Summary of #13 - Tony Heller on the importance of knowing climate and weather history

00:00:00 - 00:45:00

Tony Heller, a climate change skeptic, discusses how he became interested in climate change and what led him to call it a scam. He also discusses his methods of finding climate data, how propaganda is used to create panic around climate change, and issues facing the Colorado River. Additionally, he discusses flaws in measuring glacier ice, the validity of global temperature graphs, the importance of understanding natural climate variability, and taking control of one's life by not exposing oneself to propaganda campaigns. Heller advocates for the importance of discerning fact from fiction and having one's own opinion about climate and weather history.

• 00:00:00 In this section, Tony Heller talks about his background and how he got interested in environmental issues. He then shares his previous belief in the global warming concept in the 1980s and how it seemed to make perfect sense to him due to observations of warmer winters in England and a drought in Colorado in the 2000s. However, his view started to change when he experienced unusual snowfalls in England and Colorado and extremely hot summers in California. He credits these experiences for making him realize that climate change might not be a linear trend towards destruction, but rather a cyclical phenomenon.
• 00:05:00 In this section, Tony Heller discusses how he became interested in climate change and what ultimately led him to call it a scam. As a scientist and engineer, he was initially alarmed by the data mishandling and inappropriate conclusions being drawn by government agencies. He also recognized that climate change discussions were actually propaganda and not rooted in science. Consequently, he called it a scam, which made many climate skeptics angry as they believed the proponents of climate change were just mistaken and could be convinced otherwise with the right science. Heller, however, recognized the insidious energy-related agenda behind demonizing fossil fuels, which was pushing the green energy narrative despite its inherent limitations. Nevertheless, Heller is now optimistic as he believes there are more well-informed climate skeptics today than there were in 2008, and he attributes his success on YouTube to his ability to explain things very simply and logically without resorting to jargon.
• 00:10:00 In this section, Tony Heller discusses his methods of finding historical climate and weather data, which involves using various newspaper archives that are now digitized. He also discusses the software he uses for video creation and his use of social media platforms like Gab and Twitter. He explains how he uses Google News to identify propaganda and misinformation around climate change and global warming, and gives an example of a news story about Great Lee Dixon appearing to doubt global warming during an Arsenal commentary. Heller emphasizes the importance of discerning fact from fiction and having one's own opinion about climate and weather history.
• 00:15:00 In this section, Tony Heller discusses the propaganda techniques used to make people panic about climate change. He explains how the media tries to convince people that bad weather events are something new and caused by climate change, when in fact they have been occurring forever. The use of history is critical to understanding that climate change is a scam. He also discusses the article about Kim Kardashian's opinion on climate change, emphasizing that people who have no expertise on the subject are considered experts just because they are delivering the message that the media wants to hear. Heller then explains that the Colorado River's problems have little to do with climate change and more to do with the use of biofuel and the extraction of water to grow corn for biofuels.
• 00:20:00 In this section, Tony Heller discusses the issues facing the Colorado River, stating that Lake Powell was an environmental disaster to begin with and he is pleased to see it drying up as it is not helping the situation. Extracting huge amounts of water from the Colorado River to bring water to Arizona is contributing to the problem and the worst droughts occur during colder periods rather than warmer ones, which bring more water to the region. Ancient civilizations have a history of human sacrifice to prevent bad weather, which shows the narcissistic belief that humans are the center of the universe and are responsible for everything.
• 00:25:00 In this section, Tony Heller addresses the idea that policies by governments can control the climate and prevent natural disasters, which he notes has no evidence to support it. He emphasizes the propaganda behind articles claiming that current heat waves or droughts are new and caused by climate change, when in fact many regions have experienced such harsh weather in the past. While mainstream journalists may not acknowledge the truth in his work, Heller believes that introducing disruptive thoughts will weaken their resolve and make them less willing to promote agendas that they know to be scams. He also addresses a viewer question regarding the surface mass balance in Greenland and clarifies the misconception that calving glaciers are evidence of climate change, as they are a natural part of a glacier's healthy cycle.
• 00:30:00 In this section, Tony Heller discusses the flaws in measuring glacier ice using gravitational anomalies from satellites. The Gravimetry Recovery and Climate Experiment (Grace) program run out of the University of Texas claims to be able to accurately measure the change in gravity over a region. However, Heller argues that the ice's low density and the thickness of the rock beneath the ice sheet make it difficult to measure any changes in the ice using the Grace program. Additionally, he states that glacier calving has little to do with the current climate, and the only actual measurement of climate change is the surface mass balance. Heller also touches on the manipulation of temperature data by NOAA, mentioning that the manipulation occurs after the data is collected.
• 00:35:00 In this section, Tony Heller questions the validity of the global temperature graphs, stating that the data isn't available to generate accurate graphs with small error bars. He mentions that if different government agencies were working independently, there would be large variations in the global temperature graphs, but instead, they all show similar trends, indicating collusion and fraud. Heller believes that the majority of the warming since 1975 was caused by government agencies manipulating the data to create a fake temperature graph. He also mentions that remote sensing systems corrupted their graph to conform more closely to the surface temperature record. Heller states that the climate sensitivity to doubled CO2 is close to nothing and that increased carbon dioxide won't have any meaningful impact on the temperature in most parts of the Earth. Lastly, he mentions that it's difficult to predict what might happen between now and 2050 or 2100 in terms of global average temperature, as it's controlled by factors outside of our planet and solar system that we don't understand or have any control over.
• 00:40:00 In this section, Tony Heller discusses the importance of understanding natural climate variability and mentions scientists he admires, including Dr. Bill Gray and Dr. Tim Ball. Heller emphasizes the significance of historical data to combat climate propaganda that is misleading young people today. He advocates for education that focuses on history to teach young people about climate and weather patterns that have occurred in the past. He reminisces about his passion for history and teaching it to children and adults. Though he is currently not able to give speeches due to travel restrictions, he hopes to give talks at engineering conferences in Denver and Chautauqua in New York in the future.
• 00:45:00 In this section, Tony Heller emphasizes the importance of not letting the mainstream media control one's psychological state and urges people to take control of their lives. He advises against reading or watching television news and social media and only reading news articles to gather material to write about. By not exposing oneself to propaganda campaigns, people can clear their heads over time, avoid unnecessary stress, and be more productive. Taking control of one's life in this way can also lead to more time spent outdoors doing things like hiking and being with pets.