Thread: Do you think GHG's have a direct relationship on continental warming?

NOAA produced a 2008 study that suggest we might have to look at things differently in the area of climate dynamics.

Your thoughts? http://www.worldclimatereport.com/index.php/2008/12/03/rethinking-observed-warming

Opps. You accidentally link the World Climate Report instead of the NOAA. The World Climate Report is a blog run by Patrick Michaels[1], a well known denier who is funded by the oil and coal lobbies.

According to the NOAA, "the greenhouse effect is unquestionably real and helps to regulate the temperature of our planet. It is essential for life on Earth and is one of Earth's natural processes. It is the result of heat absorption by certain gases in the atmosphere (called greenhouse gases because they effectively 'trap' heat in the lower atmosphere) and re-radiation downward of some of that heat."[2]

There are so many influences and feedbacks on climate, many which we dont yet fully understand, and maybe even some we dont know about, to say there is a direct relationship between GHG concentrations and warming, but there is definatly a relationship between GHG and climate.

e.g
As the snow melts, this lowers the amount of radiation the snowcover reflects, which causes more localised warming as the permafrost and snow cover melts. (sea and vegetation absorb more radiation than snow cover)
The ocean acts as a buffer, absorbing GHG but if it warms enough there is a possibility deep ocean stores of GHG may be realised, with the potential for warming.

these are two examples of many feedbacks in the climate system that climatolgists are trying to understand and incorporate into climate models.