[Vision2020] Sorry for Duplication: Re: 10 Indicators of a Human Fingerprint on Climate Change Global Warming

[Ted Moffett]

This copy was discarded... How it got sent, is no doubt computer
error... Or is it, as the HAL 9000 computer from "2001: A Space
Odyssey" said regarding its accuracy, "by any practical definition of
the words, foolproof and incapable of error. ... It can only be
attributable to human error."
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Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett

On 4/6/11, Ted Moffett <starbliss at gmail.com> wrote:
> http://www.skepticalscience.com/10-Indicators-of-a-Human-Fingerprint-on-Climate-Change.html
>
> 10 Indicators of a Human Fingerprint on Climate Change
> Posted on 30 July 2010 by John Cook
>
> The NOAA State of the Climate 2009 report is an excellent summary of
> the many lines of evidence that global warming is happening.
> Acknowledging the fact that the planet is warming leads to the all
> important question - what's causing global warming? To answer this,
> here is a summary of the empirical evidence that answer this question.
> Many different observations find a distinct human fingerprint on
> climate change:
>
> To get a closer look, click on the pic above to get a high-rez
> 1024x768 version (you're all welcome to use this graphic in your
> Powerpoint presentations). Or to dig even deeper, here's more info on
> each indicator (including links to the original data or peer-reviewed
> research):
>
> Humans are currently emitting around 30 billion tonnes of CO2 into the
> atmosphere every year (CDIAC). Of course, it could be coincidence that
> CO2 levels are rising so sharply at the same time so let's look at
> more evidence that we're responsible for the rise in CO2 levels.
>
> When we measure the type of carbon accumulating in the atmosphere, we
> observe more of the type of carbon that comes from fossil fuels
> (Manning 2006).
>
> This is corroborated by measurements of oxygen in the atmosphere.
> Oxygen levels are falling in line with the amount of carbon dioxide
> rising, just as you'd expect from fossil fuel burning which takes
> oxygen out of the air to create carbon dioxide (Manning 2006).
>
> Further independent evidence that humans are raising CO2 levels comes
> from measurements of carbon found in coral records going back several
> centuries. These find a recent sharp rise in the type of carbon that
> comes from fossil fuels (Pelejero 2005).
>
> So we know humans are raising CO2 levels. What's the effect?
> Satellites measure less heat escaping out to space, at the particular
> wavelengths that CO2 absorbs heat, thus finding "direct experimental
> evidence for a significant increase in the Earth's greenhouse effect".
> (Harries 2001, Griggs 2004, Chen 2007).
>
> If less heat is escaping to space, where is it going? Back to the
> Earth's surface. Surface measurements confirm this, observing more
> downward infrared radiation (Philipona 2004, Wang 2009).  A closer
> look at the downward radiation finds more heat returning at CO2
> wavelengths, leading to the conclusion that "this experimental data
> should effectively end the argument by skeptics that no experimental
> evidence exists for the connection between greenhouse gas increases in
> the atmosphere and global warming." (Evans 2006).
>
> If an increased greenhouse effect is causing global warming, we should
> see certain patterns in the warming. For example, the planet should
> warm faster at night than during the day. This is indeed being
> observed (Braganza 2004, Alexander 2006).
>
> Another distinctive pattern of greenhouse warming is cooling in the
> upper atmosphere, otherwise known as the stratosphere. This is exactly
> what's happening (Jones 2003).
>
> With the lower atmosphere (the troposphere) warming and the upper
> atmosphere (the stratosphere) cooling, another consequence is the
> boundary between the troposphere and stratosphere, otherwise known as
> the tropopause, should rise as a consequence of greenhouse warming.
> This has been observed (Santer 2003).
>
> An even higher layer of the atmosphere, the ionosphere, is expected to
> cool and contract in response to greenhouse warming. This has been
> observed by satellites (Laštovi?ka 2006).
>
> Science isn't a house of cards, ready to topple if you remove one line
> of evidence. Instead, it's like a jigsaw puzzle. As the body of
> evidence builds, we get a clearer picture of what's driving our
> climate. We now have many lines of evidence all pointing to a single,
> consistent answer - the main driver of global warming is rising carbon
> dioxide levels from our fossil fuel burning.
>
> ------------------------------------------
> Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett
>