Steve has repeatedly asked, “What is normal?” The answer is that there is no normal or that temperature variations within those observed in any previous interglacial period are normal. The earth is approximately 1 degree Celsius warmer today than it was at the end of the ‘little ice age’ toward the end of the nineteenth century. According to The US Geological survey. We are in an interglacial period. Sea levels in previous interglacial periods were 3 to 20 meters (10-67 feet) higher than they are today. During the last glacial period, sea levels were 125 meters (410 feet) lower than they are today.

All of these conditions are a part of the earth’s ‘normal’ climate variation. Anthropogenic warming cannot account for previous interglacial periods being hotter than they are today. Temperature variations during an interglacial period are normal. During the mid Holocene period (5,000 to 7,000 years ago) temperatures in the northern hemisphere were about 2 degrees Celsius warmer than they are today. Again, this is ‘normal’.

Some scientist believe that the sun is entering a period of inactivity similar to that of the Maunder Minimum that brought about the ‘little ice age.’ Others dispute this despite the data. In other words, what we do know is that the climate will continue to change. We do not know if anthropogenic warming is occurring, or what, if anything we can do about it.