Despite all of the talk about global warming, Tim Ball is predicting that we may see global cooling instead.

The environmental consultant and climatologist from Victoria, British Columbia, told attendees at the recent Alberta Conservation Tillage Society meeting that global warming is no major concern. If that were the case, he maintains all a no-tiller would have to do is to start using plants and techniques now used by farmers living further south. But if global cooling occurs, it will be a serious concern for Canadian no-tillers since nobody is farming further north.

Ball says global warming predictions are based on computer models which don’t work for a variety of reasons. “More and more evidence shows the inaccuracy of the models and the overall lack of knowledge and understanding of climate and its mechanisms,” he adds.

Facts. Vs. Predictions

Uncertainties with carbon dioxide, particularly with respect to precipitation, dictate that farming predictions must be regarded as purely speculative.

Ball says many environmentalists take these predictions as fact and use them to advance their own causes. Many environmental groups reference scientific ideas regarding global warming without understanding what the researchers are saying and sometimes a consensus is reached before the research even gets started.

More disturbing is the fact that what little evidence exists often contradicts what’s being said. “For example, the greatest increase in the amount of human released carbon dioxide occurred from 1940 to 1980, as industry expanded after the war,” he says. “However, global temperatures went down in…