Quick question: Earth and its heat

[thekillman]

i do think Global Warming exists. however untill scientists reach a consensus on the extent of it, i'm not gonna try and predict it.


besides, we barely understand the mechanics of the planet's ecosystems and all.

[Mister Oragahn]

I feel it every year . . . starting around March.

Honestly. The Global Warming scare is absurd.

Absurd and doctored.

[Alx]

it is not "global warming" its climate change and this has been going on for millions of years its nothing new and nothing to worry about we humans will survive the only real loss is economic loss as citys like new york etc will be under water

[Lt. Col. Mcoy]

it is not "global warming" its climate change and this has been going on for millions of years its nothing new and nothing to worry about we humans will survive the only real loss is economic loss as citys like new york etc will be under water

Hmm. The Earth's climate fluctuates from colder to warmer to colder on a regular basis; it seems to be related to sunspots. Not terribly long ago people were predicting the start of a new Ice Age due to "global cooling". Ah, well. C'est les humains.

Whether or not the sea level rise will be that drastic is also questionable; it's really quite presumptuous to assume that we know exactly what will happen.

[Alx]

Hmm. The Earth's climate fluctuates from colder to warmer to colder on a regular basis; it seems to be related to sunspots. Not terribly long ago people were predicting the start of a new Ice Age due to "global cooling". Ah, well. C'est les humains.

Whether or not the sea level rise will be that drastic is also questionable; it's really quite presumptuous to assume that we know exactly what will happen.

exactly as we have what a couple hundred years of statistics and mesurements? the rest is pure scientific speculation.
and whatever happens "life will allways find a way"

[bradly08]

Climate change yes, weither its man made; thats were im not sold on it.

[Lt. Col. Mcoy]

Scientific studies have shown that we do not produce a significant amount of CO_2 compared to the rest of the earth. Further, CO_2 levels rise because of warming; they are not the cause. The oceans release CO_2 as they heat up; graphs of CO_2 levels and gobal temperature demonstrate this rather nicely; CO_2 peaks come after hot peaks. (Incidentally, CO_2 isn't even the greatest greenhouse gas in the first place; water vapor is the main one.)

[General Jumper One]

Scientific studies have shown that we do not produce a significant amount of CO_2 compared to the rest of the earth. Further, CO_2 levels rise because of warming; they are not the cause. The oceans release CO_2 as they heat up; graphs of CO_2 levels and gobal temperature demonstrate this rather nicely; CO_2 peaks come after hot peaks. (Incidentally, CO_2 isn't even the greatest greenhouse gas in the first place; water vapor is the main one.)

Actually oceans absorb CO2 and is the main greenhouse gas, one of the main worries of Global Warming is the oceans becoming acidic which would kill most of ocean life. It is true that water vapor is a greenhouse gas, but CO2 is the main one, Ozone is also known to be a greenhouse gas, but it isn't as bad as CO2. CO2 is the cause of Global Warming because it traps heat in and because it also absorbs and keeps the atmosphere, but not allowing into to back into space. http://www.i-sis.org.uk/OceanCarbonSink.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_sink ocean section: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_sink#Oceans

[Lt. Col. Mcoy]

Actually oceans absorb CO2 and is the main greenhouse gas, one of the main worries of Global Warming is the oceans becoming acidic which would kill most of ocean life. It is true that water vapor is a greenhouse gas, but CO2 is the main one, Ozone is also known to be a greenhouse gas, but it isn't as bad as CO2. CO2 is the cause of Global Warming because it traps heat in and because it also absorbs and keeps the atmosphere, but not allowing into to back into space. http://www.i-sis.org.uk/OceanCarbonSink.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_sink ocean section: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_sink#Oceans

Water vapor is the dominant greenhouse gas - though it is amplified by CO_2. And the very first link you provided actually backs up what I said about warming oceans releasing CO_2. Yes, cool oceans are carbon sinks, but they release CO_2 when heated.

Interestingly, the article I provided also indicates that a doubling of CO_2 would correspond to an increase in gobal temperature of about 3 degrees Celsius. Since (as last I checked) anthropogenic CO_2 was less than 8% of the total CO_2 created each year, this means we only increase the CO_2 level in a given year by about 9%. Note; logically enough, the temperature rises if we increase CO_2 at an increasing rate. If the rate of increase is steady (and not too steep, granted), natural processes will simply work to stabilize at a slightly higher temperature. If we simply produce a small amount of CO_2 each year, it will not cause major fluctuations. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that climate change is primarily due to the natural temperature cycles seen in the past, which seem to correspond -- as I noted earlier -- to sunspot frequency. Of course, atmospheric science is not my specialty, so it is possible I have erred.

[bradly08]

Another factor in the increase of C0^2, is the massive deforestation happing in the tropics. roughly 20% of the planets oxygen is produced in jungles, and in turn regulates how much CO^2 there is (since the CO^2 is converted into Oxygen.