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2009-12-09 Science & Technology

Just one more baseless scare - like the 26 before

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Posted by tipper 2009-12-09 02:42|| || Front Page|| [6 views ] Top

#1 IMO.
(a) Anybody who claims to have a predictive climate model is a liar.
(b) The current enchantment with computer models in "scientific research" is just a way for incompetents to make a living. It's not really science because the results are not falsifiable.

Posted by g(r)omgoru 2009-12-09 05:00|| 2009-12-09 05:00|| Front Page Top

#2 Grom, the results are not falsifiable because they are already falsified.

Posted by AlanC">AlanC 2009-12-09 07:34|| 2009-12-09 07:34|| Front Page Top

#3 Not necessarily a baseless scare. We just don't know whether is baseless or real - and won't know until we start doing real science instead of political science.
The basic concept is solid - CO2 does act as a heat retaining ('greenhouse') gas: that aspect is lab-tested. But lots of other gasses are too (e.g. water vapor and methane), and more potent than CO2. Are there interactions that decrease (or increase) the effect? What about buffering by the resulting increased plant growth? What about interactions with the oceans - increased temperature of the sea decreases the solubility of CO2 but may increase the capture of CO2 by various sea life. What about changes in atmospheric or oceanic circulation driven by temperature changes - do they amplify or dampen the effects? The complexity of the system is staggering and we have only begun to understand it. Our models are still suspect, to say the least.
Worse, the so-called treatment is almost certainly worse than the disease - nothing in these treaties reduces CO2 production, it just changes where it comes from. That point is so obvious that it is impossible to conclude anything but that the treaties are not intended to address global warming but rather to change global politics and economics.

Posted by Glenmore 2009-12-09 08:30|| 2009-12-09 08:30|| Front Page Top

#4 The Earth's atmosphere is only 0.038% carbon dioxide.

That tiny fraction could quadruple with no harm.

Posted by Parabellum 2009-12-09 11:38|| http://sidemeat.wordpress.com/]">[http://sidemeat.wordpress.com/] 2009-12-09 11:38|| Front Page Top

#5 falsifiable

confirmable: capable of being tested (verified or falsified) by experiment or observation

Posted by g(r)omgoru 2009-12-09 14:25|| 2009-12-09 14:25|| Front Page Top

#6 During the Medieval Warming period there were Viking colonies in Greenland with dairy farms. Newfoundland was known as Vinland and grapes were grown there. It was a LOT warmer than today, and curiously civilization did not come to an end, and humans didn't die off.

Posted by DMFD 2009-12-09 22:08|| 2009-12-09 22:08|| Front Page Top

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