Four questions for global warming deniers

I can see nothing in what we are told by the world’s climate scientists to make me doubt that the world is warming, that human activity has a great deal to do with it, that this is a highly dangerous trend, and that it is high time that we all agreed on getting on and doing something about it.

However, there is a tiny but highly vocal minority of people (mostly but not exclusively Americans) who seem to have a problem in understanding this. When I have tried to argue the case with these people they tend to get very “waffly” and usually fail to make any statements that reveal what they truly believe is happening to the world’s climate.

So here are four questions that I would like any global warming sceptic who reads this to answer:

1. Does the atmosphere contain carbon dioxide?
2. Does atmospheric carbon dioxide raise the average global temperature?
3. Will this influence be enhanced by the addition of more carbon dioxide?
4.  Have human activities led to a net emission of carbon dioxide?

If you answer No to any of these questions, I would like you to justify your answer, because it will fly in the face of all the evidence that has been collected by thousands of people over a long period of time. Why is your No more reliable than their Yes?

© John Welford