The theory of global warming is widely accepted. Many well-educated people and virtually all national governments view it as settled science. But the data in support of the theory is remarkably weak and certain aspects of that data directly contradict the expected consequences of some of its principles. This monograph describes the basic dynamics of the global warming paradigm and challenges the conclusions that get drawn from its data. Spike Hampson is a retired academic whose investigation of the topic has led him to adopt a skeptical attitude regarding the legitimacy of the science. He has written his challenge in language that is readily accessible to anybody who has an interest in the subject. Here you will find a clear explanation of why the disastrous scenarios described by global warming alarmists are not materializing. The text does not impute bad motives to the supporters of the global warming paradigm but it does directly challenge its conventional wisdom. In particular, Hampson points out that, so far, the amount of global warming has been very small in comparison with the amount projected to occur in the near future, and he offers a persuasive argument for why the predictive climate models used to forecast temperature increase cannot be accorded the same sort of scientific authority as actual field data. Similar critical analysis is brought to bear on such side effects of global warming as sea level rise, ocean acidification, intensification of extreme weather, adverse health consequences, disruptions to agriculture, and melting of arctic sea ice. In all instances, Hampson finds the evidence for serious problems to be non-existent in the present and likely to be negligible in the future. Such a contrarian view may be hard for many to accept, but the critiques and analyses underlying the view will be hard to dismiss.
About the Author: Spike Hampson is a retired academic. After earning a Ph.D. in geography at the University of Hawaii, and acquiring a Certificate in Population Studies at the associated East-West Center, he worked for a few years as a consultant on socio-economic consequences of proposed development projects. From the late 1980's until 2016, he was employed as a Professor Lecturer in the geography department at the University of Utah. He taught courses on many different subjects and was also one of the very early experimenters in the realm of online coursework. In the final decade of his time there he taught nothing but online courses. While at the University of Utah, Dr. Hampson always maintained a parallel career as a ski instructor at Deer Valley resort - a commitment that lasted from 1984 until 2015. For the first six years, he pursued this full-time in the winters, but thereafter it became a part-time effort. Since 1998, Hampson has pursued a private calling that has involved building his own boat and using it to voyage extensively. This was something that consumed 4-5 months of each year, but now that he is retired it has become an almost year-round activity. His commitment to understanding as much as possible about as many different subjects as possible has led him to become a world traveler. He has visited about 70 countries, many of them for a month or more. Examples would be extended stays in India, Great Britain, Tonga, China, Switzerland, Colombia, Turkey, New Zealand, Brazil, and Japan. Also on the side, Hampson has pursued a long-delayed avocation as a writer. To date, he has written five books, three of them travel narratives, one a mystery novel, and one a self-help book on how to ski. he has also written a handful of extended essays, of which this is the latest.