clair031

Summary .   Global warming and cooling cycles over geological time scales are correlated with increasing and decreasing concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide, respectively.   This post documents correlated changes occurring   a) during the recent post-industrial period of global warming, b) over the last one thousand years, and c) over the past 800,000 years.   Except for the industrial period, these changes reflect only global physical processes not involving actions by mankind, showing that the greenhouse effect is an established physical phenomenon.   Each geological warming or cooling trend, coupled with its change in carbon dioxide concentration, occurs very slowly, lasting thousands of years.   The current man-made warming trend, in contrast, is occurring at least 60 times faster, and its pace is accelerating.   Introduction . The previous post   discussed variations over time in the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide (CO ...

Summary .   The atmospheric CO 2 concentration has just exceeded 400 ppm, and is continuing to grow.   More importantly, contemporary CO 2 levels since the industrial revolution have always exceeded the highest levels found in the geological record for 800,000 years.   Furthermore, the rate of growth of atmospheric CO 2 levels is itself accelerating.   The excess CO 2 originates from burning fossil fuels.   Changes in CO 2 levels in the geological record, while considerable, occur on a scale roughly 60 times slower than the contemporary changes.   Introduction . Contemporary climate scientists have been monitoring the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), a major greenhouse gas, for many decades.   Prior to that, paleoclimate scientists, those who seek to reconstruct ancient climates using the geological record, have examined CO 2 contained in ice cores drilled in major glaciers and ice fields, among other modalities for estimating a...

Summary .   The Yale University-George Mason University project on Climate Change Communication issued its latest public opinion survey on Americans’ beliefs about global warming on May 1, 2013 .   Almost 60% believe global warming is having an effect on weather in the U. S.   The proportion of Americans believing this has grown about 12% since Spring 2012.   About 80% indicated they personally experienced at least one out of a group of several types of extreme weather or extreme climate in the past year. The U. S. Congress has not approved any energy program addressing global warming in the last 16 years even though the objective reality that it is occurring, and leading to severe harms to lives, structures and society, is clear.   There are many factors entering into a policymaker’s deliberations on how to vote on global warming legislation, including the sentiments of his/her constituents.   Surveys such as that reviewed here show that generally the Am...

Summary .   TransCanada, the sponsor of the Keystone XL pipeline project, filed an updated application for approval with the U. S. Department of State.   The Department issued a Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement evaluating the application. It addresses many immediate environmental concerns focusing on the pipeline route and its environmental integrity.   This post focuses on a more fundamental issue.   It restates the opposition of this blog to approval of the pipeline because if granted, the project would ensure a long-term commitment to continued and prolonged emissions of carbon dioxide, a principal greenhouse gas. The energy economy is likened to a zero-sum enterprise, balancing investments in conventional carbon-based fuels for energy, worsening global warming, and developing renewable energy sources, improving the global climate.   The longer mankind accumulates higher and higher levels of atmospheric greenhouse gases, the worse global war...