(some are worth a read) -
thanks, I found this one interesting -
02/03/09 at 1:50 pm
"To those who still think man has the power to influence the climate, please consider this:
Compared to the entire history of the Earth, the atmosphere today is CO2 impoverished. Seldom in earth's 4-5 billion year history has atmospheric CO2 levels been as low as today. Over eons, carbon dioxide has been dissolved in the oceans and precipitated out as carbonates. The level of CO2, with or without man, does not remain constant. It's either going to go up, or it's going to go down, primarily based on ocean temps.
As far as global warming: Water vapor contributes to 95% of the Earth's greenhouse gas effect. 99.999% of it is natural. Of the remaining 5% components, anthropogenic carbon dioxide contributes 3.207% (that's 3.201% of the 5%). If you do the math, that means our (Man's) input of carbon dioxide contributes 0.16% to the Earth's greenhouse gases. Considering natural variability (volcanoes, natural out-gassing, water solubility affected by changing temps of El Ninos and El Ninas, natural forest fires, solar changes, orbital mechanics, etc.) do you really think we are changing the climate?
Secondly, the question becomes how much CO2 is required to change the climate. The late Ordivician period was an ice age despite having CO2 levels of about 4000 ppm, more than ten times the amount today. Clearly, whatever impact CO2 may have on temps, it is overwhelmed by other climate forcing phenomena.
As far as the biggest threat to mankind: it is not global warming. If we are hit with a significant ice age, there will be a die-off of some plants due to the cold, and less CO2 will be taken out of the air. BUT, and this is a big but, colder oceans will absorb significantly greater amounts of CO2 than the warmish waters we have today, and remember, today we are at an impoverished level of CO2. If we see significant cooling, and the net result is a 200ppm reduction of the atmospheric CO2 level, we will be in a world of hurt. We now stand at about 387ppm, give or take. IF THE LEVEL FALLS BELOW 200ppm PLANTS CANNOT PHOTOSYNTHESIZE. This is well known. If CO2 remains at a low level, the plant will die. If plants die, what do you think happens to the animal kingdom?
Don't think the CO2 levels can get that low? Remember, at one time they were at around 960000 ppm.
BTW, the optimum level of atmospheric CO2 for plants is about 1000 ppm. Who has the wisdom to decide what the 'correct' level is for the earth, and who really believes man has the power to keep it at that level?
Please don't let politicians grab power and destroy what little is left of the economy on the pretense that they have to play God to save us from ourselves." |
