulatory intrusions into daily life, whether it be restrictions on heating, air conditioning, dishwashers and stoves or the increased price and availability of electricity.

There is no global climate crisis. There is a global knowledge crisis.

This commentary was first published at the AAPG Explorer in July 2024.

Lee Gerhard is senior scientist emeritus, University of Kansas, and past director and state geologist of the Kansas Geological Survey. His research interests are in carbonate sedimentology, petroleum geology, and environmental public policy; Founder and Co-Director, Energy Research Center. He is also a proud member of the CO₂ Coalition of Arlington, VA.