Undoubtedly, it is!

The fossil record proves it has happened many times over the 5.5 billions years of the Earth’s history. There have been ice ages with most of the North American continent covered under ice hundreds of feet deep. There have been warmer periods with places like Greenland totally ice free!

There is no debate, the Earth’s climate is in a constant state of change.

But, that has never been the debate, has it?

The debate has been are we causing the climate to change contrary to its natural inclination?

Yes, that is the debate and on that, I think the science is settled there as well.

The Earth is a self-regulating system. In technical terms, it is a closed loop feedback system with external stimuli. The primary source of heat energy at the surface of the Earth is the Sun. Sure there is internal heating but at the surface heat from the Sun is the primary heat input. But, that is not all the Sun sends the Earth’s way and that is where it gets interesting.

The Sun is not a perfectly smooth ball of glowing gas. It has defects on its surface and those defects are called sun spots. Well, sometimes it has those defects. See, right now there aren’t any, none, nada, zip. Sun spots are cooler than the areas surrounding them on the surface of the sun and that is why they appear darker.

So, right now the Sun is at a sun spot minimum and the infrared radiation reaching the Earth is at a maximum. But, with fewer sun spots, the Earth is receiving more cosmic rays which leads to more cloud formation at the lower levels of the atmosphere. More clouds prevents the infrared radiation from reaching the ground. That means the ground does not warm and temperatures decline.

The interesting thing is while we are debating about how to punish achievement in the name of saving the planet, the planet is busy saving us in spite of ourselves. Just like it always has.

Now, please don’t misunderstand me. I like to be energy efficient because it saves me money and I am basically very cheap. But, I don’t do it because I think we are destroying the planet. I do it because it is in my own selfish best interest.

And, if you examine all technological advances in human history, they are all driven by that very same thing.