Walking on thin ice
- Thread starter danmand
- Start date
Oh... climate change is something to worry about... but there's not a dam thing "man" can do about it! Its been going on since long before we got here and will be going on long after we're gone.danmand said:
One thing that has ALWAYS bothered me about this whole "green cult" is why is it that NO ONE talks about the biggest green house gas by far? That is water vapor, which accounts for 95% of ALL greenhouse gases and is 99.9% naturally occurring. In fact:
- The next highest concentration of greenhouse gases is carbon dioxide or CO2, but mankind is only responsible for about 3% of the total! This includes ALL industry, ALL cars, ALL CO2 produced from ALL manmade sources.
- A full 97% of CO2 production is caused by natural means such as:
- Volcanoes which produce more CO2 than all manmade sources... PUT TOGETHER!
- Animals and bacteria account for roughly 20 times more CO2 than mankind!
- Trees, plants & vegetation is the second largest contributor to CO2 in our atmosphere due to decaying vegetation, e.g. falling leaves in autumn, seasonal dying etc.
- But the BIGGEST emitter (and absorber) of CO2 BY FAR are the earth's oceans! (through heating and cooling via the SUN) They are also DIRECTLY affected by cosmic rays as a result of sun spots and other celestial bodies- but that is a whole different subject that requires more education than I have to fully understand.
- The remaining 1.5% of greenhouses gases are comprised of methane (CH4), Nitrous oxide (N20), and other miscellaneous gases.
This being the case, the green cult (Mr. Gore, Mr. Suzuki et al) is trying to reduce the greenhouse effect by reducing the 0.28% effect mankind has on greenhouse gases...
Good luck with that... lemme know how it works out for you...
Since about 1750 human activity has increased the concentration of carbon dioxide and of some other greenhouse gases. Natural sources of carbon dioxide are more than 20 times greater than sources due to human activity, but over periods longer than a few years natural sources are closely balanced by natural sinks such as weathering of continental rocks and photosynthesis of carbon compounds by plants and marine plankton. As a result of this balance, the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide remained between 260 and 280 parts per million for the 10,000 years between the end of the last glacial maximum and the start of the industrial era.
Measurements from Antarctic ice cores show that just before industrial emissions started, atmospheric CO2 levels were about 280 parts per million by volume. From the same ice cores it appears that CO2 concentrations stayed between 260 and 280 ppm during the preceding 10,000 years. However, because of the way air is trapped in ice and the time period represented in each ice sample analyzed, these figures are long term averages not annual levels. Studies using evidence from stomata of fossilized leaves suggest greater variability, with CO2 levels above 300 ppm during the period 7,000–10,000 years ago, though others have argued that these findings more likely reflect calibration/contamination problems rather than actual CO2 variability.
Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, the concentrations of many of the greenhouse gases have increased. The concentration of CO2 has increased by about 100 ppm (i.e., from 280 ppm to 380 ppm). The first 50 ppm increase took place in about 200 years, from the start of the Industrial Revolution to around 1973; the next 50 ppm increase took place in about 33 years, from 1973 to 2006
Measurements from Antarctic ice cores show that just before industrial emissions started, atmospheric CO2 levels were about 280 parts per million by volume. From the same ice cores it appears that CO2 concentrations stayed between 260 and 280 ppm during the preceding 10,000 years. However, because of the way air is trapped in ice and the time period represented in each ice sample analyzed, these figures are long term averages not annual levels. Studies using evidence from stomata of fossilized leaves suggest greater variability, with CO2 levels above 300 ppm during the period 7,000–10,000 years ago, though others have argued that these findings more likely reflect calibration/contamination problems rather than actual CO2 variability.
Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, the concentrations of many of the greenhouse gases have increased. The concentration of CO2 has increased by about 100 ppm (i.e., from 280 ppm to 380 ppm). The first 50 ppm increase took place in about 200 years, from the start of the Industrial Revolution to around 1973; the next 50 ppm increase took place in about 33 years, from 1973 to 2006
