> It's an issue of scale, e.g. the total energy burnt by > mankind in a year is about 10,000 times less than the energy > we get from the sun in the same period. We're really quite > insignificant, except in our own minds. >
Everybody agrees the suns energy is whets causes the heating, its whether or not CO2 in the atmosphere makes it worse by altering the absorption. My understanding is that most of the energy from the sun is short wavelength Light Energy and CO2 (or other greenhouse gases) doesn't absorb this energy. However most of the energy subsequently released from the earth surface is a longer wavelength and IS absorbed by CO2 particles (Methane and other gases are worse). This means that the sunlight comes in OK and gives us a tan, but is restricted from being bounced back into space by the CO2 producing the "greenhouse effect". The more CO2 in the atmosphere the greater the amount of the suns energy kept - leading to weather changes and an average temperature increase over the planet (some places might experience a lowering). The article I posted yesterday indicates that atmospheric Water Vapour which is a bigger cause than CO2 might just be reducing in some sort of weird Gaia-like balancing act, but that would be too good to be true. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/29/water-vapour-climate-chang e ttfn Richard _______________________________________________ the Leeds List is an unmoderated mailing list and the list administrators accept no liability for the personal views and opinions of contributors. Leedslist mailing list [email protected] http://list.zetnet.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist www.leedslist.net
