The Heartland Institute published “Top 10 Global Warming Lies” to answer the reporting of the Left on the effects of global warming. Specifically, the report was designed as a response to the Environmental Defense Fund’s most recent fundraising effort, “10 Global Warming Effects That May Shock You.”
1. EDF claimed global warming cause 100,000 bat deaths in Australia
- However, the fact is that global warming activists love wind power, which actually kills up to a million bats each year.
- Also, there was no evidence that global warming caused the death of bats, as the 2014 heat wave cited was not as hot as a 1972 heat wave in the same place in Australia.
2. Global warming led to the expansion of Lyme disease in the U.S.
- Lyme disease typically occurs in cooler, forested regions of the northern U.S. and not in hotter, southern areas.
- Lyme disease is one of the rarest causes of death according to the CDC with fewer than 25 deaths per year.
3. Global warming threatens national security
- Alarmists allege that food supply will be scarce
- However, global crop production actually increases as temperatures are warmer due to more presence of carbon dioxide.
4. The inevitable and oft-used Sea-Levels-Are-Rising argument
- “There has similarly been no increase in the pace of sea level rise in recent decades”
- “Polar ice sheets have not declined at all since NASA satellite instruments began precisely measuring them 35 years ago.”
5. Allergies increase due to global warming
- Pollen and pollen count is a natural part of the plant reproduction cycle and increasing amounts as of late means more plants are on the face of the earth
- “NASA satellite instruments have documented a spectacular greening of the Earth, with foliage gains most prevalent in previously arid, semi-desert regions.”
6. Global warming has created a Pine Beetle Plague
- “Recent U.S. Forest Service data show that pine beetle infestations have recently declined dramatically throughout the western United States.”
- Research found that “beetles are not dependent on warm winters”
7. Look to Canada as a Model
- Alarmists claim that a greener, lusher Canada shows that the Earth is warming up
- Rebuttal: “If barren ecosystems constitute an ideal planet, then the alarmist fears of more plant life make sense.”
8. Global warming hurts the economy
- “Extreme weather events – and their resulting costs – are dramatically declining as the Earth modestly warms.”
- Carbon emission restrictions and a focus on wind energy will cripple the economy, as those renewable energy sources are “expensive and unreliable.”
9. More outbreaks of disease due to global warming
- The ban of DDT, thanks to the environmentalists, has led to the re-emergence of malaria
- Cold weather-related viruses, such as the flu, will decrease in times of moderate warming
10. The glaciers are shrinking!
- “The Antarctic ice sheet has been growing at a steady and substantial pace ever since NASA satellites first began measuring the ice sheet in 1979.”
- “The Antarctic ice sheet repeatedly set new records for its largest extent in recorded history.”
