Gary Johnson – Is He Hot or Cold on His Stance on Global Warming?

By: Carson Clark

Gary Johnson is the Governor of New Mexico. He is a part of the Libertarian party, which is a minority political party in the United States. In attempt to get his name on the ballots Gary Johnson ran for president in 2012. Prior to the election Johnson did many publicity events. In 2011 the Rolling Stone did an interview with the Libertarian Presidential candidate Gary Johnson, in which they titled “Meet Gary Johnson, the GOP’s Invisible Candidate” Gary Johnson made statements such as “I accept the fact that there is global warming” and “I accept the fact that it’s man caused”, in this 2011 Rolling Stone interview.

"I accept the fact that there is global warming and I accept the fact that it's man caused. That said, I am opposed to cap and trade. I'm a free market guy when it comes to the clean environment the number-one factor when it comes to the clean environment is a good economy."

Gary Johnson also told the interviewer that he believes that “Good economies results in cleaner environment. That’s been the history of the planet till this point” Johnsons stated.

Global warming is a very controversial subject between all Americans. To many voters, it is a show of intelligence and understanding of biological problems we face in politics. Gary Johnson’s statement could make or break him in the minds of the scientific community. So, are Gary Johnson’s statements fact or fiction?

This picture shows the hemispheric temperature change from 1880-2000 Source: Commons.wikimedia

According to NASA’s 134 year record the warmest 10 years since 1880 have all been in the 21^st century. 2015 has broken the record for the warmest year recorded. As seen in the graphic below the average hemispheric temperature change has consistently increased since 1980 and has had a total change in average temperature of 1.2 C since 1880.  NASA also states that “Even though the 2000’s witnessed a solar output decline resulting in an unusually deep solar minimum in 2007-2009, surface temperatures continue to increase.” This just shows that even when the sun is at its lowest solar output the earths temperatures continue to rise.

In the 2013 Summary for Policy Makers report, assumptions are made about the effects of climate change in the next 100 years. Scientists predict that if the climate change continues without retaliation sea levels could rise three feet. This would have impacts on many coastal cities and impact wildlife in a negative way. In the report it is also stated that temperatures could rise on an average of 7.2 degrees F in the next 85 years. That substantial rise in temperature would cause major problems with our eco system and will change how we live forever.

The National Centers for Environmental Information has a global analysis for the year 2015. In the global analysis the NCEI investigates the temperature change for 2015, in which they analyze that 2015 has not only broken the annual temperature record but it also has the largest margin by which a record has been broken. This not only supports the theory that temperatures are rising but they are not slowing down. The 2015 record breaking year also marks the fourth time that a new record high has been recorded in the 21^st century along with the years 2005, 2010, and 2014. To go along with the trend that this is not just a coincidence, 2015 marks the 39^th consecutive year that the annual temperature has been above average. This global analysis goes on and on about which records are broken each year. NASA’s evidence above and this analysis shows the changes we are seeing in the global temperature, which agrees with Johnsons statement “I accept the fact that there is global warming”, but what evidence do we have to support his statement “I accept the fact that it’s man caused”?

In this synthesis report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change many causes of climate change are reported. The synthesis concludes “that anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions have increased since the pre-industrial era” this increase has been driven by the economic and population growth since the era. These greenhouse gasses lead to increasingly high atmospheric concentrations of “carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide.” We have never seen levels of these gasses at this volume in the atmosphere in the last 800,000 years. The effect of these gasses have been detected throughout the climate system and are “extremely likely” to be the cause of global warming since the 20^th century.

To support the information provided by the synthesis report above the Environmental Protection Agency has data on the emissions of greenhouse gasses by country.

This shocking graph shows the millions of metric tons of carbon
that we are emitting into the atmosphere. Source- commons.wikiamedia

According to the EPA the top three C02 emissions were provided by China, United States, and the European Union. Included in the report by the EPA was data about the global carbon emission increase since 1900. Since 1970 the amount of C02 emissions has increased by 90%, 78% of that was contributed from fossil fuel combustion which is used to power cars, factories, and other gas powered machinery. Below is a graph illustrating the global carbon emissions by the million metric tons.

Johnsons statements about global warming are true, and there is a plethora of evidence to back it up. First decades of data provided by prestigious researchers who work for trusted organizations, such as NASA and The National Centers for Environmental Information, show that the global average temperature has been constantly increasing since 1880. The warmest 10 years since 1880 have come in the 21^st century which is evidence that global warming is not slowing down. Secondly the unprecedented analysis of greenhouse gasses being emitted into the atmosphere shows indisputable evidence that humans are a factor in the continued warming of our earth. Gary Johnsons statements are factual and should be supported by any person who agrees with the evidence presented above.