I’m not sure there is anyone claiming “the earth’s climate has been perfectly static forever, and humans broke it!” (well, some stupid people, but that’s beside the point). The argument is just that CO2 (and other gases, like methane or water vapor) don’t allow longer-wavelength radiation to escape into space (like the glass panels in a greenhouse - it acts kind of like a 1-way valve for radiation). The million-dollar question is: Is the amount of extra ‘greenhouse’ gas we’ve vented into the atmosphere causing significant amounts of extra radiation to be captured? (to the point where it would actually increase the earth’s average temperature and cause changing weather patterns, in addition to other ecological nastiness).
Theoretically, it’s very possible. If we put a giant glass dome over the earth, it would be hot as heck here. If you changed the atmosphere to half-methane, it would probably have a similar effect. That’s sound science (try it yourself, build a greenhouse!).
Now should we go crazy and destroy our industrial infrastructure? No, that’s stupid, and only stupid hippies are in favor of that. But it’s worth keeping an eye on it. If anyone *actually* believed global warming was an issue, and *actually* wanted to do anything about it, we would be building nuclear powerplants as fast as we could pour the concrete, because nuclear waste is a pretty easily manageable problem compared to a superheated planet.
If any of your friends believe in global warming, smile and say “then why aren’t you for nuclear power?” Trying to sound clever and say “hey look, it was warmer at some point in the past” is a silly argument to anyone with any kind of scientific training, and it makes people dismiss your argument.
They have bundled "pollution" and "climate change." Therefore, Global Warming is clearly caused by Pollution, Pollution is caused by man, so Global Warming is caused by man.
OK, pollution is bad. Climate Change (as Global Warmers rather diplomatically have re-named it during the present cooling period) is neither bad nor good. It just is. We deal with it. Global Warming or Cooling isn't caused by man, and neither is all "pollution." The crap coming out of a volcano is far worse than the bondo dust coming out of Rudy's Body Shop, and there sure is one hell of a lot more of it.
Furthermore, we can clean up Rudy's, or a coal-fired electrical plant. The entire Carbon Dioxide as a man-caused greenhouse gas hypothesis is theoretically possible.
But isn't it more reasonable to look at sunspot activity, not to mention our place in the Milankovitch Cycles, first? The Earth SHOULD be warmer right now ... but actually really isn't. "Why isn't there Global Warming?" That's the real question.
Mention "Milankovitch," "Precession," or "Axial Tilt," to the average man in the street today, and you will get the same blank stare you would get from a news bimbo on TV news.
It's actually not "very possible" when you consider that water vapor (of which 99.999% is of natural origin) accounts for 95% of the earth's atmospheric greenhouse effect.
Carbon dioxide contributes just 3.6% to the total atmospheric greenhouse effect.
Of that tiny 3.6% of greenhouse effect atttributable to CO2, only 3.2% can be attributed to human activity.
So approximately 0.11% of the atmosphere's greenhouse affect can be attributed to CO2 from human activity.
Were we to triple our CO2 emissions, or cut them in half, the effect on weather either way would most likely not even be measurable.
Why is stating that it was warmer in the distant past a “silly arguement”?
One of the first things I learned in geology ...the geologic epochs...was that at one time the entire eastern U.S. was underwater ...a tropical sea..that’s where all the sedimentary rock that folded and faulted and became the Appalachians were formed....
Global Warmists are always wringing their hands about how our fossil fuels are going to cause a rise in sea levels...
If that’s the case..what caused the inundation of the eastern seacoast all those years ago?
Oh..I forgot...it was all those S.U.V. driving Trilobites.
Is it true? It may or may not be. But I'll tell you this - it's more than a little cute to throw out the meteorological and ecological history of the planet when discussing these things. That, in itself, is not good science.
Will we, indeed, can we, destroy the planet? If you're talking particle beam technology for “research” or “defense” purposes, sure. If you're talking about driving around SUVs, I don't think so.
There is more power in the earth than those who profess to be it's defenders will admit - a lot more.
The simple fact of the matter is, every period of human advancement has occurred during it's warm periods. Every one.
Be that as it may, I do agree with your take on exploiting nuclear power. It's a lot greener and more manageable than a lot of “alternatives” being proposed today. The ecofreaks, not a particularly bright bunch to start with, seem blissfully unaware that the hard Left has co-opted them and their movement. These guys will strive to bring down an evil capitalist system they see as despoiling their precious environment, but as soon as a Socialist Worker's Paradise is established, they'll not only be ignored and forgotten, they'll find themselves disappearing and in danger of becoming an endangered species should they loudly continue their folly.
In a word, it's political, and it has been since about 1971.
When talking about this stuff, it's important not to let hubris cause emotion to overtake sanity and the scientific validity of these arguments. In the end, the simplest and most convincing argument (in my view!) against AGW destroying the Earth, is, quite simply, we aren't that good!
CA....
Errr. The effect of a 50% methane atmosphere would be a very large fireball and then lots of charred stuff with zero methane in the atmosphere.
CO2 is a poor transmitter of radiation and the so called Greenhouse effect is a misnomer. The earth is an open system, not a closed system like a greenhouse. You can't make that analogy if you want to be scientifically accurate (albeit that does not stop Gore, Hansen and the other panic hustlers from doing so.)