On Mar 12, 3:26 am, Bill Ward wrote:
On Tue, 11 Mar 2008 16:55:54 -0500, Dan Luke wrote:

"Dan" wrote:

And getting back to the original point -- there is a long, long stretch
between observing and even accepting data that suggests some human
induced forcing of atmospheric phenomenon and concluding therefore that
disaster is upon us.

Thus the wider the bands of uncertainty grow the farther out the models
go.

But here's what we know:

CO2 is the primary persistent greenhouse gas.

Water's been around at least as long, and there's a lot more of it.

CO2 makes the planet warmer. If it didn't, the place would be frozen.

Not proven. Water provides feedbacks that swamp CO2.


Water's not up over 35% since the warming began. Water can be quickly
removed from the atmosphere to maintain an equilibrium (google
"rain"). There is no such quick removal mechanism for CO2.



There's 35% more of it now than at any time in the last 800 thousand
years or more.

100 ppmv of a trace gas absorbing at 15u.


A trace of ricin can be fatal. Surely you're not arguing quantity is
all that matters.



Humans put that extra 35% in the atmosphere in the last 200 years. That
is a geological instant. A lot of the effects, especially methane
feedbacks, may not even have begun yet. Meanwhile, we are adding more
GHGs all the time. Party on dudes!

A warmer climate will shrivel glaciers, melt sea ice, magnify drought
and flood events, raise sea levels, alter habitats and move agricultural
zones.

How much? Nobody knows for sure, but we have a pretty good idea what
the planet was like the last time it was 3C or 6C hotter than it is now.

How lucky do we feel? Lucky enough to just muddle ahead and wait to see
what happens? I don't think we should. The only home we've got is
getting run down and used up. We need to think about taking better care
of it.

Save it for Halloween.