(July 29, 2014 at 8:11 pm)Brakeman Wrote:(July 29, 2014 at 6:12 pm)Natachan Wrote: So I did a bit of research and found that carbon dioxide is responsible for less than 25% of the total greenhouse effect, and human activity accounts for less than 25% of that.
Bullshit! Human activity accounts for nearly nearly ALL of the change in CO2 levels. Total CO2 is a combination of rather static levels of carbon in the atmosphere within the carbon cycle. Most of the land mass is covered in seasonal vegetation where plants extract co2 from the air to create plant products during the spring and summer months, but that carbon is released again with the vegetation die-off by decomposition and combustion. This is why the atmospheric CO2 levels have such a distinct seasonal pattern. There are more longterm patterns in the cycle as well matching with longer term plant die off. Some vegetation is buried before full decomposition and converts to fossil fuels over long periods of time. It is the extraction and burning of these fuels that brings new carbon into play and becomes a huge agent of change. The carbon stored in the perma-frost in the artic is the largest trigger event looming. If the typical fill-up at the pump of 15 gallons weighs about 6.4 lbs x 15 = 96 lbs and 85 % of that is carbon which gives us 81.5 lbs of carbon. When this is combined with oxygen from the air you get about 300 lbs of CO2 going into the air that already had a "normal" CO2 cycle balance. With one fill-up! Multiply that by the number of cars in our history and adding in all the coal and natural gas being burnt as well and only a madman would think it would have no adverse effect.
If you believe human actions have such a colossal effect above what my sources state please provide citation. Once again, I'm not stating there isn't a human effect on CO2 levels, I'm stating that the percentage that we contribute to the total greenhouse effect is much smaller than I had thought originally, and that I had grossly underestimated the total atmospheric volume in question.
Quote:I suppose that climate deniers would also support dumping trash in the grand canyon as it would take years for that to effect the globe as well..
Did you not read my post? Even if climate change is completely a farce I still am not sure I would say such since I believe that moving towards sustainable environmental practices is laudable. I love nuclear and solar power and think that reducing use of fossil fuels is the only viable option for long term sustainability.
