Two days ago a press release came out about an article indicating that 5,600 years ago (BP=Before the Present Age [you see, BP avoids the word “Christian”–something that is de rigeur these days]) global temperatures in Antarctica were warmer than they are today. Think about that. How old is the Chinese dynasties? What about Egypt? They lived through these times. Did THEY cause “global warming.”
Well, today, there’s another press release. This one, too, is about Antarctica and tells us that in the mid-to-late Holocene (our present age)–which is around the same 5,600 years ago as mentioned above, sea ice in Antarctica was in retreat more than it is today. Their results are based on southern elephant seal occupation sites. Here is the HTML version of the paper (no pdf access).
Let me quote (Conclusion section):
SES existed on the VLC between ∼7100 and 500 yr BP in areas where they do not live at present. We infer that their former presence reflects reduced summertime landfast ice and likely warmer ocean temperatures compared to today for much of the Holocene. Based on the greatest extent of seal remains, particularly in the colder southern regions, we infer that periods with the least landfast sea ice and warmest ocean temperatures were at ∼5200 and 2300-1800 yr BP (Fig. 8). A population crash at ∼1000 yr BP (de Bruyn et al., 2009) and eventual abandonment of the coast by SES a few centuries later suggest that the coldest, iciest coastal conditions in the postglacial period occurred in the last millennium, in agreement with coastal geomorphology.
Where are the scientists? Where are those who will say that this type of mounting evidence should any and all fears concerning any global rise in temperatures? Will those with intellectual honesty and mountains of courage please stand up?!