I hated it. Rambling, unfocused, full of holes, disjointed, offering scientific truisms that miss the relevant points. He's a controls guy so focused on the basic physics principles as he's familiar with them in his endeavors of narrow scope like building a simple temperature control device.
Climatology is about studying complex system behavior across the entire planet where huge numbers of geographical and physical factors come into play, factors he's not versed with or prepared to address. In economics, a small but persistent influence may have a disproportionately large ripple effect on the evolution of a complex economy over time. In human physiology, a small but persistent influence in a factor that seems unimportant, like blood pH can throw the whole of body homeostasis out of whack in rapidly escalating degree.
Runaway climate processes are entirely possible if certain climate factors move outside certain thresholds. The number of uninhabitable planets in the universe demonstrates this quite clearly. Life on Earth depends on an unbelievably fortuitous set of self-balancing environmental conditions we just happen to have in our current state. We should not take that situation for granted.
I've seen far better climate change refutation arguments elsewhere that take the data and claims of climate change seriously but smartly challenge the poorly understood assumptions baked into them. Still, IMO, messing with the climate and just blithely assuming it will absorb it with no repercussions or re-balance at a place we are able to live with is a mistake.
I recommend you view George Carlin's take on all this. Basically, he says the Earth has survived BILLIONS of years of abuse (volcanoes, meteorites, solar flares etc.) and is still ticking just fine. To think that a puny, naked ape could upset this inherently stable (provably) system is the height of hubris. With a trace indigenous gas? Really??? Earth abides. Q.E.D.
Oh it's a relatively resilient system alright. But not impervious to disruption. The dinosaurs found that out the hard way. The problem is we don't know the limits of its resiliency.
I don't believe that. CO2 has been in a steady decline from 150 million year ago when it was about 2500 ppm to 280 just before Industrial Revolution. Then we came along and began to put some CO2 back into the atmosphere where it came from in the first place and now it is at 400ppm. And why don't we see a spike in CO2 levels in the Keeling Curve when volcanoes blow?
I hated it. Rambling, unfocused, full of holes, disjointed, offering scientific truisms that miss the relevant points. He's a controls guy so focused on the basic physics principles as he's familiar with them in his endeavors of narrow scope like building a simple temperature control device.
ReplyDeleteClimatology is about studying complex system behavior across the entire planet where huge numbers of geographical and physical factors come into play, factors he's not versed with or prepared to address. In economics, a small but persistent influence may have a disproportionately large ripple effect on the evolution of a complex economy over time. In human physiology, a small but persistent influence in a factor that seems unimportant, like blood pH can throw the whole of body homeostasis out of whack in rapidly escalating degree.
Runaway climate processes are entirely possible if certain climate factors move outside certain thresholds. The number of uninhabitable planets in the universe demonstrates this quite clearly. Life on Earth depends on an unbelievably fortuitous set of self-balancing environmental conditions we just happen to have in our current state. We should not take that situation for granted.
I've seen far better climate change refutation arguments elsewhere that take the data and claims of climate change seriously but smartly challenge the poorly understood assumptions baked into them. Still, IMO, messing with the climate and just blithely assuming it will absorb it with no repercussions or re-balance at a place we are able to live with is a mistake.
I recommend you view George Carlin's take on all this.
DeleteBasically, he says the Earth has survived BILLIONS of years of abuse (volcanoes, meteorites, solar flares etc.) and is still ticking just fine.
To think that a puny, naked ape could upset this inherently stable (provably) system is the height of hubris.
With a trace indigenous gas? Really???
Earth abides. Q.E.D.
Oh it's a relatively resilient system alright. But not impervious to disruption. The dinosaurs found that out the hard way. The problem is we don't know the limits of its resiliency.
DeleteSome dinosaurs found that out, others are still with us.
DeleteDinosaurs had cars and coal-fired power plants millions of years ago, and they started global warming?
DeleteShocked. Just...shocked.
Volcanoes dwarf man made sources of climate change.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe that. CO2 has been in a steady decline from 150 million year ago when it was about 2500 ppm to 280 just before Industrial Revolution. Then we came along and began to put some CO2 back into the atmosphere where it came from in the first place and now it is at 400ppm. And why don't we see a spike in CO2 levels in the Keeling Curve when volcanoes blow?
Delete