AR4 said that they have very high confidence that climate change is happening and will continue to happen, and that the primary cause of this climate change is the carbon dioxide that are being put into the atmosphere by human activity.
1.) Climate change has been going for thousands of years.. It gets hotter. It gets colder.
2.) That past Climate change was DRAMATIC, ABRUPT, AND EXTENSIVE, all without any significant influence on the part of mankind:
atmo.arizona.edu
I'd feel a lot better about their GW science if they could explain why temps have varied as dramatically has they have since the Holocene, despite the LACK of fossil fuel CO2 emissions.
For all we know, it's possible that any extra CO2 we've been putting into the atmosphere has decreased re-entering a global ice age.
But the biggest problem of all facing any reduction of CO2 levels is the fact that developing nations LACK the means of accessing much more expensive alternative energy. Hell, we'll have a hard time affording it if they can't bring down the cost.
So the only solution I can think of while the research data is still being accumulated is to enhance the planet's NATURAL CO2 SEQUESTRATION MECHANISM, which are the oceanic and terrestrial flora.
We may just be at one of those NATURALLY OCCURRING CLIMATIC INFLECTION POINTS, as we've seen occur over the past 15,000 years.
My own sneaking suspicion is that oceanic nutrient deficiency may very well be a primary driver, as well as variations in earth's tilt and sunspot activity. The oceanic plankton might require natural "refertilization" every several thousand years or more, which would require higher temperatures, increased rainfall, and intensive erosion of terrestrial nutrients into the ocean swells.
It's also possible that a long period of solar agitation could release far more energy than is "normal", leading to dramatic temperature variations.
Mars, where there is NO HUMAN INFLUENCE, had seen it's ice caps starting to melt in 2007. But detractors believe it's due to planetary rotational shifts (which also occur on Earth):
news.nationalgeographic.com
Either way, the atmosphere of Mars is almost completely CO2 (95%).. One would think that would create a serious "Greenhouse" effect, even with the additional distance from the Sun.
The percentage of CO2 in the Earth's atmosphere is less than 1/2 of a percent (.036% actually):
physicalgeography.net
So.. have the GW'rs explain that one please.. The earth received 2.5 times the amount of solar radiation than Mars. IF CO2 is such a terrible greenhouse gas, Mars should be hotter than the 9th level of hell right now.
Furthermore, the paleoclimatic record indicates that CO2 WAS FAR MORE PREVALENT in the earth's atmosphere hundreds of millions, if not billions, of years ago, yet LIFE THRIVED!!! The planet did not die. Biological/botanical diversity was extensive and plant life eventually sequestered the majority of that CO2 as fossil fuels. IF CO2 levels continue to fall (on the large scale of time), then plant life cannot thrive!!
sciencecodex.com (note.. don't totally agree with the argument implied in this article but it reflects evidence of previous CO2 levels).
Thus, it's IMPERATIVE that we understand more about the natural process of climate change and how the biological forces of nature influence it.
Again.. if you have 20-30% reductions in the planet's botanical populations, it's pretty obvious you're going to have a corresponding increase in unsequestered CO2.
That's why I pay attention to the phytoplankton population. The oceans, not the rain forest, are the true lungs of this planet.
Hawk |
