Global Warming

This is a response to Andrew's "Research: Global Warming Hoax?" from his blog: http://www.path-of-a-songbird.blogspot.com/

Hi Andrew,

Your rhetoric was impressive but I found the opinion you held of global warming alarming to say the least. (And this post is in no way meant to attack you, but rather to challenge your mindset on global warming).

Global warming is a positive feedback loop.
Every degree the world goes up--or even a fraction of a degree--so does the water. This in itself is not so worrisome since, well, a few centimeters can't hurt... But the bigger problem is that ice reflects much sunlight which gives our planet a relatively hospitable clime. Unfortunately, when we lose some ice, then we lose some of that reflecting surface area, which earth's bodies of water are forced to absorb. At first, water temps don't rise that much because of its high specific heat, but with more heating than normal, its temperature still rises, which then causes more ice to melt due to the combined factors of warmer water and the greenhouse effect (I recognize that the greenhouse effect is necessary for human survival, but humans have augmented its deteriorating effects with sulfur dioxide--a byproduct of gasoline combustion--and other forms of pollution like nitrous oxide).

From "HowStuffWorks":

In 1995 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued a report which contained various projections of the sea level change by the year 2100. They estimate that the sea will rise 50 centimeters (20 inches) with the lowest estimates at 15 centimeters (6 inches) and the highest at 95 centimeters (37 inches). The rise will come from thermal expansion of the ocean and from melting glaciers and ice sheets. Twenty inches is no small amount -- it could have a big effect on coastal cities, especially during storms.

Also, according to my data, which was much less than yours (I used the WeatherData for 1935 not 1940), out of 20 stations, 19 showed definitive warming and only 1 showed a sort of gradual decline. (BTW, I also used 3650 running average instead of 365 to smooth the graph more). Of course, all this is occurring at a slow rate, but, in relation to the geologic time scale, this is happening in warp speed, and we must act to stop global warming.


Just as Elie Wiesel warned against indifference for the global catastrophe WWII, it too applies to one of the next, global warming.

Now why did I write this? Wiesel also said, “Words can sometimes, in moments of grace, attain the quality of deeds.”
It's because I was too lazy to fight against it so I decided to write against it.

Cheers,

Will