[FSTDT Climate Science Award?]
Look, the law of gravity isn't so terribly important because it tells us that things fall to the ground. We already know that. What is important is that things fall to the ground at the rate of 32 ft./sec/sec. It is the quantitative precision of the law that makes it important.
Likewise, the greenhouse gas theory of little use to us if all it does is tell us that CO2 has a warming effect. We already know that. Just blow on your hands on cold day and you will see. Without any agreed quantifiable figure, the greenhouse gas theory is of no value. Yes, it will have a warming effect. But how much? Estimates vary from .02-03 degrees C. all the way up to 6 C. for a doubling of CO2.
This is pretty basic science. Why do you need it explained to you?
32 comments
Ah yes, when you breath on your hand it isn't the heat of your body which you feel in the air, it's the "innate warmth" C02 has!
Also, unlike you silly scientists may actually believe, CO2 warms the Earth not by keeping warmth in the atmosphere like a blanket but again by this "innate warmth" in CO2 molecules.
"...CO2 has a warming effect. We already know that. Just blow on your hands on cold day and you will see..."
Oh, so WARM CO2 has a warming effect. Now that's deep.
firstly blowing on your hands is usually warmer, though could feel colder relative to your internal body temperature and the outside temperature. It has nothing to do wit what your breath is made up of, moron.
Secondly, we don't have precise figures for the temperature increases based on excess CO2 in the atmosphere, however, we do have very reliable data regarding such correlations in the past. Using that we can extrapolate figures for the future. Given the absolutely immense changes we've made to our atmosphere, however, it's difficult to determine the exact changes that will occur. We've dumped far more CO2 into our atmosphere than has existed in all of human history.
Of course, there is a quantifiable figure for the greenhouse effect. It's a physical phenomena of gaseous mixes that can be investigated and quantified.
What there isn't is a precise prediction of is the effect on global climate of a doubling of CO2. Climate models are used to produce projections of the future climate.
http://blogs.nature.com/climatefeedback/2007/06/predictions_of_climate.html
The problem is that none of the projections, except the extremely lenient ones, have a positive outcome for us. As more projections accumulate the confidence interval grows smaller, but this range doesn't appear to be converging on the low-side figures. Which is bad, mkay?
"CO2 has a warming effect. We already know that. Just blow on your hands on cold day and you will see."
You need to have some science explained to you. You can start by asking yourself, "why is the CO2 in fire extinguishers cold?"
Should we tell this guy that you exhale over 80% of the oxygen, and 100% of the nitrogen, that you inhale, and that only a tiny amount of your exhaled breath is CO2?
Celsius for temperature and feet for distance? Was it too hard to type out "9.8 m/sec/sec"? Have Fundies not discovered the decimal point yet?
To reinforce what all the other physics ppl probably have said:
No, the greenhouse effect has to do with sunlight - It reflects heat back into Earth from the atmosphere.
Your hands are warm because you're warm-blooded and your lungs warm the air that's in them, and your blood warms the CO2 you're breathing everywhere. Please stop.
This is pretty basic science. How did you screw it up so badly?
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PV = nRT is an evolutionist lie.
... okay, okay... wait, what?!?!?!
"Just blow on your hands on cold day and you will see."
WHAT!
“What is important is that things fall to the ground at the rate of 32 ft./sec/sec. It is the quantitative precision of the law that makes it important.”
And we sample surface and ocean temperature, average them, calculate the global temperature. And the levels of greenhouse gases. We collect the samples and draw the curves. We take in consideration natural cycles. Observations suggest strong evidence of global warming and strong evidence that emissions are a main forcing. Tipping points are evaluated. Predictive models show that urgent mitigation is necessary.
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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