Ross McKitrick: Hold the panic: Canada just warmed 1.7 degrees and … thrived

Tell everyone over and over that the climate is changing, and soon they will see proof of change everywhere, writes Ross McKitrick. Getty Images

Much has been speculated and in fact, a certain panic has been maintained. Despite this, it is necessary to highlight that Canada only warmed 1.7 degrees and still prospered.

In this way, a recent report, commissioned by Environment and Climate Change Canada, has triggered a feverish attack on media coverage. It should be noted that much of this eliminated the owner’s claim that Canada heated up “twice as fast” as the entire planet since 1948. So if this is really bad, what should the finding be that the Atlantic region of Canada was heated twice as fast as the Prairies? Or that Canadian winters warmed twice as fast as summers?

It is necessary to emphasize that one of the psychological effects of a report like this, and the exaggeration of the media, is that they inculcate ideas in people’s heads. Tell everyone over and over again that the weather is changing, and you will soon see evidence of change everywhere. Rain, snow, wind, floods or dry periods; It seems that everything confirms the theory, although we have always had these things.

Simple natural events

There are those who claim all the bad things in terms of climate is caused by man. However, most of what people are noticing, of course, are just natural weather events. Even so, underneath there are slow tendencies, both natural and (probably) caused by man.

However, it is necessary to clarify that they are small and difficult to separate without a careful statistical analysis. A few years ago, the climatologist Lennart Bengtsson commented: “The warming that we have had in the last 100 years is so small that if we did not have meteorologists and climatologists to measure it, we would not have noticed it”.

Now we learn that Canada warmed 1.7 degrees Celsius since 1948. Far from leaving a smoking ruin in the country, we became richer and healthier, our population skyrocketed and life improved in almost any measure of well-being you can imagine. If only all the so-called catastrophes were like that.

There is no doubt that we deal with many changes over time. Go back to Bengtsson’s thought experiment. The 80-year-olds entered their teens in 1950. Ask them what changes they experienced throughout their lives and they will have a lot to say. Then ask if, where they live, autumn warmed more than spring. Without looking at the answer, most will have no idea.

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Source: Ross McKitrick | Financial Post