Global Warming Janet Schlarbaum Articles

Please enjoy this informative article by Dr.  Oswald J.  Eppers placed by Janet Schlarbaum.

Global Warming Scientists Dispute Man-made Greenhouse Effects

In February 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC) stated in their Fourth Assessment Report that human actions are “very likely” (i.e. with 90% or greater probability) the cause of global warming,  indicated by an increase of 0.75 degrees in average global temperatures over the last 100 years. This statement is the result of very tough discussions on a worldwide scale between thousands of climate researchers whether human activity is the main cause of global warming. The results of this discussion were presented to the public in many publications, for instance in Martin Durkin´s documentary “The Great Global Warming Swindle”, presented in March 2007 at UK´s Channel 4. The main message of this production was that man-made global warming is “a lie” and “the biggest scam of modern times.” Martin Durkin and coworkers argue that the scientific consensus on climate change is the product of “a multibillion-dollar worldwide industry, created by fanatically anti-industrial environmentalists, supported by scientists peddling scare stories to chase funding and propped up by complicit politicians and the media”. The documentary showcases scientists, politicians, economists, writers, and others who are sceptical of the scientific consensus on anthropogenic (or man-made) global warming. Some of the scientists, opposing the main stream of greenhouse gas theories, simply argue that it has not yet been ascertained whether humans are the primary cause of global warming or if there are other natural variations responsible for this phenomenon like increased solar activity, cosmic rays or variations in natural climatic cycles. There is also a series of scientists questioning the temperature records used in the databases as temperature differences attributed to the greenhouse effect are reasonable small (fractions of a ºC). The so-called “urban heat island” effect leads to a local warming in more populated areas, showing slightly higher temperatures due to to increased heat generated by cities, rather than a global temperature rise. Anyhow, this argument was confuted by the IPPC, indicating that the effect of the urban heat island on the global temperature trend is no more than 0.05 °C (0.09 °F) degrees through 1990.

Other facts presented by the film were shown to be incorrect or misinterpreted. The film asserts for instance that records of atmospheric CO2 levels since 1940 show a continuing increase, but during this period, global temperature decreased until 1975, and has increased since then. Anyhow, it is well recognized that this cooling was driven mostly by aerosols (i.e. pollution) in the atmosphere. There is nothing contradictory about this cooling when all sources of radiation changes are considered. A second argument that easily can be invalidated is the impact of the so-called “solar variation theory” on global warming. According to the authors, solar activity (and involving cosmic rays as well as heat from the sun aiding cloud formation) is currently at an extremely high level and directly linked to changes in global temperature. The film argues that solar activity is far more influential on global warming than any other anthropogenic or natural activity on Earth. What the film does not mention is that solar activity has declined over the last 30 years – at the same time as the major spike in global temperature.

But there are some statements related to the influence of the oceanic mass and water vapour on climate change which are more difficult to confute. Water vapour makes up about 98% of the greenhouse gases by volume and provides something between 40 to 80 percent of the natural greenhouse effect. It probably has the largest impact on the planet’s temperature and climatic conditions, much larger than CO2. Water particles in the form of clouds act to reflect incoming solar heat, but the film argues that the effects of clouds cannot be accurately simulated by scientists attempting to predict future weather patterns and their effects on global warming. This argument probably is correct and it is well recognized that water vapor is responsible for the natural warming up of the surface temperature to approximately 30-35ºC. Anthropogenic greenhouse effect, according to the film’s argumentation, is only about 2% of the total “natural” greenhouse effect, which corresponds to a 0.6-0.7 ºC increase in temperature. This estimate is somewhat smaller compared to the results of much more sophisticated simulations (0.9 – 2.7ºC), but there is undoubtedly an anthropogenic effect of CO2 increasing the average surface temperature.

One example of the complexity of climatic simulations is the prediction of future storm events considering global warming effects. According to a recently published study, published online by research meteorologist Tom Knutson in the journal Nature Geoscience and resumed in the New York Times (May 18, 2008), global warming isn’t to blame for the recent jump in hurricanes in the Atlantic. The study predicts that by the end of the century the number of hurricanes in the Atlantic will fall by 18 percent. In the past, Knutson has raised concerns about the effects of climate change on storms. His new paper has the potential to heat up a simmering debate among meteorologists about current and future effects of global warming in the Atlantic. And Knutson is not alone with this view. Another group of experts, those who study hurricanes and who are more often skeptical about global warming, also say there is no link between global warming and hurricane frequency. They attribute the recent increase to a natural multi-decade cycle. According to the prediction, the number of hurricanes touching land in the US and its neighbors will drop by about 30 percent because of wind factors. However, the biggest storms, those with winds of more than 110 mph, would only decrease in frequency by 8 percent. The biggest decrease is forecasted for storms with winds between 39 and 73 mph (normal tropical storms), who would decrease by 27 percent.

