Greenhouse theory smashed by biggest stone [meteorite, not human emissions]

PhysOrg.com ^ | 13 March 2006 | Staff

[ko_kyi]

The event released as much energy as fifteen one-megaton atomic bombs.

Um, didn't we intentionally denotate at least that much in the 1950s?

Between China, The USSR, and the US, I would think that we easily blew up 100 MT of stuff in a 20 year period.

[COEXERJ145]

Doesn't matter.

It is still Bush's fault.

[FOG724]

Not to throw cold water on this but I fail to see how an event in 08 effected temperatures in 06. Other than that, I like it.

[moasicwolf]

Environmentalism has nothing to do with science. It is all about politics.

[Walkingfeather]

No it won't, because global warming is a faith issue with them. Essentially secular religion. You can not argue faith. Presented with the evidence they will just chop off your head for being an infidel. rhetorically speaking.

[gondramB]

And apparently at the CO2 levels on Venus it does become the dominant factor.

BTW, isn't it ironic that greenhouses don't use the greenhouse effect to stay warm?

[Nathan Zachary]

So, if we nuke iran, we will also solve the global warming problem. Cool.

[05 Mustang GT Rocks]

I moved to Houston in 1987 and did not open my car windows for about 3 years until I drove one day to Austin. I've been a few times to Dallas and further North but the humidity is still quite high and you will be in the Tornado Alley. IMO, nothing beats the Texas Hill Country, it's 5-10 degrees cooler than the cities and it is plain awsome. We've been living here for 13 years and still enjoy every minute of it.

[Poincare]

BTW, isn't it ironic that greenhouses don't use the greenhouse effect to stay warm?

Some experimentation was done with CO_2 rich greenhouses. It seems that the plants grow faster but don't form as much protein.

[Redcloak]

The Church Of The Great And Terrible Greenhouse insists that global warming began to take a noticeable upswing during the 1906-1909 period. Since the Prophets of the COTGATG weren't watching their thermometers at the time, they can only guess at a range of years. Tunguska, however, falls within that range.

[Physicist]

Sounds immediately wrong to me. Particulates from volcanoes demonstrably decrease global temperatures. Moreover, they settle out of the atmosphere within a very few years and the effect goes away. Ninety-eight years afterwards, the Tunguska event is still causing temperatures to rise? Not bloody likely.

[metmom]

It makes lots of sense. After Krakatoa blew, weather patterns were disrupted for quite some time, so there's precedent for it. I'd love to see what the environmentalists do with this one, besides ignore it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krakatoa

The eruption produced erratic weather and spectacular sunsets throughout the world for many months afterwards, as a result of sunlight reflected from suspended dust particles ejected by the volcano high into Earth's atmosphere. This worldwide volcanic dust veil acted as a solar radiation filter, reducing the amount of sunlight reaching the surface of the earth. In the year following the eruption, global temperatures were lowered by as much as 1.2 degrees Celsius on average. Weather patterns continued to be chaotic for years, and temperatures did not return to normal until 1888.

[beezdotcom]

Ninety-eight years afterwards, the Tunguska event is still causing temperatures to rise?

I think the point of the article was that a)The initial rise could be attributable to other-than-human causes, implying that subsequent rises might be also and b)The main 'fallout' from Tunguska would have been water-vapor related, and not strictly particulates (especially if it was a cometary body).

I agree it's not a slam dunk in and of itself - but it's a prospect that gets rare consideration because it flies in the face of a more PC agenda. Most of the time, the argument is framed as "People cause global warming" vs. "There is no global warming". It's nice to occasionally explore the middle ground points, like "Hey, there's global warming but it's not our fault" or "Hey, our global warming is offsetting a cooling trend", etc.

[King Prout]

interesting

[MainFrame65]

"-- Al Gore must be spinning in his grave. --"

No, the wooden one is more likely spinning on his lathe....

[RightWingAtheist]

Ping.

[Moonman62]

However, the most potent greenhouse gas is water, explains Shaidurov

Hard to blame water vapor on Republicans, though I'm sure they'll try.

[Smokin' Joe]

1945-1976: Above ground nuclear testing

1800's: Significant volcanic eruptions/explosions

Both would place particulates high in the atmosphere, which would cause a reduction in sunlight reaching the surface.

Just my $0.02

[txhurl]

Stop. We don't need any more immigrants to the HC!

[gondramB]

"1945-1976: Above ground nuclear testing "

I really wonder about that... the temperature was moving up the whole century til it stopped for 30 years.