In my last post I referred to the work of Dr. A Neil Hutton writing in the The Reservoir, published by the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists, who refutes the findings of the politically motivated, heavily funded organization fronted by Al Gore et al who cleaned up on awards a couple of years ago while touting the findings of The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). This bunch claimed that it is human beings who are causing a warming of Earth’s climate through carbon emissions in the form of CO2 gas and turning our atmosphere into a furnace which would, if not stopped, turn us into spent bar-b-cue coals. This characterization of humanity on a skewer is known as the Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW) hypothesis. Stated differently, if we don’t quit with the CO2 build-up we and all the animals will die.
I quoted Hutton who points out that CO2 levels aren’t large enough to make the slightest difference in the temperature of our climate. The truth is that while part of the Earth is getting a bit warmer, the average temperature has actually become fractionally cooler in recent years.
There is nothing strange about the Roman warm period, the Dark Ages cold period, the Medieval Warm period, the Little Ice Age and the present warming trend. Four distinct periods which were not all that noticeable really unless you are a scientist measuring sea temperatures which brings up the salient point, up until this present warming period the technology to measure the temperature in the troposphere or on the surface of the oceans or several feet under the surface of the oceans simply did not exist. Our knowledge was derived from ice core samples and tree rings.
Something else pointed out by Dr Hutton, (whose list of references covers pages), La Nina and El Nino were unknown until recently and such a thing as Global Climate Change was not necessarily all that Global but more of a world-wide average condition meaning the over-all climatic condition is not fool-proof. The average temperature of Europe may be offset by the average temperature of China which could vary be several degrees over a period of time. As an example, during the Dark Ages Cold period Europe was chilly while China was less so. We know this by studying core samples and tree rings.
While debunking the AGW hypothesis by dispensing with the severity of CO2 as the culprit it should be noted that the IPCC claims that we are experiencing warming through greenhouse gasses which they also attribute to man-made CO2 emission. Well greenhouse gasses is a term that is not only incorrect, it is just plain silly. The Earth’s atmosphere does not in any way resemble the atmosphere inside a greenhouse. Just think about it. A greenhouse is a glass enclosed cubicle in which any air that is circulated is blown around by a fan. The Earth’s atmosphere is not an enclosed space, it is, in fact, the opposite of a greenhouse. The reason we call a greenhouse, a greenhouse is because it is enclosed.
The air that circulates around our globe does so at the behest of the wind, the jet streams, the ocean currents – something known as the Coriolis force. Air is driven North where it is cooled and then circulates back towards the tropics. The reverse occurs in the Southern hemisphere. Water vapour, which makes up approximately 95 percent of the gaseous atmosphere of our planet is controlled by convection. Warm surface water in the oceans evaporates until it reaches a certain height where it cools and falls back to earth as precipitation. This is going on all over the globe and keeps the planet in what scientist term as equilibrium. Now compare that to a greenhouse where one grows orchids or tomatoes. A six year old child can see the difference. Greenhouse gasses when applied to the earth’s atmosphere is like comparing a hot air balloon to a 747… they work on an entirely different principal. Hot air is trapped within the balloon, which has absolutely nothing to do with jet propulsion.
(While I’m talking about water I should withdraw something I said last post when I mentioned hydrogen-powered vehicles. Stan has pointed out that quote: “It takes more energy to dissociate a molecule of water … than you will get out of recombining it to water” quoting a fundamental law of thermodynamics. He was referring to the fact that electrical energy to perform such recombining comes from coal fired plants. Let me add to that by saying while such plants produce carbon emissions, they are far more deadly when it comes to contributing to the pollution in the air around the world’s industrial centers than they are at causing Global Warming.)
Greenhouse effect insinuates the conditions on other objects in our solar system If one wishes to speak of a such an effect, look to the planet Venus which is completely shrouded in thick sulphuric acid clouds and has an atmosphere which is over 95 percent carbon dioxide. This beautiful “star” which is seen as a diamond alternating between late morning and evening after, and in some cases before, sunset is a fake. Atmospheric conditions on Venus are as extreme as anywhere in the solar system, it has a surface temperature of over 460 degrees C. The CO2 is trapped under the reflective brilliant cloud cover as air is trapped in a greenhouse on Earth.
The members of the International Panel on Climate Change would have you think that Earth suffers from a greenhouse effect by stating that Earth sends thermal (infrared) radiation from the surface out to be absorbed by the cooler, higher atmosphere, (clouds) and re-radiated back to Earth. Well another of the laws of thermodynamics states: it is impossible for a body of low temperature to pass naturally to a body of high temperature without work (an engine such as air currents), meaning that the cool upper atmosphere cannot radiate heat back to Earth’s surface thereby creating a greenhouse effect. The term is over-used and was at one time thought to play a factor in warming our planet but this idea has since been debunked. However old ideas are hard to break — as are old terms.
One more item on the reading of the planet’s temperature. It was found when studying various temperature gauges throughout the world that many were positioned in what can, in layman’s terms be referred to as “unscientific places” such as on rooftops of heat absorbing cement and metal buildings, near vents which blew warm air, etc. When the placement of these “thermometers” was studied in recent years a considerable percentage of them were found to be affected by circumstances that gave less than accurate readings — some as high as three degrees Fahrenheit.
The Sun plays a rule in all this and I’ll tackle that next time. In the meantime please do not be concerned unduly about the change in climate, if indeed, there really is one and what warming there is, is beyond our control. It is a cyclical dynamic of this planet. . Do, however be concerned about polluting the atmosphere. While it may not increase the global temperature, it poisons the air we breath and degrades the beauty of our planet.
Tags: Climate, Climate change, Greenhouse gas
