In this thrill-packed, butt-clenching amusement that is the media and climate change (AKA the artist formerly known as "global warming"), The Independent reports:
“An emergency 'Plan B' using the latest technology is needed to save the world from dangerous climate change, according to a poll of leading scientists carried out by The Independent. The collective international failure to curb the growing emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere has meant that an alternative to merely curbing emissions may become necessary.”
One part of “Plan B” is the notable:“Pump water vapour into the air.”
Maybe it’s a typo. There’s not much scientific argument opposing the view of water vapor as the single largest greenhouse gas there is, accountable for up to 70% of the effect. Personally, we here at TMR think it’s a ploy by The Sharper Image to develop a room humidifier that actually works,....
The Independent goes on to report:“Professor James Lovelock, a geo-scientist and author of The Gaia Hypothesis, in which the Earth is a quasi-living organism, is one of those who is less optimistic. He believes that a plan B is urgently needed. "I never thought that the Kyoto agreement would lead to any useful cut back in greenhouse gas emissions so I am neither more nor less optimistic now about prospect of curbing CO2 compared to 10 years ago. I am, however, less optimistic now about the ability of the Earth's climate system to cope with expected increases in atmospheric carbon levels compared with 10 years ago," he told The Independent. ‘I strongly agree that we now need a 'plan B' where a geoengineering strategy is drawn up in parallel with other measures to curb CO2 emissions.”
It should be noted that Lovelock is arguing against his own theory (the one he makes a living from) as described in an excerpt from Wikipedia:“Lovelock suggested that life on Earth provides a cybernetic, homeostatic feedback system operated automatically and unconsciously by the biota, leading to broad stabilization of global temperature and chemical composition.
With his initial hypothesis, Lovelock claimed the existence of a global control system of surface temperature, atmosphere composition and ocean salinity. His arguments were:
• The global surface temperature of the Earth has remained constant, despite an increase in the energy provided by the Sun.
• Atmospheric composition remains constant, even though it should be unstable.
• Ocean salinity is constant.
Since life started on Earth, the energy provided by the Sun has increased by 25% to 30%, however the surface temperature of the planet has remained remarkably constant when measured on a global scale. Furthermore, he argued, the atmospheric composition of the Earth is constant.”
Not to worry. Also according to Wikipedia, Mr. Lovelock (not wanting to be left out of global warming mania) has adjusted his theory in a way that excludes humans from the “life on Earth” self-regulating bio-system:
“In James Lovelock's latest book, The Revenge of Gaia, [2006] he argues that the lack of respect humans have had for Gaia, through the damage done to rainforests and the reduction in planetary biodiversity, is testing Gaia's capacity to minimize the effects of the addition of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. This eliminates the planet's homeostatic negative feedback potential and increases the likelihood of positive feedbacks associated with runaway global warming.”
Maybe his next book will be called “The Planet Strikes Back” - or "black," as the case may be,...
Whatever it is, we're not sure what to make of all this, but we do know this much:The Sun has the volume of 1,300,000 Earths.
The whole damn thing is on fire.
Even with a 30% increase of the Sun’s energy reaching Earth, it’s no match for us teeny-weeny humans.
So, as a way to relax a bit about all this, it might be a better idea if everybody goes on "Mr. Toads Wild Ride" five or six times instead.
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