Monday, February 2, 2009

Global Warming? Or is it Global Cooling?

Well, anyone with a brain will realize that it's a global climate trend that leads to the warming of temperatures worldwide and to extreme seasons in places they were never extreme before.

I always enjoy reading things that say, "There's lots of snow in (usually England at the moment) so global warming can't be true!" Yeah, well, just because there's a lot of snow in England during the Winter doesn't mean global warming isn't true. England is between latitude degrees 51 and 59, basically between Calgary, Canada and half way North in the middle of the Hudson Bay. These places get a lot of snow as a general observable rule. The little things called the Gulf Stream, North Atlantic Drift, and the Canary current are the thermostat for the Temperate climate of England and most of Eastern Europe. It's not the atmosphere that heats up during global warming (don't get me wrong, it does heat up) it's the oceans. Since the oceans are really big heat gobbling machines (yes, they are machines. That's why currents move). When a currents go a little astray, so does the climate.

Ever see "Day After Tomorrow?" Yeah, shitty movie, but it gives you a two hour look at a possibility. The currents aforementioned get fucked up when too much fresh water disrupts the salinity and therefore the flow of the current and bam, the Eastern United States and Europe go cold. You stop that current, shit goes cold simple as that. Now, I've never seen "An Inconvenient Truth" and I'm not sure I want to. It's just a movie after all, a documentary of sorts. I prefer actual scientific shows and talks with Climatologists (not Meteorologists, they don't study long-term climate change). Most of them tell me that the Earth goes through trends of warming and cooling (Medieval Warm Period, Mini-Ice Age in the early 1800s). Yes, we agree on that? They know this because they can take ice core samples from Antarctica from a long way back and analyze the atmosphere trapped within tiny bubbles. Simple thing, no? Don't try and refute it, it has, and still does happen. But anyways, new paragraph:

While the Earth may go through normal warming and cooling periods, that's the Earth doing it itself. No help from humans. Let me put it to you simply: All we are doing is putting about (gimme a break, I'm guessing) a million-plus years of natural carbon dioxide (and therefore methane) discharges, what would have normally been released by volcanic activity (which leads to the methane) and shoving that into about 400 years. One million, to four hundred. 400 is .04% of one million. That's no time at all in geologic time. But yeah, what we're doing is the speedy version of extreme natural warming. That's what humans want, right? Speedy outcomes to things? We have no patience, correct? Instant gratification global warming.

Okay, so, guess what brings us out of global warming? That's right, the oceans. They dilute the carbon dioxide in their waters (which can lead to a stagnate ocean) and help bring the temperature down. That's why this would take a million years I estimate, because the oceans would say, "oh no no no no no," and absorb the portions of carbon dioxide that they could. And yes, it will probably be the oceans that bring us out of this global warming. But not fast, the Earth takes her time when she balances out. She's got nothing pressing to do like us polluting species. So yeah, when the Earth balances when the warming trend is over, either because we stopped it, or it stopped us, it will work that balance until something sets it into another trend. That's the way of the world.

I'm not advocating the stop of our greenhouse gas emissions, oh no. It would be nice, yes. But I like to be the one that says, "I told you so." when shit hits the fan.

No comments: