I do not think there is any doubt that Carbon Dioxide gas can and does
cause the greenhouse effect.
the problem is, our information on this is based on studying Venus. A
planet with 96% carbon dioxide in its atmosphere.
Our atmosphere has such a tiny fraction of carbon dioxide, it is difficult
to be certain that it can effect global temperature.
Here is my analogy:
you have an aquarium: 15 gallons. You need to keep it warm for your
tropical fish: 80F in a house that can be as cold as 65F, so you buy an
aquarium heater, maybe 20 watts. Problem solved.
You put in a pool: 15000 gallons. You need to keep it warm, 70F is good
enough, and the outside temperature varies from 50-90F, so you put
your aquarium heater in the pool. Is the aquarium heater going to change
the temperature of the pool at all? Certainly not. Wind, sunshine, rain,
air temperature, even a bunch of kids swimming in the pool are going to
overwhelm any effort the 20 watt heater can make.
Here is the kicker:
The aquarium heater might make a _measurable_difference_. Take enough
measurements over a long enough period of time, and you might notice that
the average temperature of the pool went from 70.35 degrees one year
to 70.39 degrees the next. so the aquarium heater actually works.
But you can not extrapolate that eight aquarium heaters left on in your pool
for fifty years would move the temperature of the pool from 70.35 degrees
to 86.35 degrees, which is what the global warming folks are trying to tell
us. Other factors simply overwhelm the tiny effect, and it is not cumulative.
There are plenty of things to worry about in this world:
Nuclear proliferation, Meteoroid strikes, Financial market failure, Antibiotic
Not carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is consumed by plants. More carbon
dioxide=more plants. in fifty years, we could be past the peak of carbon
based power. Surely in one hundred fifty. Worse case scenario in one hundred years:
The ocean rises by ten inches, We get more rain, and the Canadians can grow rice.
That’s not so bad. Humans are adaptable.
After we switch over to whatever the next power source is, the carbon
dioxide levels may fall, and we may find that we miss our very green earth.
The mid-evil warm period was the last time we had a peak of temperature
on the earth. Historically, it is supposed to have been about 1.5 to 2 Celsius
degrees warmer than it is right now. There is some dispute about that, but
the Vikings had farms on Greenland, so you tell me. Anyhow, the mid evil
warm period was the heyday of written history. It resulted in the renaissance.
I don’t think that is so bad.