It’s not all good news from Knutson’s study, however. His computer model also forecasts that “hurricanes and tropical storms will be wetter and fiercer. Rainfall within 30 miles of a hurricane should jump by 37 percent and wind strength should increase by about 2 percent”, Knutson’s study says.

There are already critical reactions on this new publication. MIT hurricane meteorologist Kerry Emanuel claims that the computer model used by Knutson is not adequate enough to look at storms and according to Kevin Trenberth, a climate scientist from the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., Knutson’s computer model is poor at assessing tropical weather and ”fail to replicate storms with any kind of fidelity.” It also does not considering well enough the intensity, duration and size of the storm events, as not only the number of hurricanes is important to evaluate.

Positive feedback comes from NOAA hurricane meteorologist Chris Landsea , who wasn’t part of this study, praised Knutson’s work as ”very consistent with what’s being said all along.” ”I think global warming is a big concern, but when it comes to hurricanes the evidence for changes is pretty darn tiny,” Landsea said.

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Greenhouse Effect: A Lot of Old Gas?

Janet Schlarbaum Greenhouse Effect By Dr. Mark Clayson

The world is ending anytime soon, or so the boffins would have us believe. Greenhouse effect, they say; polar ice caps will melt, drown us all, kill everything, in – um – 21xx something, give or take a few million years.

Come on, they’ve got it wrong before: the Titanic was unsinkable, the war will be over by Christmas, Thalidomide is good for us. We’ve heard it all before.

The evidence seems to be there: winters getting milder, summers longer, halcyon days of splendour and sunlight. Today, birds singing at 5am, outside my frost-laden window

Do we care though? The British Way of Strife is to demand warm weather; millions of us go abroad each year, to soak up those rays and come back as brown as toast. Ask any True Brit what he would like most of all, and he’ll say ‘Heat’

The world has evolved over millions of years, and we’ve only been recording the changes for a few hundred. We obviously made it through the Ice Age okay, and there wasn’t the same kerfuffle and sharp intake of breath as there is now. So here is my theory:

The earth is a complex planet. It’s survived over those millennia and still come out smiling. It will take care of things itself.

There’s another problem too: apathy. Most people demand the use of dirty cars, that spew out diesel and petrol fumes; cities demand heat, light, energy; we demand TV, dishwashers, fridges. All these things create undesirable effects in the atmosphere, but do we care?

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What is the Greenhouse Effect and the Importance of Methane to Climate Change

Janet Schlarbaum and the Importance By Steve Evans

The greenhouse effect, also called the “greenhouse phenomenon” or “global warming”, has recently been receiving a great deal of scientific and popular attention. The term refers to a cause-and-effect relationship in which “heat blanketing” of the earth, due to trace gas increases in the atmosphere, is expected to result in global warming.

By global warming we mean an increase in the average temperature of the planet. Actually global warming is rather a confusing term because global warming does not mean that everywhere will be hotter all of the time, it just means that on average the globe will be warmer.

Now we just mentioned that “heat blanketing” is taking place, and that this is due to trace gases in our atmosphere. There are a number of so called ‘trace’ gases, which simply means gases that are present in the atmosphere at low levels, such that there is only a trace present (a small amount in proportion to the other gases). So it is these trace gases that are producing an effect which is like wrapping the world in a blanket. Just like any blanket, it has a net effect which holds the heat in.

These trace gases are increasing as the result of human activities. Scientists know this. It is easily measured historically by analyzing things like pack ice which was deposited in layers which layers can be readily dated and go back hundreds of thousands of years.

Carbon dioxide (chemically shown as CO2, which is simply a chemist’s shorthand way of telling us that it is a molecule made up from two Oxygen (O) molecules to each Carbon (C) molecule), is a trace gas.

The principal gases in approximate order of importance, are carbon dioxide, methane, the chlorofluorocarbons (considered collectively) and nitrous oxide.

Carbon dioxide is the trace gas scientists believe is contributing most to the “heat blanketing” and currently receives the most attention.

However, Carbon Dioxide is not the only trace gas which is implicated in climate change and methane is another which some have estimated to be over a third as much as that of carbon dioxide.

Gas from natural sources, cows and other ruminants, and natural sources where natural decomposition by fermentation produces methane, all contribute to the blanketing which is the cause of the greenhouse effect.

