Is a runaway greenhouse effect underway?

[Urban Ranger]

Maybe we could be saved by a massive eruption of the Krakatoa.

[Dinner]

Originally posted by Dissident
bump, you'd think more people would be concerned about the loss of all life on the planet.

Why worry about alarmist psuedo-science which has zero chance of occuring? The Earth has been around for 4.66billion years and has experienced massive temperature swings yet we've never had a run away green house effect because the Earth has built in buffers. Venus has a massive green house effect because it is half the distance from the sun and thus gets four times the energy.

Any man made global warming won't get any where near (not even by an order of magnitude) of such a temperature shift.

[BlackCat]

Re: Re: Is a runaway greenhouse effect underway?

Originally posted by Kuciwalker


Except that increased cloud cover will reflect a lot of light from the sun.

Depends on wich kind of clouds that would be the result.

http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/environment/earth_energy.html

[techumseh]

Originally posted by Oerdin


Why worry about alarmist psuedo-science which has zero chance of occuring? The Earth has been around for 4.66billion years and has experienced massive temperature swings yet we've never had a run away green house effect because the Earth has built in buffers. Venus has a massive green house effect because it is half the distance from the sun and thus gets four times the energy.

Any man made global warming won't get any where near (not even by an order of magnitude) of such a temperature shift.

Venus is three times hotter than it should be without a greenhouse effect. It's surface temperature is hotter than Mercury.

[Jaguar]

[chequita guevara]

The surface ocean temp here gets up to 90° F every summer here. It's why we have tropical storms.

[Az]

No one is saying this will happen overnight...

Techumseh is certainly implying this with his article title.

[Odin]

Originally posted by Geronimo


we essentially 'short circuit' the carbonate cycle when we burn fossile fuels.

No we are not. Fossil fuels make up a very tiny amount of the "buried carbon". nearly all of it is in the form of limestone.

[chequita guevara]

I thought limestone was the fossilized remains of diatoms.

[Sprayber]

So could humans survive severe climate changes. If given enough time I think surely we could adapt. It may not be all green and pretty like it is now but if given enough time we could build domes.

[Lancer]

"So could humans survive severe climate changes. If given enough time I think surely we could adapt. It may not be all green and pretty like it is now but if given enough time we could build domes."

As long as people don't have to give up their SUVs this will be just fine.

[Agathon]

I'm looking forward to Wampa hunting on my Tauntaun.

[techumseh]

Originally posted by Az

No one is saying this will happen overnight...

Techumseh is certainly implying this with his article title.

Actually, it's suggested in the third article I referenced.

Still, I'm fascinated by the reaction to this question. Many don't treat it seriously at all. What if I COULD prove it, would your reaction be different?

[MichaeltheGreat]

Originally posted by techumseh


Venus is three times hotter than it should be without a greenhouse effect. It's surface temperature is hotter than Mercury.

Yes, and it's not comparable to earth for several reasons. The main one being that surface maps indicate substantial geologically recent resurfacing due to volcanin activity on a scale far in excess of anything feasible on earth. This is apparently the largest source of greenhouse gasses by far.

The second major difference is proximity to the sun - that not only exacerbates the speed with which tidal locking has taken place and seismic/volcanic activity due to tidal friction, but the amount of infalling solar radiation is and has been so much higher than on earth that Venus likely never had the opportunity to develop geographical, geological or biological mechanisms that would provide the sort of dynamic climate balance that has been demonstrated over earth's history.

[Dracon II]

I think Australia will have to revise its harsh immigration system in preparation for entire populations of displaced south pacific islanders landing on our beaches as their islands are submerged.

Accepting them is the least we can do for not ratifying the Kyoto protocol.

Personally I'd prefer not having to adapt. Maybe we should be trying to avert the situation before its too late. I guess that makes me a pinko commie nutjob...