By:  Doug Busselman, Executive Vice President

For many the theory of global warming is considered a decided scientific fact.  Politicians who wish to have cover for their policies of destroying our economy and scientists who wish to continue to cash in on government grants all would like to foster the impression that by the weight of the vocal advocates, this concept is a done deal. 

Those who question the logic of man’s ability to cause world-wide impacts on weather because of our society’s use of carbon-based fuels, or the natural expulsion of cows digesting their food are dismissed  as not being as intelligent as those who blindly accept man-made climate change.  It is quite possible that our greed and insensitivity to the well-being of third-world developing countries is the cause of our reluctance to buy in and fall into line.

Somewhere science became a process of evaluating truth on the basis of how many Phd’s sign-off in declaration that the official finding has been made.  Are we not able to predict with almost complete certainty that after several days of warm temperatures that an insightful “news” reporter will write an article that tells us the amount of global warming has occurred.  (That prediction is based on the assumption that newspapers will still exist somewhere in the United States into the summer.)

With family and friendship ties to Minnesota and North Dakota, and their experiences over the past few months with winter, I’m suspecting that the global warmer press corps have taken the winter off from their dispatches of impending doom.

One of the oft contended facts of global warming is the impending crisis of polar ice caps melting.  On the basis of this “best science” the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has listed the polar bear as an endangered species, even though the populations are at all-time recorded highs.  We’re also told that with the melting of polar ice, increasing ocean levels will cause coastal population centers to become submerged below the rising tides.

A Fifth-Grade Science Experiment:

While not all scientific investigation should be tried at home, this particular project can and should be tried by as many who wish to help mankind in learning a possible new truth.  From my experience, I am of the understanding that “Science” is supposed to be determined by conducting experiments and coming up with repeatable results.

To conduct this in-depth research project you do not need to have a multi-million dollar grant or collect the 30-plus percentage administrative assessment that our state University System collects.  You also don’t actually have to have a fifth grade student (but, if you’re going to write a blog about the findings of your experiment – it is useful to credit a fifth grader as being involved so people don’t question your lack of a life).

Equipment and other resources required include a glass, enough ice to fill the glass to a point of half-full and enough water to bring the level of liquid in the glass to the very brim of overflowing.

This glass with water and ice is what we’re going to call a “scientific model” to represent the ocean and the polar ice caps.  Without spilling the contents of glass (containing ice and water) place the water on a counter or window ledge.  (You might not want to share this plan with your spouse, since the likely outcome will be an overflowing glass, leaving a mess on the window ledge.)
Based on the scientific proof we’re told to believe by climate change advocates, the melting ice in the glass will cause the contents to overflow, just as the lower coastal areas will be flooded with rising sea levels.  (Caution!  Be sure to have a towel or other water absorbing material prepared – you might even want to consider using a coaster…although I couldn’t find one when I – I mean my fifth-grader conducted this research project at our house.)

Confusing Results:

I’m told we have a “dry heat” here in Nevada, which might have been part of the reasons why the glass didn’t overflow when the ice melted in the experiment.  Perhaps if I had obtained a government grant, I would have gotten a different result?

I hope that readers of this post will present their results of similar research.  If possible, we should all work on figuring this out before Earth Day so we can do a better job of believing ourselves to be less worthy as a people when it comes time to exalt at our misuse of natural resources.