Warning Sign? Some scientists say....ominous future

FARALLON NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, Calif. On these craggy, remote islands west of San Francisco, the largest seabird colony in the contiguous United States throbs with life. Seagulls swarm so thick that visitors must yell to be heard above their cries. Pelicans glide.

But the steep decline of one bird species for the second straight year has rekindled scientists fears that global warming could be undermining the coastal food supply, threatening not just the Farallones but entire marine ecosystems.

Climatologists describe global warming as a worldwide rise in temperatures caused by the buildup of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses thought to trap heat in the atmosphere. Predictions of global warmings effects include rising sea levels, fiercer storms, more wildfires and warmer oceans.

I am enjoying the exchange also. I think of the exchange as a good motivator to seek the "Truth" with respect to "global warming".

Since I am an amateur gardner, I am familiar with greenhouses and coldframes. These special structures are designed to capture solar heat reflected from the soil that would otherwise be lost. The undersurface of the glass panes reflect heat back into the air beneath them, thereby warming that air. That warm air then heats the soil. The unseasonally warm soil allows seeds to germinate earlier than "normal".

In a way, the "global warming theory" considers the Earth to be a giant "greenhouse" with the atmosphere serving to capture reflected solar heat, thereby allowing surface temperatures to be warm enough to support life as we know it. I am not aware of any scientific disagreement on this point.

But the "global warming theory" then postulates that measured increases in atmospheric concentrations of CO2 (carbon dioxide) have lead to increased temperatures on the Earth -- and finally postulates that a continuation of this the warming will cause dangerous, if not catastrophic, effects.

I am an amateur scientist, so I was eager to test the first postulate: Is it true that, in a mannner similar to a real greenhouse, the measurable increase in CO2 in our atmosphere has produced a measurable increase in the temperature of the atmosphere.

If so, then the continuing build-up of CO2 in the atmosphere implies that the temperature of the earth will rise due to an increased "greenhouse effect".

If not, then the continuing build-up of CO2 is of no importance.

With that background, I found this study by Dr. Spencer of NASA to be very interesting:

http://www.ghcc.msfc.nasa.gov/MSU/hl_measuretemp.htm

In this article, Dr. Spencer presents a table of temperature trends from 1979 to 1997, as measured by both weather balloons and weather satellites, which shows that atmosperic temperatures are DECLINING.

WOW! A DECLINE! NOT AN INCREASE!

Now, as an amateur chemist, I know that for every molecule of CO2 produced through the burning of carbohydrates (by nasty, selfish humans, of course), there are TWO molecules of water (H2O) produced, and I know that each molecule of water is ten times more "efficient" as a greenhouse gas than CO2. So...

DOUBLE WOW!! Even with the added "greenhouse effect" of all that added water, temperatures in the atmospere STILL decreased!

It follows that the "Global Warming Theory" has been disproved.

Q.E.D.

PS: I am aware of two CYA "studies" that blame the (politically incorrect) temperature observations on the instruments themselves.

A Yale "study" claims that higher temperatures recorded by weather balloons in the past were overstated due to "sunlight" falling on the temperature sensors. "Adjustments" to the data fix that. LOL

A very recent NASA "study" claims that the "old" software used in "old" satellites overstated temperatures recorded in the past. LOL

IMHO, the debate between global warming zealots and global warming sceptics is similar to the debate between Ptolmaic astronomers, who based their conclusions on "politically correct" terracentric religious dogma, and Copernicus, whose observations challenged that dogma.

Come to think of it, didn't Al Gore attend divinity school?

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