Global warming...

AlladinSane said:
I'm not sure how you intended to relate the eruption with global warming...
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The amount of gasses released into the atmosphere with every eruption.

Volcanoes and farting cows are the 'poster boys' for the "There is no such thing as Global Warming" crew. ;)
 
Well that's up for debate. I've only heard to this point that volcanic ashes dump into atmosphere would actually reduce general temperatures. There are even talks about throwing a large quantities of Sulphur at the higher layers as a mean to counter the reduction of the Ozone layer and global warming.
[Edit to include controversial idea link:] http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0731-05.htm
 
I think the point being made is that the factors involved are so convoluted that most people never get past the headline ... which is written by reporters, not scientists.
One simple example is that that volcano has been spewing vast quantities of gas into the air for over a decade, but this is pretty much the first published accounts since it's initial blowout 11 years ago. During that time ... it never stopped. St-Helens has been venting since '84 pretty near non-stop too. Never makes the news. Each one of them puts out more co2 daily than an entire US city .... never makes the news.
 
What gets me is that when sientists, climatologists and every other ists out there releases reports about how global warming is real and how it will most likely affect our future...it's discounted as quark science...by the newies no less.
 
MrBishop said:
What gets me is that when sientists, climatologists and every other ists out there releases reports about how global warming is real and how it will most likely affect our future...it's discounted as quark science...by the newies no less.
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What gets me is that when scientists, climatologists, and every other ists out there make multiple tests and run multiple models, and then pick only the data that suits their cause celebre. Thats why its discounted as junk science...;)
 
MrBishop said:
The amount of gasses released into the atmosphere with every eruption.

Volcanoes and farting cows are the 'poster boys' for the "There is no such thing as Global Warming" crew. ;)
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Y'know, Bish, there are actually very few people I'm aware of who deny that the climate is changing. It always has been and likely will continue until the earth is swallowed up by the expanding red giant the sun will become. You've been listening to your own side's propaganda. The real argument is how much of it humans are causing vs. how much humans can do to slow it down (I know I'm not the only one who finds it a bit arrogant to think that humans can stop a cycle that's been going on for millions of years and lasts 120,000 years or so per). Are you aware, for instance that while CO2 can trap up to 25% (or so) of radiant energy, in fact in conjuction with other greenhouse gasses (of which it's not even the most significant) it actually only contributes about 10% or so to trapping said energy. There are many good reasons for becoming less dependent on fossil fuels, global warming isn't the most important one. Problem is, when an alternative source is suggested the idjits come out of the woodwork and start screaming about how bad that one will be. :shrug: They don't want a solution they want something to complain about so when they complain about global warming I completely fail to take them at their word. Surprising? I hardly think so.
 
Climatologists are well aware that the cycle has been going on for millennia is a sine wave of ups and downs...but they have also noticed that the wave itself has been pushed upwards from its previous norm.

It may be egotistical to think that we can change it enough, but not quite as egocentric as concluding that we shouldn't even try to do something about not only the amount of pollution that we pour into our atmosphere as it related to out climate, but also how it related to our own health.

Frankly...I'd rather have clean air to breathe, clean water to drink and healthy food to eat...for me and my family to the nth degree. If that means sacrificing a few SUVs to the climate gods...so be it.
 
MrBishop said:
Climatologists are well aware that the cycle has been going on for millennia is a sine wave of ups and downs...but they have also noticed that the wave itself has been pushed upwards from its previous norm.
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The proble is that there is no concensus of what the "norm" is. Each fluctuation is different from every other one. They take an average, assign an arbitrary "over or under" percentage and cry doom if it even looks like we might go outside of their "normal" range. there have been times in the past when there were no ice caps at all. Try as I might I simply cannot figure out how to blame that on Exxon. I suggest that the "normal" average global temperature is higher than they think and that we're still recovering from the last ice age. It'll get quite a little warmer before it gets cooler is my guess.

Read an article recently (don't remember where now) that the "little ice age" of the 13th through 19th centuries seems to have only affected the northern hemisphere. Interesting, no? Have the real ice ages affected the hemispheres differently? Is this why 90% of the world's ice is in Antarctica?
 
I'd think a big reason for becoming elss dependent on fossil fuels is that there is a finite amount of them left. No one's really sure how much, but it's certainly not endless.
 
It'd be nice if we stopped using them as early as possible as opposed to waiting until we run out and THEN deal with it. Save a lot of strife in the log run (and a nice way to cut the balls off of some Middle-East and African despots while we're at it, eh).
 
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