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NOAA&NASA: 2014 Warmest Year on Record
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<blockquote data-quote="00Burdell" data-source="post: 133324" data-attributes="member: 5"><p>No, what I mean to say is that we should refrain from tampering with the environment as a general proposition. Further, I'm saying that having already tampered with (intentionally or unintentionally) it is not a justification for continuing to tamper with it since the effect of the continued tampering cannot be known with certainty. So, basically, my point is that we can't be certain of the effect of having added CO2, hydrocarbons, methane, etc. that otherwise would not have been added. We can only hope that the system will absorb the additional material and balance itself out to a new equilibrium state that is not adverse to us. </p><p></p><p>Now we really have no way of knowing whether continuing to add material to the atmosphere and/or oceans makes the system more stable or less stable in the long run or where the future equilibrium state will be relative to today's climate. For example, let's say we start pumping methane into the air which undeniably allows the atmosphere to absorb and hold more heat. Something still has to add the heat but lets just assume something does (solar wind kicks up, etc.). So we are headed for greenhouse territory. Then glaciers melt, rivers overflow and a ton of fresh water pours into the North Atlantic which alters the salinity and, therefore, the density of the seawater just enough to shut down the thermodynamic engine that powers the North Atlantic current. Boom: instant ice age. Throw in a few volcanoes which dump enough stuff into the atmosphere to turn it into a heat sink but which also block solar radiation and who knows how things will turn out. The CO2/methane/etc. we have already pumped into the sky might tip the balance toward another ice age or another greenhouse. Your guess is as good as mine as to which is more likely.</p><p></p><p>So, that is why I advocate leaving the system alone to the maximum practical extent. Too hard to understand the consequences of what we are doing.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="00Burdell, post: 133324, member: 5"] No, what I mean to say is that we should refrain from tampering with the environment as a general proposition. Further, I'm saying that having already tampered with (intentionally or unintentionally) it is not a justification for continuing to tamper with it since the effect of the continued tampering cannot be known with certainty. So, basically, my point is that we can't be certain of the effect of having added CO2, hydrocarbons, methane, etc. that otherwise would not have been added. We can only hope that the system will absorb the additional material and balance itself out to a new equilibrium state that is not adverse to us. Now we really have no way of knowing whether continuing to add material to the atmosphere and/or oceans makes the system more stable or less stable in the long run or where the future equilibrium state will be relative to today's climate. For example, let's say we start pumping methane into the air which undeniably allows the atmosphere to absorb and hold more heat. Something still has to add the heat but lets just assume something does (solar wind kicks up, etc.). So we are headed for greenhouse territory. Then glaciers melt, rivers overflow and a ton of fresh water pours into the North Atlantic which alters the salinity and, therefore, the density of the seawater just enough to shut down the thermodynamic engine that powers the North Atlantic current. Boom: instant ice age. Throw in a few volcanoes which dump enough stuff into the atmosphere to turn it into a heat sink but which also block solar radiation and who knows how things will turn out. The CO2/methane/etc. we have already pumped into the sky might tip the balance toward another ice age or another greenhouse. Your guess is as good as mine as to which is more likely. So, that is why I advocate leaving the system alone to the maximum practical extent. Too hard to understand the consequences of what we are doing. [/QUOTE]
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NOAA&NASA: 2014 Warmest Year on Record
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