Category Archives: Climate Change

Global Warming Commentary by Guest

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Ponderer and I have posted “dueling” commentaries on global warming. A reader sent a paper to join the discussion. It is longer than commentaries usually posted on this site, but it has so much information that deserves consideration that I’ve decided to post it in its entirety with a few minor edits.

The so-called ‘greenhouse effect’ comes about by short wave radiation impinging on the earth from the sun.  Some fraction of this short wave radiation is reflected back into space with little effect.  Another fraction is absorbed by the earth.  Essentially blackbody long wave radiation is emitted from the earth’s surface as a result.  Carbon dioxide (and a few other gases that we will get to) absorbs and reemits this longer wave radiation.  It emits the longer wave radiation in all directions, so some fraction comes back to be reabsorbed by the earth’s surface (either soil or water).  On balance under these conditions there is more heat (in the form of both long and short wave radiation) entering the system than leaving it, so overall heating occurs. Continue reading →

Global Warming Debate

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climate change blue marblePonderer has presented compelling arguments in recent commentaries about global warming and the impacts of carbon dioxide emissions from man’s activities. We have had a frequent back and forth discussion on the subject, and Ponderer has provided data-based responses to my skepticism. I trust Ponderer’s integrity and intellect (both scientific and personal) completely, so why do I continue to cling to my “denier” status (although with less conviction than before)?

I’ll begin by explaining that Dr. Petr Beckmann was a patient of the medical practice where my wife worked as a nurse, and she told him I worked at the Rocky Flats plant that manufactured parts for nuclear weapons. He agreed to meet me and a colleague to discuss his pro-nuclear energy views, and I found him to be a fascinating man. I signed up for his “Access to Energy” newsletter and became more impressed with his brilliance the more I read. Continue reading →

Arctic Ice Increases

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NASA-funded National Snow and Ice Data Centre (NSIDC) image taken from dailymail.co.uk

NASA-funded National Snow and Ice Data Centre (NSIDC) image taken from dailymail.co.uk

National Geographic has an extensive article titled “Rising Seas” in the September 2013 magazine. The first several pages are about the massive destruction caused by Superstorm Sandy. The article then turns to making dire predictions. “By releasing carbon dioxide and other heat trapping gases into the atmosphere, we have warmed the Earth by more than a full degree Fahrenheit over the past century and raised sea level by about eight inches. Even if we stopped burning all fossil fuels tomorrow, the existing greenhouse gases will continue to warm the Earth for centuries. That report is countered by an article by David Rose that the Arctic ice cap grew by almost a million square miles and increased coverage by 60% in 2012. Continue reading →

Carbon Dioxide Solubility in the Oceans

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Al Gore is shown marching in front of a large graph showing atmospheric temperature and levels of carbon dioxide in the movie “An Inconvenient Truth.” He smiles and observes that the two lines look related. He proposes that carbon dioxide from burning hydrocarbons has caused the small amount of warming over the last century. Those who don’t believe man is the cause of this warming are called “deniers” who ignore the scientific facts. I proudly accept the name “denier,” but point out that I do not deny nor ignore the scientific facts. What Mr. Gore neglects to mention is that the warming shown by the graphs occurs decades before the carbon dioxide levels increase. The warming therefore could not have been caused by increases in atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide since the warming comes first. Mr. Gore has to deny the scientific facts to defend his theory.   Continue reading →

Renewable Energy

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There were two articles in a recent Denver Post about the wisdom of mandating renewable energy. The first that I’ll mention is titled “A job killer or a job creator” by Allen Best. He mentions that the town of Craig, Colorado was “rocking” with construction of coal-fired power plants. Then the construction crews departed after the Colorado legislature mandated that Colorado must get 20 percent of energy from renewable sources by 2020. That mandate not only reduced the flow of money into the Craig economy; the renewable industry is expected to go to Wyoming and Nebraska to obtain wind resources that are more dependable and cheaper. Continue reading →

Carbon Dioxide Concentrations in the Atmosphere

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Those who advocate that there is global warming caused by the activities of man are eager to find any measurement that gives them hope their ideas are correct. There were news reports that carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere “surged” from 2011 to 2012. Carbon dioxide concentrations did increase 2.42 parts per million to just under 395 parts per million by the end of 2012/  The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported that increase was the highest since 1998, “…which saw a rise of 2.93 ppm.”

CO2-levels

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/geekquinox/global-carbon-dioxide-levels-show-biggest-spike-15-131534825.html

The inference is that we are on a destructive path to global warming because of man’s insistence on burning fossil fuels. There are so many misleading aspects that it is difficult to know where to begin. Meteorologist Bill Collins warned against taking too much from the recent data. He gave some facts that would give hope to global warming advocates, such as his acknowledgment that 2012 was a “hot year.” He then observed that the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is strongly influenced by plant activity, since plants use carbon dioxide as a food. He wrote that “…year to year variability is often caused by uptake of plants and trees.” Continue reading →