Published by paulmacrae on 02 Feb 2024
Is CO2 the ‘control knob’ of temperature, as orthodox climate science teaches? Answer: no
Over recent and deep geological time, when temperature and carbon dioxide are correlated, temperature is the ‘control knob’ of CO2, not vice-versa
By Paul MacRae, Feb. 2, 2024
The basic theory underlying orthodox climate science is that the global temperature is highly sensitive to changes in carbon-dioxide levels. This is sometimes called the “control-knob” theory.1 If CO2 increases, so does temperature. If CO2 falls, so does temperature, more or less in lock-step—CO2 is the “control knob” of temperature.
And since we are in a “warming” world, and because CO2 levels are also going up—in other words, because temperature and CO2 levels appear to be correlated—orthodox climate science accepts that they are correlated—in fact, strongly correlated, as we’ll see. To stop this apparently dangerous warming, then, the climate scientist’s solution is to turn the “control knob” of carbon dioxide down by restricting carbon emissions in various ways, including phasing out CO2-emitting fossil fuels, thereby stifling economic growth and activity.
Continue Reading »- Andrew A. Lacis et al., “Atmospheric CO2: Principal Control Knob Governing Earth’s Temperature.” Science, Oct. 15, 2010, pp. 356-359. Available online but often behind a pay wall, although there are repostings on some public websites. For a summary of Lacis’s paper see https://pielkeclimatesci.wordpress.com/2010/11/03/guest-post-co2-the-thermostat-that-controls-earth%e2%80%99s-temperature-by-andy-lacis/. ↩