Myth: Adding more CO2 into the atmosphere will cause the ocean to become more acidic.
Fact: The ocean is not acidic, it's alkaline. More atmospheric CO2 might cause it to become less alkaline but not acidic. If Earth continues to warm, there could be a net release of CO2 from the oceans. There are thousands of feet of fossil bearing rocks whose inhabitants thrived when atmospheric CO2 levels were ten times higher than today.
Myth: Sea level likely will rise 20 feet by the end of the century.
Fact: Even the IPCC says the most likely rise will be 17 inches while most climatologists predict a rise of only 7 or 8 inches (about 3 millimeters a year) which has been the rate of sea level rise for the last three centuries.
A court in the United Kingdom determined that Al Gore's prediction of a 20 foot rise in sea level by the end of the 21st century was not supported by any scientific facts.
Fact: In science, a temporary consensus does not mean proof of a scientific fact. Many people took early, strong public positions in media interviews, classrooms, research conclusions or simply with their peers that CO2 was causing climate change. Our system, particularly regarding academics, does not reward someone for being wrong.
However, many people who took that early position now reject it including several prior member of the IPCC Science Team.
Myth: The IPCC Forecasts of future climate change are probably accurate.
Fact: The range of forecasts of the IPCC models have all already been shown to be above Earth's actual temperatures for the past 8 years. (see chart below).
Why would anyone expect such models to accurately predict Earth's climate a century from now?
Not one model predicted the possibility of a cooling trend.
Myth: The United States is the largest contributor of man-made CO2.
Fact: China has recently passed the United States in this category and the gap is widening rapidly. China is opening a new coal mine every week.
China is planning to expand the availability of electricity to its 1.3 billion people. Additionally, China's production of automobiles is growing at a much more rapid rate than that occurring in the United States.
Currently C02 emissions growth in China is occurring so rapidly, that at its current pace, C02 emissions will double within 10 years-in the process, adding new emissions equivalent to the total annual C02 emissions of the U.S.
Figure above: Annual energy-related carbon dioxide emissions from various portions of the world, 1997-2006 (source: Energy Information Administration)
