Welsh cake Wrote:I think any Meteorologist who cares about facts, not stats, would appreciate that the Sun, not us, is what ultimately dictates our tiny little planet's weather.
In science, statistics ARE facts, or at least as close to them as you will ever get.
As for the sun dictating weather, sure the sun dictates the energy flux the earth receives, but it has no control whatsoever over the earth's energy output.
As a body with non-zero temperature, the earth emits blackbody radiation. It so happens that carbon dioxide molecules have vibrational modes whose energies lie in the region of the peak of the earth's blackbody spectrum.
These modes are excited by absorption of photons with frequencies corresponding to the mode energies. These are then reradiated isotropically. Those radiated back towards the earth contribute to heating it.
You put more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, you increase the "reflection", thereby increasing the heating effect.
When it comes to the basic science of AGW, there's really nothing you can argue against.
As DiRNiS points out, it can be difficult to tell how much of the present warming phase is due to AGW and how much would have happened anyway.
But as we know that atmospheric carbon dioxide has such an effect, its seems pragmatic to try to minimize the human contribution.
Galileo was a man of science oppressed by the irrational and superstitious. Today, he is used by the irrational and superstitious who claim they are being oppressed by science - Mark Crislip
