Topic: Two Possible Limitations On Global Warming

[bmchan]

I think the idea that global ice melting is increasing the global water supply puts two limitations on Global Warming. First of all the fact that the water is very cold when it melts may possibly put a short term slowdown of Global Warming because it would take a while for that water to warm up. I also would like to argue that since humid air warms at a slower rate than dry air that that would slow down or even turn global warming into a scenario where the heat index would be more of a factor than the actual temperature as the added water moistens up the air. I am not an expert on climate as I don't have a degree in the subject or consequently a job in the field and those are two simple arguments but maybe they are worth discussing.

[Jáchym]

I am not sure about this, but this is just my way of thinking about this.

Remember that only 2.1% of all Earth´s water is stored in glaciers, now when we say there was a record in how much ice melted it is true, but in relative terms, it would be just a tiny percentage of that 2.1%, so overall, we are talking with mostly negligible amount. It is like if you had a huge sing of relatively warm water and you came with a pippette and dropped one very cold droplet inside it. Yes it would cool down, but...

[WXman]

Well, the mere fact that the world population is growing exponentially would lead you to expect a slight increase in temperature (we're all walking 98°F ovens) and then in addition to that more people equals more heat generated due to living activity.  So a small increase in temp. would be expected.

However, in the grand scheme of things what we've got is about 125 to 150 years of actual, recorded, dependable weather records.  That's all we've got.  Many scientists assume they can know what the weather was like hundreds of years ago based upon various methods, but those are assumptions.  What we KNOW is that we've got 150 years or less of real data.

Now, I personally believe the Earth is thousands of years old.  Many believe it's millions of years old.  In either case, what that means is that we're using a 1% (or much less depending on how long Earth has been around) sample size to try and describe the whole.

Even third graders know that you can's describe the whole by using a fraction of a percent of a sample.  You need a larger sample and the larger your sample is the more accurate your results will be.

So the bottom line is that nobody knows whether Earth is really heating up toward destruction or not.  Remember...it wasn't that long ago (1970s) that the newspaper headlines read "ICE AGE!!".  We simply do not know.

The best thing mankind can do is enjoy and use the Earth because that's what it's for!  And do so responsibly.  But there is no sense in alarm.

[Jáchym]

I personally believe the Earth is thousands of years old.

I guess this is a problem, because in a sense you are right, we make lot of decisions based on assumptions. If you only want to believe what you can really prove by "seeing it", or being documented by modern humans, then that would of course make your assumptions more valid, but just think about how much you would not be able to tell or use.

I don´t think this is the best strategy. It is always about probability, certainty is something you almost never achieve and if you only want to believe and take action based on what you physically see, then many things, in fact most of things wont exist, many scientific theories that led to amazing discoveries would never happen.

[ClaireAnderson]

Scientist are researching to find the impact of global warming on the climate. Recently they have published a report regarding the affect of global warming on the climate. According to the report, global warming is another factor which is causing the weather to change every year. The places with hot temperature are getting more hot every year.

[Bunty]

Now, I personally believe the Earth is thousands of years old.  Many believe it's millions of years old.

Then in answer to the question which came first the chicken or the egg, you think the chicken came first from out of  God's creation.