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• Monday, June 30, 2008 12:41 PM

  @student_on_the_rebound

  student_on_the_rebound: "The best my professor could manage is that "Humans are having an impact. But we're also coming out of an ice cage. Rock formations and fossils demonstrate that when the dinosaurs existed, the climate was much, much hotter, and much of the Earth covered in water.""

  Your professor is missing a key point with respect to the theory of man-made global warming, student_on_the_rebound: the available scientific evidence indicates that the earth isn't just warming, but that it is warming at a faster rate than at any other time we've been been able infer about in history.

  Picture-worth-1000-words-dept:

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:2000_Year_Temperature_Comparison.png

  And that increase in rate is both explained predicted by CO2-driven global warming theory.

  student_on_the_rebound: "A poster earlier said, in response to my post, that "studies were ongoing." Well, if studies are still ongoing, and there is nothing very conclusive to show me, a scientific layman, then what can you hope for?"

  You are confusing "studies were ongoing" with "there is nothing very conclusive to show" - these are not the same thing. In all branches of science "studies are ongoing" - and in most of those branches there is also plenty that is "conclusive to show," including with respect to climate science.

  Here are some "conclusive to show" points with respect to global warming:

  • The earth is warming.
  • Since the dawn of the fossil fuel era, the earth has been warming at a faster rate than at any other time we've been been able infer about in history.
  • The sun is not a primary driver for the earth's current warming trend.
  • CO2 is a greenhouse gas. Which is to say, when in the atmosphere it acts to trap heat so it does not escape the atmosphere.
  • Throughout history, CO2 levels in the atmosphere have been highly correlated with global temperatures.
  • CO2 is a significant byproduct of fossil fuel burning.
  • CO2 from fossil fuel burning is increasing the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere.
  • CO2 levels in the atmosphere are at the highest levels they have been in hundreds of thousands of years.
  • Based on these findings and others, the consensus of climate scientists is (per the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and other national science academies):

    There is now strong evidence that significant global warming is occurring. The evidence comes from direct measurements of rising surface air temperatures and subsurface ocean temperatures and from phenomena such as increases in average global sea levels, retreating glaciers, and changes to many physical and biological systems. It is likely that most of the warming in recent decades can be attributed to human activities. This warming has already led to changes in the Earth's climate... Increasing greenhouse gases are causing temperatures to rise... The scientific understanding of climate change is now sufficiently clear to justify nations taking prompt action.

    http://nationalacademies.org/onpi/06072005.pdf

  —Publicola Read Publicola's other letters
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