Martians drive SUVs too?
Though I have not come out strongly in favor of any of the candidate (or non-candidate candidates) in the presidential race, I do like this commentary by Fred Thompson about global warming. An excerpt:
Some people think that our planet is suffering from a fever. Now
scientists are telling us that Mars is experiencing its own planetary warming:
Martian warming. It seems scientists have noticed recently that quite a few
planets in our solar system seem to be heating up a bit, including Pluto.
More in this good editorial from today's Providence Journal, which tempers its alarmism a bit based on these new facts.
HT: Mercia Rising
2 comments:
That Fred Thompson says this gives me concern over where he's getting his scientific advice from. The whole theory that a brightening sun is causing global warming on Earth or any other planet falls apart when you consider solar output hasn't risen over the past 30 years (when warming has been highest) according to direct satellite measurements by the PMOD since 1978:
This data is confirmed by multiple independent sources: * Solar irradiance reconstructions by the Max Planck Institute have found solar activity has been steady since 1940.* Sunspot numbers which are directly responsible for changes in the sun's brightness have leveled out since around 1950.* Measurements of radio flux, a proxy for solar energy output, also show no rising trend over the last 30 years.
Of course that begs the question - what's causing warming on other planets? Mars has had massive planet darkening storms over the last 30 years that reduce the planet's albedo (reflectivity) which has a warming effect. Pluto's warming consists of two observations 14 years apart noting a difference in atmospheric thickness which implies warming - scientists are unable to explain why yet. But considering Pluto's orbit is equivalent to 248 Earth years, this says nothing about climate change. It's like saying Earth is warming when comparing winter to summer. Plus Pluto is more than 30 times farther away from the Sun than the Earth is. If the Sun were warming up enough to affect Pluto at that vast distance, it would blowtorch the Earth.
Great blogg you have
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