However, human activity is also responsible for a lot of methane gas production and Municipal Solid Waste Landfills have in turn been recognized to be a source of methane which is contributing to the atmospheric buildup.

However, the magnitude of the landfill methane contribution and the overall significance of landfill methane to the greenhouse effect have been uncertain, and the subject of some debate. But, as time goes on the evidence becomes stronger, and the fact of climate change is now accepted by the vast majority of scientists working in this field.

So, it appears that methane (using US waste generation data and remembering that the methane from United States landfills is a very large quantity) makes an important net contribution to the greenhouse phenomenon.

Landfill produces a lot of landfill gas which is largely methane. Measures to reduce landfill methane emissions are thought to be among the most economical steps which could be taken to address a component of this problem.

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The Greenhouse Effect and Global Warming

Greenhouse Effect and Janet Schlarbaum By Raguraman Gurusamy

The gases that absorb radiation are called greenhouse gases. The greenhouse gases include the gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone, or water vapor that contribute to the warming of the atmosphere of the Earth by reflecting radiation from the surface of the Earth. They keep the Earth warm. They naturally exist in the atmosphere, heating the atmosphere of the Earth by trapping energy that originally comes from the Sun. Due to this, the temperature of the Earth increases. This is known as the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse gases play the vital role in raising the temperature of the Earth. If the greenhouse gases are not there on the surface of the Earth, the Earth would be as cold as the surface of the Moon. The temperature would be around -18 degree Celsius. Actually, the characteristic surface temperature of the Earth is around 15 degree Celsius. It is now worried that the warming effects are being lamentably increased, inducing climate changes and melting of polar icecaps.

All the countries are keenly watching the warming effect. Almost all the countries are taking effort to measure the climatic changes taking places in the globe; however, the measurement is clearly showing that the global climate is keep on changing. In the past 100 years, the atmosphere of the Earth has warmed up by about half a degree Celsius. In addition, during this time human beings have also been released extra greenhouse gases. These gases have been produced as a result of burning the fossil fuels like coal, gas, and oil.

It is evident that the artificial emissions of greenhouse gases, by the activity of increased use of fossil fuels, are accountable for some of the warming of the global climate during the 20th century. The additional greenhouse gases present in the atmosphere absorb more energy and consequently increase the greenhouse effect. Due to this, the global temperature can raise further.

Besides by burning the fossil fuels, the greenhouse gases have also produced by the exhausts of motor vehicles. The destruction of rain forests is also responsible for the release of carbon dioxide, which in turn causes global warming. There are also many other natural ways by which the climate can be changed. The gases released from active volcanoes mix with the water vapor present in the air to create aerosols, and cool the atmosphere. The changes in the energy of the Sun and the flow of the ocean also affect the climate of the Earth. If the Earth keeps on to warm as predicted by the climate models, the temperature of the surface of the Earth may be three degree Celsius warmer than the current temperature by the year 2100. Due to this sudden change in the temperature, many ecosystems would get affected; which in turn affects many species of animals and plants.

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The Greenhouse Effect – What Is It?

Is It from Janet Schlarbaum By Kenneth Scott

There has been much discussion, both among experts and lay people, about the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect is a term that refers to changes in the Earths atmospheric composition, which have been related to the warming of our planet. There is a growing amount of evidence that human activities, particularly those relating to the burning of fossil fuels like oil and coal, are major contributors to the greenhouse effect. The predicted consequences for the planet as a result of the greenhouse effect are extremely serious. They include major changes in the climate that will have an impact on food production and rising sea levels, which will put many coastal and other low-lying communities under water.

Additional information that we have learned about the planet Venus provide a frightening example of the greenhouse effect. Venus has a very dense atmosphere made up of gases. The planet has what has been described as a runaway greenhouse effect. It has surface temperature of about 800 degrees Fahrenheit.

Experts generally point to gases like carbon dioxide as the main contributors to the greenhouse effect. Carbon dioxide, which is a gas that is exhaled by everyone, can absorb infrared radiation. This type of radiation is heat that is radiating away from a warm object. During the day, the Earth is warmed by sunlight, and at night, the Earth cools off by radiating the heat back into space in the form of infrared radiation. Carbon dioxide, and other gases to some extent, absorb this radiation and limit its exit into space. Therefore, the natural cooling mechanism is thwarted.

While it may seem that eliminating the greenhouse effect would be the best strategy, this is not what we want to do. Water vapor represents another element in the heat-absorbing process. There is a great amount of water vapor in the atmosphere at all times. This is why we experience rain. We need the water vapor in the atmosphere to keep the Earth at its normal, comfortable temperature.

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