Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Climate Change: Join An Open Thread Discussion Here

I'd observed a couple of days before Sandy hit that climate change had disappeared from the campaign, but would surely be on the front burner when the rain stopped.

New York City Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg have weighed in.

And here is a dialogue among experts, and these paragraphs jumped out at me:
We have increased CO2 levels in the atmosphere by about 40% in the last 100 years (mostly the last 50 years) on the way to doubling later this century.  The Earth has warmed up about 0.8°C (1.4°F) already due to the extra greenhouse gases we put in the atmosphere and it would have warmed even more if we weren’t also putting up smoke that reflects sunlight.  This warming has increased Earth’s energy radiation to space, but the excess greenhouse gases are still trapping more heat than the Earth is radiating to space.  This “energy imbalance” is about 0.6 watts/square meter. This doesn’t sound like much but it is equivalent to 400,000 Hiroshima atomic bombs going off every day (see my briefing for the math).

Extremely Hot Summers (“3-sigma” events) have increased 50X (5000%) in the past 50 years. There is 4% more water vapor in the atmosphere than 50 years ago.  Average ocean temperatures have increased (90% of global warming energy goes into the ocean). The Arctic sea ice just reached its lowest level in thousands of years and in a few years you will be able to sail a boat to the North Pole for the first time in human history.
Have at it with comments.
at

7 comments:

  1. AnonymousOctober 31, 2012 at 4:03 AM

    The theory can be disproved quite easily by observing the observations from around 1940 to 1980 when CO2 levels rose significantly and global temperatures dropped to the point that “experts” were seriously predicting another ice age. When the observations don’t match the predictions, the theory is wrong. There are simply no observations which cannot be explained by natural variation and any observed warming is consistent with the natural trend which continues since the last glaciation.

    Also, the climate gate email scandal of a couple of years ago showed that top climatologists were fudging the numbers to secure grant money for their research.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousOctober 31, 2012 at 5:03 AM

    Since we only have accurate records since 1979, it is quite deceptive to state that arctic sea ice levels were the lowest for thousands of years. There is also no real data which confirms that the intensity and frequencies of storms are steadily increasing. You can continue to attract attention by shouting that the sky is falling, or scaring yourself silly by imaginary boogie men, but this will not make it true. The biggest climate change event would happen if it ever remained constant as there is no historical climate graph which has ever been produced which shows a flat line.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousNovember 1, 2012 at 12:01 PM

      The ice itself, and what is contained in the ice, is an accurate historical record. Core samplIng of ice indicates the age of ice in various areas. The data is in the ice that still remains.

      There also exists photographs and maps as evidence of the polar ice area dating back well past 1979.

      Delete
  3. AnonymousOctober 31, 2012 at 9:55 AM

    Do not vote for anyone other than green party candidate Jill Stein if you truly care about the planet. The Democrats have used the global warming issue solely as a vehicle to make money from the carbon credit market, and have now gone silent after the carbon market collapse. There is no need to even discuss the Republicans. It is time to put your vote where your mouth is, as neither major party will do a thing about global warming which is not just the most important issue of our time, it is the only issue of our time as no other issue will matter on an uninhabitable planet. Choosing the lesser of two evils is still evil. You do not have to support evil. Vote Jill Stein.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousOctober 31, 2012 at 10:48 AM

    "The theory can be disproved quite easily by observing the observations from around 1940 to 1980 when CO2 levels rose significantly and global temperatures dropped to the point that “experts” were seriously predicting another ice age"

    These right wing talking points can only be explained by three theories:

    The people writing them are stupid.
    The people writing them are ignorant.
    The people writing them are lying.

    For your edification, concerns about global cooling were driven by emissions of SOOT and SULFUR, not CO2. Soot and sulfur that we are no longer emitting as heavily.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousOctober 31, 2012 at 12:34 PM

    Here is an excellent article which explains why there is no need to panic over global warming.
    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204301404577171531838421366.html

    “…it makes no sense at all to back expensive programs that divert resources from real needs and are based on alarming but untenable claims of "incontrovertible" evidence.”

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousNovember 1, 2012 at 3:03 AM

    Cuomo needs to reorder his priorities. His Tappan Zee bridge boondoggle will only contribute to climate change. Let's hope Hurricane Sandy is a wake up call for him. Otherwise, he should move over for Democrats who don't worship the automobile above all else.

    ReplyDelete