hipsterdufus said:
The site you linked is one page. Is that it? :shock:
1) From the Junk Science site - Actual proof of global warming.
http://www.junkscience.com/MSU_Temps/GHCNland.gif
Notice the acceleration at the end of the graph.
2)
Here is the Ocean and Climate Change Institute website, part of the Woodshole Oceanographic Institutte, which is the largest independent institute of its kind in the United States. This is just one section. You can go to the main page to see the other sections.
The Woodshole Institute is currently studying the phenomenon of the shutdown of the Gulf Stream, which is in progress at the present time. Here, you can see just about all of the data that shows global warming is a real event. The problem that scientists see is that they only have records dating back about 150 years, and the variance in the data can be large, considering that this amount of time is miniscule, compared to the lengh of time that the earth has existed.
However, you can consider 2 facts. First, the data which shows the earth heating up. Secondly, the fact that we are pumping gigantic amounts of carbon dioxide, methane, and other heat trapping compounds into the atmosphere, and have been accelerating the production of greenhouse gases since the industrial revolution began. At this point, you need to know a little about the electromagnetic spectrum, along with a little elementary physics. ultraviolet rays from the sun are mostly blocked by the ozone layer, while other wavelengths, including visible light pass through. Upon hitting the earth, some sunlight is convered to infrared. These wavelengths essentially are represented as heat, which is blocked by carbon compounds. The more carbon-based compounds in the atmosphere, the more the atmosphere prevents heat from radiating back into space. The heat is therefore trapped, which causes our climate to heat up. This is a scientific certainty.
Now, another factor comes into play. As the earth heats up, more water evaporates, forming more clouds, which in turn block more sunlight. Clouds essentially put a limit on what is called "wet" global warming. What that limit is, nobody knows. One thing for certain - Weather patterns are drastically affected. However, once glaciers begin to melt, there is no turning back.
1) For right now, extreme weather events will continue.
2) Once the Gulf Stream shuts down, Britain and much of Europe will have climate similar to that of Siberia. while some areas of the central United States will become desert. The colder climate in Europe will be temporary, then the area will catch up to the average rise in temperature. Some scientists are now saying that we are already past the tipping point, and this will be a certainty within about 20 years or so. The droughts in the Western US have already begun, and this will continue, whether or not we are able to stop global warming. Also, the increase in number and severity of hurricanes and other violent weather events will continue.
3) The oceans will rise. By 2100, on our present course, New York, London, and many other coastal cities will be under water without the building of dykes for entire coastlines. We are talking about an eventual rise in the oceans of about 30 feet.
4) The rise of the oceans will accelerate once the permafrost in eastern Russia has melted, as this will release huge amounts of methane which are now trapped there.
5) Finally, about New Orleans - It will be under water within 50 or 60 years, but that wont be due to global warming. This area of Louisiana sits near a geologic subduction zone, which is located in the Gulf of Mexico. It is sinking, and will continue to sink until it, along with coastal Louisiana, is beneath the Gulf of Mexico. If global warming has a part to play, it will only be that New Orleans meets its fate a few years sooner.
Oops - One more thing. The "dry" greenhouse effect. That is what happens as the sun gets hotter as it burns more of its nuclear fuel. That will result in the complete destruction of the earth, but dont worry. That wont happen for another 170 million years, unless we destroy the Earth first, of course.