Don Boudreaux knows history, and sets an errant Global Alarmist straight.

These People Know No History - Cafe Hayek

And no, the Global Alarmist have no grasp of history. 

Here's the letter:

"Mr. Fred Lunt
American College of Physicians

Mr. Lunt:

In your recent mass e-mail you announce that “[t]he American College of Physicians issues urgent call to action on Climate Change and its possible catastrophic health effects.”

I wonder if the American College of Physicians is also issuing an urgent call to action on government-imposed restrictions on markets and their possible catastrophic health effects.  Because history knows no force that rivals free markets at improving humans’ health, surely you and your organization’s caring physicians are also concerned that the health of ordinary men, women, and children will be put in grave jeopardy by efforts to halt climate change through government interventions that hamstring markets.

Surely your members appreciate, for example, the enormous health benefits of inexpensive machine-washable underwear and the fact that these are the products of free markets.  Surely your members appreciate also other health-promoting features of free markets – features such inexpensive indoor plumbing, inexpensive potable water, inexpensive household detergents and disinfectants, inexpensive dental-hygiene products, and, most importantly, salvation from the malnutrition and starvation that were routine before the industrial age.

And I trust that your concerned members also take due account of the enormous benefits that inexpensive fossil fuels directly bestow on ordinary people – benefits such as affordable transportation that enables local pharmacies to be always fully stocked with life-saving drugs; affordable energy that keeps people’s homes and workplaces safely cool during summer and safely warm during winter; and affordable electricity that gives nearly everyone access not only to clean-burning electric light bulbs and kitchen ranges, but also ready on-line access to the latest legitimate medical advice and even to the latest paroxysms of mindless hysteria about the consequences of fossil-fuel use.

Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Professor of Economics
and
Martha and Nelson Getchell Chair for the Study of Free Market Capitalism at the Mercatus Center
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA  22030"

These physicians apparently didn't go to college. Don is correct about the facts that using carbon based fuels has improved the lives of humans. In addition to the economic argument there is a scientific argument as well. 

Remember the fear is that we have released so much carbon that the earths temperature is now higher than ever and will become too hot.

Younger Dryas to Present Time Line Updated2

The longterm record of global climate does not confirm and alarmists fears.

The graph of importance in this timeline is the "Air temperature (˚C) from Alley, R. B., 2004." Notice that the graph's horizontal axis is the time with the bottom right 0 being the present and the bottom left 18 being 18,000 years BP (before present). The vertical axis is negative temperature.

Notice the last 800 years shows the average temperature was a fairly constant 32˚C, although it does kick up a small fraction of a degree at the end. During the current interglacial warm period this is the longest time the average temperature has been as low as 32˚C. Before that average temperature touched -32˚C in 1,200 BP, 4,800 BP, and between 8,200 and 8,400 when it even dropped a fraction below -32˚C. Essentially, -32˚C is the absolute minimum temperature for the current interglacial warm period. To repeat the temperature we are approximately at today is the coolest temper during the current interglacial warm period.

On the other hand, average temperature has been at or above -30˚C 15 separate times, and above -29˚C on three separate occasions. The average temperature during the present interglacial warm period appears to be about -31˚C.

We are now at or very near the low temperature for the current interglacial warm period. 

Another look at the graph shows us that after the end of the last ice age, the Earth warmed and had quite a consistent temperature band averaging at or near -30˚C. This seems to have ended just prior to 2,000 BP, when the temperature began a consistent decline to an average temperature now of approximately -32˚C. At no time in the last 10,000 years has the Earth's average temperature been below -30˚C for more than a few hundred years, until 2,000 BP when the temperature dropped below -30˚C and has stayed significantly below , and in fact is now hugging the -32˚C line. 

It appears that we are in an early cooling phase, perhaps the beginning cool down before the Earth enters its next glaciation period. The facts simply do not support the conclusion that we are now in some sort of untethered warming period driven by human activity, the Sun, or anything else. The evidence shows without doubt we are in one of the longest cool spell of the current interglacial warm period.

So, what has caused the global alarmist fracas? 

To understand that you need to look to the 3 graphs in the bottom right hand section of the page, they are titled HadCRUT4 Temperature Anomaly (˚C). These graphs all show that the temperature from 1850 through 1900 was wavy but relatively stable, then in 1900-1910 something happens, and the temperature begins to rise dramatically, and continues to rise to the present. It appears the current crop of scientists have devoted their entire attention to a short period of time at the end of the current interglacial warm period, and have blown this temperature rise out of proportion.

The reality is however even worse, these scientists do not believe the warming which began back in 1910 through about 1942 could have been caused by carbon. This is because they do not believe the amounts of carbon produced before the 1940-1950 period was sufficient to cause global warming. Understanding this requires we parse the graphs a bit more closely. From 1850 - 1900 the temperature was relatively stable, then there was a rapid temperature rise to about 1942, then the global average temperature declines slightly until 1978, and after there is a period of global average temperature warming through about 1996-1998, then the temperature again flattens, and looks to be again starting a decline.

According to the global warming alarmist scientists, the only period of rising temperatures which could have been caused by human caused global warming was the period 1978 - 1998.

Sea level rise is another place of serious concern for the global warming alarmist. The problem here like with temperature is the facts simply do not comport with the beliefs of the alarmist.

There are two sea level graphs both are bottom left center of the page, one shows the longterm history of global sea levels, and the other shows mean seal level 1874-2014. The scales are different so the charts look different, but they both show the same thing. The global sea level graph show sea level 18,000 years BP to be very low, this is to be expected because of the huge amounts of ice trapped on land. After this melted from 18,000 years BP through 8,000 years BP the sea level rose dramatically. Since that time the sea levels have risen a small amount but comparatively little. While the graph showing mean sea level 1874-2014 appears to be a significant increase it is very small compared to the longer time period graph. Further, it is clear that any sea level rise before 1950 was not related to human caused global warming, but other natural causes.

So, why would the mean sea level graph show such a consistent rise in sea level from 1874 through the present, and not an increase in sea level rise only after 1950 when human released carbon became sufficient for the alarmist to believe it would create catastrophic global warming?

Don is correct, the economic arguments weigh heavily towards using carbon based fuels to improve human standards of living. That is reinforced because the science does not support the catastrophic human caused global warming theory proposed by the alarmist.