After Kyoto, science still probes global warming causes

Journal Article · Mon Jan 19 04:00:00 EST 1998 · Oil and Gas Journal

OSTI ID:564225

Westbrook, G ^[1]

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1. TSBV Consultants, Houston, TX (United States)

The Kyoto meeting has come and gone. In the US, the treaty still has to be signed by President Bill Clinton and ratified by the Senate, an action that is most unlikely in view of last year`s 95-0 vote on the issue. In the short term 36 senators are up for reelection in November and therefore likely to come under intense pressure to change their positions, to support the Kyoto treaty, and to push for Senate action. Senators will need support, additional inputs, and overall reinforcement of their positions. One area that this writer believes still has much to offer in this context is the quality--more specifically, the lack of quality--of much of the scientific evidence behind this treaty. Part of that subject is the natural variability in the climate. Natural climate variability is based on cyclical forces, random events, and the Earth`s response to these two factors. These forces create the variability in the climate, the background noise above which any signal of anthropogenic warming must rise in order to be detected. A review of key climatic cycles is the subject of this article.

• OSTI ID: 564225
• Journal Information: Oil and Gas Journal, Journal Name: Oil and Gas Journal Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 96; ISSN 0030-1388; ISSN OIGJAV
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AMBIENT TEMPERATURE
CLIMATIC CHANGE
EARTH PLANET
GEOLOGIC HISTORY
INFORMATION NEEDS
ROTATION
SOLAR ACTIVITY
SOUTHERN OSCILLATION
VARIATIONS