Climate Change / Global Warming : What Do You Think?

[threaded]

The temperature on Earth is mainly caused by the Sun and to a lesser extent by other stars, especially nova, in the locality.

HTH

threaded in "global warming: almost the best comedy show of the early 21st century" mode

[threaded]

Oh, forgot to mention, in a few months the first person to be charged with "Global warming denial" will be fired from their tenured university post.

Within 5 years it will be a criminal offence in several countries.

So, do be careful what you write here my dears.

[Ardesco]

My god

Threaded is almost making sense!!!

Hell must be freezing over, conclusive proof that global warming is a load of old tosh!!!!

[_V_]

Have a look at this. This is what it all hinges on.

http://www.sierraclub.ca/national/pr...k-ice-core.jpg

CO2 concentrations and past climate.

Up and down like a brides nighty, but now the C02 has gone off the scale, hence the view that temps will follow. Doomed.

Or perhaps the changes in temperature affects the level of the CO2 and not the other way round...

Known causes or “drivers” of past climate change include:

Changes in the Earth's orbit: Changes in the shape of the Earth's orbit (or eccentricity) as well as the Earth's tilt and precession affect the amount of sunlight received on the Earth's surface. These orbital processes -- which function in cycles of 100,000 (eccentricity), 41,000 (tilt), and 19,000 to 23,000 (precession) years -- are thought to be the most significant drivers of ice ages according to the theory of Mulitin Milankovitch, a Serbian mathematician (1879-1958). The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Earth Observatory offers additional information about orbital variations and the Milankovitch Theory.

Changes in the sun's intensity: Changes occurring within (or inside) the sun can affect the intensity of the sunlight that reaches the Earth's surface. The intensity of the sunlight can cause either warming (for stronger solar intensity) or cooling (for weaker solar intensity). According to NASA research, reduced solar activity from the 1400s to the 1700s was likely a key factor in the “Little Ice Age” which resulted in a slight cooling of North America, Europe and probably other areas around the globe. (See additional discussion under The Last 2,000 Years.)

Volcanic eruptions: Volcanoes can affect the climate because they can emit aerosols and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Aerosol emissions: Volcanic aerosols tend to block sunlight and contribute to short term cooling. Aerosols do not produce long-term change because they leave the atmosphere not long after they are emitted. According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the eruption of the Tambora Volcano in Indonesia in 1815 lowered global temperatures by as much as 5ºF and historical accounts in New England describe 1815 as “the year without a summer.”

Carbon dioxide emissions: Volcanoes also emit carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas, which has a warming effect. For about two-thirds of the last 400 million years, geologic evidence suggests CO2 levels and temperatures were considerably higher than present. One theory is that volcanic eruptions from rapid sea floor spreading elevated CO2 concentrations, enhancing the greenhouse effect and raising temperatures. However, the evidence for this theory is not conclusive and there are alternative explanations for historic CO2 levels (NRC, 2005). While volcanoes may have raised pre-historic CO2 levels and temperatures, according to the USGS Volcano Hazards Program, human activities now emit 150 times as much CO2 as volcanoes (whose emissions are relatively modest compared to some earlier times).


Or maybe it's just caused by cars as everyone else says...

[Spartacus]

About time we started taxing volcanoes and the sun then. That'd make them think twice about warming up our climate, the b*stards.

[xoggoth]

People go on about interpretations of rock formations etc etc but appear not to be aware that "the greenhouse effect" is actually what makes our planet some 55'C higher than it would be if we had an atmosphere with no greenhouse gases, the main ones being ozone, CO2 and, most importantly, water vapour. Same with Venus, except there the effect is much higher.

Interestingly this difference between the theoretical no greenhouse temperature and the reality can be predicted by relatively simple calculations to within 10%. Other factors, such as the effect of rising temperatures on methane hydrates or of the effect of melting ice caps on reducing reflection are also basic themodynamics/heat transfer.

Certainly there are other factors that can act the other way, increased cloud cover reflecting sun's radiation for example, but the common idea that it is all of immense complexity involving intricate calculations of wind patterns over the Sahara etc etc and far too difficult for scientist's predictions to have any validity is bulltulip.

[oraclesmith]

There is at least a consensus that natural changes and human activity have both contributed to global warming even if no-one can agree the proportion.

We can't do anything about natural changes in the environment. We can do something, however small, about human activity.

Politicians will always use these issues to further their careers - either to criticize other politicians for not doing enough, to cotton on to the latest environmental vibe or to shift the blame away from anything they could be seen as being responsible for.

While we're worried about allocating blame, Mother Nature is shrugging her metaphorical shoulders and stoking up the boiler.

[DimPrawn]

Here's the solution for you hand wringing types.

http://www.carbonbalanced.org/sms/index.htm

Every time you fire up the old V8, send a txt messsage and relax.

[oraclesmith]

Buy yourself a conscience - what a fantastic business idea. Capitalism rules Yeehaa!

[Goya]

Isn't it all down to that Ming the Merciless fellow pressing those weather buttons?