Climate change - a new explanation

Regular readers here will be familiar with my cynical stance on global warming. Not that I deny that the climate may be getting warmer. My cynicism derives from two basic standpoints. As a historian I am well aware of climate change in the past.

The northward expansion of the Roman Empire has been linked to a warming of the climate, as has their abandonment of Britain as the climate worsened and the province lost its agricultural and therefore economic significance. The following so called dark ages were noted for a worsening of the climate accompanied by poor harvests, disease and a switch in Britain to animal husbandry.

I am also aware of the Medieval Warm Period. There is well attested evidence of crops being grown further up hillsides than subsequently, as well as a marked shift from animal husbandry to arable even on poor and exposed sites. This came to an end in the early 13^th C, followed by a series of poor harvests and malnutrition so severe as to leave the population of Europe weakened and susceptible when the Black Death arrived.

The Medieval Warm period was followed by the so-called Little Ice Age when the Thames froze over on several occasions. So, any theory of global warming has to take account of these climate fluctuations. Something which anthropogenic CO² driven scenarios signally fail to do.

I also raise my eyebrows slightly when politicians discover useful external threats. Such a threat, especially one that threatens the whole human race, is particularly useful when diverting attention from miserable failure on the home front. To a self-obsessed seeker after lasting glory like Blair, climate change is a godsend, a real 'send for my white charger' opportunity.

The problem with CO² induced warming is that it was only after the industrial revolution that CO² was discharged into the atmosphere in any great quantities. It therefore fails to account for previous warming and cooling cycles. The gung-ho environmentalists deal with this little problem by just ignoring it. Not really adequate in my book.

Now it looks as if an explanation may be emerging which explains all the recent episodes, and not so recent as well, of warming and cooling. It was mentioned briefly in the Times last Sunday I believe. You can read the whole story here.