[Dean's World] Scott Kirwin: Global Warming Dissent Smackdown

[notify at powerblogs.com]

Posted by Scott Kirwin:
Global Warming Dissent Smackdown
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1157575620.shtml


   Somehow this afternoon I took time to investigate the role of water
   vapor in global warming. In the process I ended up at RealClimate.Org.

   Aziz first mentioned RealClimate.org [1]5 months ago in this post, and
   I must agree with my fellow Dean's World denizen that they excel at
   laying the smackdown on global warming dissenters - of which I happen
   to be one.

   But they do it well and with aplomb. Their arguments are pretty
   effective, but not enough to erase the following hypothesis:

   What is the likelihood that we are living at the natural peak of
   carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere (extreme left of graph
   below)? [2][epica.jpg] 

   Note the rise and fall pattern in CO2 concentrations. It would seem to
   me that it would be hard to differentiate man-made CO2 levels from the
   natural "background" level. However the scientists do a pretty good
   job in this [3]thread here.

   Still, I'm not convinced - but my reasons are more philosophical and
   not scientific. I simply believe that the Earth is much more complex
   and much more powerful than we are. To me it is a form of hubris, of
   self-importance to believe that humanity can change something as huge
   and complex as the climate.

   But in the scheme of things, that is a weak and non-scientific
   argument.

References

   1. http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1144956932.shtml
   2. http://www.realclimate.org/epica.jpg
   3. http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2005/11/650000-years-of-greenhouse-gas-concentrations/