It's Almost Halloween: Global Warming - Trick? Or Treat?
You may get your science news from John Stossel or your climate change opinions from NewsMax or WorldNetDaily, but there are actually real scientists out there doing real science in an effort to understand our world around us.
You may agree that the world may be warming, but that the warming isn't that significant or that minor warming might even be a benefit to mankind. You may think that the whole global warming argument is tied to Al Gore. Or that there is an intense global government conspiracy behind the IPCC.
But there is science out there that backs up anthropogenic contribution to Earth getting warmer. It might not be a coherent story due to the complex nature of climate or that scientists even have all of the answers...
In my mind, what we don't know is the scary part...
Enter carbon sinks. Have you read up on this event?
You should.
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Hi Dox,
First of all, I would like to say that I enjoy reading your blog. You are a bright person and I like that. That being said, please take the following as friendly advice, and nothing more.
The global warming argument is only tied to Al Gore in the fact that helped usher it into the front of the political agenda. Tests on the extent of human impact on the environment, including global warming, have been, and will continue to be on the agenda of science no matter what politics have to say about it. So we agree on the fact that the Global warming argument came from scientists. No argument there.
So here is the part I have a problem with...
I do agree that there are real scientist that are trying to understand the world around us. They work very hard. So it's interesting that after your start on how real scientists are working on this, your source here is National Geographic, a mass media journalism magazine designed to make a profit.
So the only issue that I have with this is that it is based on theory from a mass media source. If you re-read the article that you link us to (after your link) then you will see that there are lots of "if's, and "no-one knows" stated in this article. I understand he got an award for journalism, but journalism is not objective, it's a business. I do not see studies quoted, no actual data given, just opinion based on some study that no-one gets linked to and a quote from a Harvard Professor. If you want to quote science, then don't go to a mass media source, get your information from an actual study or science journal. Real scientists cannot even use National Geographic, or any other mass media magazine as any type of "source" in their very first science course when getting a BS. I would love to se the real data...the real deal, the numbers and tests. What was done to come up with this theory? What type of tests? what type of data? What tools were used? I can say it is not an area that I have studied, so I cannot possibly have a real scientific opinion on it until I actually look at the information. ..from a scientific source.
Which I will do now, because you sparked my interest! Thank you for that.
However, if projections are correct -- there could a point where these carbon sinks become carbon sources -- only making global warming even worse. And if deniers are making claims that it really isn't so bad and that a little bit of warming may be a benefit to mankind -- I kind of take exception to that because if they truly understood some of the science out there they might have a better appreciation for what this may turn out to be. But they choose to make arguments from a "political" standpoint -- not a logical, reasonable one.
The system has a breaking point...
As for Gore -- I didn't like AIT. It is full of many inaccuracies that deniers use to show that this global warming thing is a farce. When in reality -- it isn't. IMHO, I think Gore has done just as much disservice to the cause...
If you really want to read up on the global warming science go here. Start with the "Summary for Policymakers" then go from there...
Thanks...I have been meaning to respond, but haven't had a chance. I will read up on this!
I have a degree in Environmental Science, but that was quite some time ago. I will get back to you on all of this as soon as I can. I really have been looking forward to reading it, but just haven't had a chance.
If you think that, you should think again. More than 650,000 peer-reviewed papers is more than "very little".
Er, yes it has. Ever hear of the Miami oolite? It is a formation that was formed by the rolling of shell fragments across the seabed when Florida was last under the ocean. It has happened before and will happen again; the main difference is that this time, we are hastening the event.
Then you should have been paying attention; this stuff hasn't exactly been kept a secret for the past thirty years.
No, he said that the IPCC probably understated the magnitude of the effects.
John