What these snot-nosed little urchins who confront government officials about the global climate need to be told

As LITD has discussed before, there's some anecdotal evidence out there that a trend is emerging by which school children confront legislators and basically extort them over the subject of the global climate. We all know about the gaggle of them that confronted Senator Feinstein in her office with the not-so-veiled message that they'd brand her as indifferent to this "crisis" in the public's mind if she didn't immediately get on board with their demands. And a couple of days earlier, I saw the same thing played out on the local level, with kids confronting the city council.

In that case, they cited the usual litany of fires, droughts, floods and hurricanes.

Okay, kiddies, here's what you need to know before you do any further spouting off:

Temperatures have risen by tenths or hundredths of a degree in recent years – less than the margin of error, and most of the “highest temperatures on record” have been in urban areas, where local manmade heat skews the data. We’re also experiencing record cold and snow in numerous locations.
The average prediction by 102 climate models is now a full degree Fahrenheit abovewhat satellites are measuring. Michael Mann’s climate model could concoct hockey sticks from telephone numbers and other random numbers. Are we supposed to trust these models on critical energy policy?

Violent tornadoes (F3 to F5) averaged 56 per year from 1950 to 1985. But from 1986 to 2018 only 34 per year touched down in the USA on average – and for the first time ever not one did in 2018. The March 3 Alabama tornado was tragic, and the 2-mile-wide 2013 Oklahoma City monster lasted 40 minutes. But the 1925 Tri-State Twister was a mile wide, traveled a record 220 miles, lasted a record 3.5 hours, and killed a record 695 people.

Hurricanes becoming more frequent and intense? From 1920 through 1940, ten Category 3-5 hurricanes made US landfall; from 1960 through 1980, eleven; 1980 through 2000, ten; 2001 through 2018, nine. There is no trend. Moreover, Harvey and Irma in 2017 were the first category 3-5 hurricanes to make U.S. landfall in a record twelve years. The previous record was nine years, set in the Civil War era.

A warmer Arctic? The Washington Post did report that “the Arctic Ocean is warming up, icebergs are growing scarcer, and in some places seals are finding the water too hot.” But that was in 1922!
Polar bear populations are the highest on record: between 24,500 and 28,500 or more of them!
Oceans cannot become “more acidic,” because they are not and have never been acidic. Earth’s oceans are slightly alkaline. That slight alkalinity has decreased slightly (from 8.2 on the pH scale to 8.1) over the past few decades. But they are not getting acidic … and won’t anytime soon.
Carbon dioxide is not a pollutant. It is the miracle molecule without which most life on Earth would cease to exist. In fact, the more CO2 in the air, the faster and better crop, forest and grassland plants grow – and the better they can withstand droughts, diseases, and damage from insects and viruses.

In fact, a slightly warmer planet with more atmospheric CO2 would be tremendously beneficial for plants, wildlife and humanity. A colder planet with less carbon dioxide would greatly reduce arable land extent, growing seasons, wildlife habitats, crop production and our ability to feed humanity. 

And today's Exhibit A of an utterly worthless Republican:

Millions of Americans are exasperated and angry about Republicans like Congressman John Shimkus of Illinois, who recently whined that it’s “just not worth the fight anymore” to battle climate alarmism – and protect our nation’s and our children’s future. These elected officials badly need spinal implants. Or they should resign and turn their seats over to someone who will fight for us.

"Just not worth the fight anymore." How do you sleep at night, Representative Shimkus? If Western civilization does indeed crumble, the likes of you will be culpable.

If one has even a subatomic particle of integrity, one never gives up on insisting that the truth get an airing in the public square.