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Old December 4th 09, 10:52 PM posted to sci.astro.amateur
Quadibloc
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Default Global Warming Skeptics Target NASA

On Dec 4, 10:45*am, "David Staup" wrote:
all I deny is
that the science promoting this frenzy of fear is valid


But that means you're denying some very basic science.

In summer, people wear light-colored clothes to be cooler, and in
winter, dark-colored clothes to be warmer. Light carries heat energy,
and objects that absorb light (like dark clothing) get warm, while
objects that just reflect it (like light clothing) or that let it go
through without hindrance (like glass) don't get as warm.

The Sun shines in light that goes right through our atmosphere; carbon
dioxide doesn't change that. Sunlight heats the ground.

The Earth is not as warm as the Sun, but it also radiates heat - in
the form of long-wave infrared light.

Carbon dioxide changes how our atmosphere behaves with that light. So
it will take a little bit longer for every place to cool off at night,
because now the heat radiating from the ground, instead of diappearing
into space, will warm up the air to a greater extent. This will cause
the world to get warmer and warmer, until it is so warm that it emits
so much heat that everything balances under the new conditions; this
is called equilibrium.

There may be natural cycles doing things to the temperature too. But
the fuel we burn adds to the degree of warming, and it doesn't take
detailed climate models to see that the contribution is significant,
or that problems are already developing. Whether the threat to the
Great Barrier Reef from ocean acidity, or the threat to the polar
bears of Canada's Arctic, problems are visible even now.

John Savard