Is it sunspot cycles (11.5 years) or greenhouse gas's??Somebody must have the answer by now..surely??

PL

Try the General Science forum. There are several pages of threads there that discuss global warming!

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Any day you wake up on "the right side of the dirt" is a good day.

T. Anderson

I would say it is greenhouse gas. The way I look at it, we are releasing CO2 into the atmosphere that has been sequestered as petrochemicals for oodles of years. So practically speaking we are adding 'new' carbon to the carbon cycle. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, not a very strong one, but it does do it. Also, much CO2 is dissolved in ocean water, and the amount of gas dissolved in a solute depends on the temperature, and with the temperature going up, this would start to be released, adding to the effect. Also the higher temperatures would start to melt arctic permafrost, restarting the decay of long dead organic material, also leading to the release of carbon dioxide, as well as methane, which if I remember right is a 'better' greenhouse gas. Combining with the loss of polar ice caps, which would release large amounts of fresh water,as well as losing the heat reflecting (high albedo) and absorbing ( ice takes a lot of energy to melt) buffer of the polar ice, this can't be a good thing. Unless your into developing the Northwest Passage that is. Idon't think Earth will become Venus, but I don't think it will be nice.

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so what the hell can we do about global warming!!

In Nostradamus & the Koran there are references that the sea will boil!!

MAYBE THEY WERE RIGHT!!

oh well I am going to have another coffee

see ya

PL

Global warming is caused by methane from biker farts, thats right, Hells Angels are to blame!

We could temporarily sequester CO2 in plant material, we can bury it underground, we can pollute less, and we can live with the consequences. And no, I don't think the seas will boil. Old Nostro probably stole that from the Book of Revelation. It is a mother lode of doomsday imagery and cryptic cautions.

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Greenhouse gases, caused by industrialization.
Nikola Tesla had ideas for solar power in 1901. People should have listened to him.

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"If you think the LHC will create black holes, you might as well believe Hobbits are at the bottom of your garden."- Dr. Mike Inglis
Rovers forever! - ToSeek
"Carl Sagan sent a message to ET,
Neil Armstrong walked in the Sea of Tranquility
Steve Squyers built Spirit and Opportunity
Dan Haylen upchucked in zero gravity." -Brent Simon, The Space Camp Song

Less energy is radiated away than is absorbed.

Beyond that, there isnt a single magic bullet that is the cause.

People have listened. Solar power isnt the answer for everything

i notice that it has been kind of cool this summer- i just assume it's because i haven't been driving my 16mpg 1974 Monte Carlo as much as i'd like. but lately i've been driving it, and the days do seem to be getting warmer.

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"blacker than the blackest black... times infinity."- Nathan Explosion
The.. Best.. Thread..Ever...

cigarettes cause global warming! lol

No no, God turned up the Thermostat on the Sun, because wool sweaters make Him itchy.

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I mean, people should have adopted it in 1901 and used it as a major power source. As you said, it's not the answer to everything, and other sources would also have to be used in combination, true. But it's a cool alternate history thing to ponder.

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"If you think the LHC will create black holes, you might as well believe Hobbits are at the bottom of your garden."- Dr. Mike Inglis
Rovers forever! - ToSeek
"Carl Sagan sent a message to ET,
Neil Armstrong walked in the Sea of Tranquility
Steve Squyers built Spirit and Opportunity
Dan Haylen upchucked in zero gravity." -Brent Simon, The Space Camp Song

You are right! You need a Nobel prize, lol

That might have something to do with the current trend. It had nothing to do with the previous half a dozen trends over the last 1,000 years.

Paul - Sunspots. There is a very high correlation between sunspot activity and global temperatures. And I very sincerely doubt that a few degrees warmer here on Earth causes manyfold increases in sunspot activity...

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I am Mugs, of the Alien clan of Usa, Nordamerica, a Terran, of Sol. Human.

Whoever says "perception is reality" is daft. It's merely an abstraction, and often not a very good one.

They did. And actually, it was probably closer to 10,000 BC, when they first began using pack animals, also called "hayburners," and as we all known, hay grows in sunlight, therefore it's solar...

So is firewood.

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I am Mugs, of the Alien clan of Usa, Nordamerica, a Terran, of Sol. Human.

Whoever says "perception is reality" is daft. It's merely an abstraction, and often not a very good one.

So is coal and oil then, the energy for both came from the sun. The only form of energy that isn't solar is Nuclear, and if you streatch a point slightly, even it is. Supernovas and al that jazz.

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Manbearpig.

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Farting cows! and too much spicy food!

". . .cats and dogs, living together!"

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The difference is that firewood is renewable (real time). Coal and oil use represents a compression of many millions of years of solar-fueled biology and botany compressed into a hundred years or so.

The production/use ratio is about a million to one (1E6:1 aka 1M:1 aka 1,000,000:1)

Thus, it's non-sustainable.

Wood, with a production/use ratio of 1:1, is sustainable.

You're right about everything being solar, in one sense of the word or another...

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I am Mugs, of the Alien clan of Usa, Nordamerica, a Terran, of Sol. Human.

Whoever says "perception is reality" is daft. It's merely an abstraction, and often not a very good one.