nytimes.com — The top climate scientist at NASA says the Bush administration has tried to stop him from speaking out since he gave a lecture last month calling for prompt reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases linked to global warming.
Jan 28, 2006 View in Crawl 4
gerrypowerJan 29, 2006
Wait, the article says "The top climate scientist at NASA ..."; we are not debating an election here, we are talking science, so if you are going to refute the scientists claims, can you point to some science?
oyourmomJan 29, 2006
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tonageJan 29, 2006
Can you say "disgruntled employee"?
corrosionxJan 29, 2006
Carbon emissions are not the cause of global warming. In fact the most greenhouse-effect gas is water vapor, so what, are we to stop boiling water too?Increased solar activies can answer for all the earth changes right now, not the human's faults, so doing laws can't change anything. You gotta be pretty f*cking stupid to think that Bush not writing words on paper is what's destroying the earth.
riskableJan 30, 2006
My goodness! I'm going to assume for a moment that the majority of the posters here are Americans. In that regards, I have one thing to say: We need better science education in this country!Reading these comments makes me sick. I see people arguing "for" and "against" things of which they don't even have the most basic understanding of. People are confusing the hole in the ozone layer with the greenhouse effect, methane emissions with carbon dioxide, and then there's just plain "making things up".Here's a quick rundown so you can hopefully correct the errors in your brains and possibly fill in some gaps:The ozone layer: Stops ultraviolet (UV) radiation by bouncing it back into space. The hole allows this UV radiation to enter and bounce around inside the Earth's atmosphere causing things like cancer. The ozone layer does have a role to play in global climate, but not nearly as much as water vapor and CO2. In the 70s scientists discovered that the hole was getting bigger. In the 80s they discovered that this was mostly due to CFCs and a global effort by first-world countries to reduce CFC emissions has had a dramatic effect by stopping the growth of the hole. Current predictions estimate that the hole will be back down to pre-1970s levels in about 50 years.Greenhouse effect: Certain gasses in the atmosphere allow the earth to stay warm by trapping heat. The gasses we currently know to have the strongest "greenhouse effect" are water vapor and carbon dioxide. Methane also plays a role, but it is nearly insignificant in the grand scheme of things. We know that trapped heat causes more water vapor to enter the atmosphere due to ocean evaporation. We also know that more CO2 in the atmosphere traps more heat... Creating more water vapor... Creating more trapped heat. What we don't know is the precise percentage of this interaction. Is water vapor 70% with CO2 25%? We don't know, but that doesn't mean we don't know how it works.We also know that human-based carbon dioxide emissions account for the *vast majority* of all emissions world wide (no, volcanoes do not account for much compared to what we emit). We also know that deforestation decreases carbon dioxide absorption (as in, trees and plants grow by converting CO2 into C for their mass and they release O2).Warming: The earth is warming. We can see this with recorded temperatures dating back about 200 years. We can also determine global temperatures by dating things like 4000-year-old trees (yes, there are trees that old), lake varves (sediment layers dating back 100,000+ years), and ice core samples (millions of years). We know that we're currently experiencing warming that has *never happened before*. As in, we're warming up faster than any time ever in the earth's history that we know of.Lastly, it all adds up: We pump out trillions of barrels of oil and burn it--releasing CO2. Where do you think it all goes? The rate of absorption in plants is far, far smaller than the rate at which we pump CO2 into the atmosphere. The only "debate" going on over global warming (within the scientific community) is over what is going to happen as a result of global temperature rises. Most agree that more heat means more energy and thus, more/stronger severe weather.Other things that might happen: Ocean current changes, stronger "trade winds" resulting in higher ocean waters in Asia, tides changing, melting permafrost, and the extinction of millions of species.-Riskable<a class="user" href="http://riskable.com">http://riskable.com</a>
sharky35Jun 2, 2011
We didn't know there was a hole in the atmosphere until we looked for it.
I know that's a simple excuse, but we simply didn't know about the hole existed before Nimbus was launched. So it's possible that the ozone hole has always been there? Isn't it?
sharky35Jun 2, 2011
And... The "Increased Energy In The Atmosphere" causes more severe storms; is a farce.
Severe weather occurs in the zones of the Earth where seasonal climate changes the most. This is due to nothing more than the clashing of warm and cold air masses.
IF the mean temperature of the Earth were to rise, the seasonal differences in these air masses would decrease. With a lessening of the seasonal differences, less severe weather would be able to form.
It's really quite simple. An increase in severe weather IS PROOF the Earth is cooling.
tonageFeb 1, 2006
We are controlled by a small group of dominate men. The worst ruled and most completely controlled government in the civilized world.Digg is becoming a haven for America haters. That is sad too. The founders seem to be pretty good people. Too bad there are so many bad people out there posting comments.
fresnoMar 20, 2006
this all comes down to one thing "$" some have it, some dont. And a few want it all as soon as it can be accumulated . The lower the cost is the best way to do it.
smoovMar 20, 2006
You left out the Medieval Warm Period (substantially warmer than today). You also left out icecap melting on Mars (obviously implicates fluctuating solar output in climate change). You didn't mention that by far the most significant greenhouse gas is water vapor, which is not produced by humans. Also you left out that forests generate massive amounts of methane, a ghg which is 10 times as potent as CO2.The fact is that your view is extremely one-sided and NOT scientifically neutral. You are an apologist for one school of thought, and therefore useless to those who seek the truth.