This article about Carbon cycle is interesting below is two paragraphs I thought were of particular interest.
www.whoi.edu/know-your-ocean/ocean-topic...cycles/carbon-cycle/
Some groups collect water samples from the oceans, analyzing them for carbon content. Repeated over many years, such studies provide basic information on how the oceans are absorbing and releasing carbon dioxide. But they have revealed unexpected complexities in these processes, making it more difficult to fully understand how human activities, such as burning fossil fuels, impacts the carbon cycle.
To address those complications, scientists turn to mathematical and computer models of the carbon cycle. They input the basic variables that are known to affect the cycle, then test the model using real-world data. Variables included in the models include wind speeds, temperature, currents, and more. These models have found that natural processes affect the ocean’s ability to absorb carbon in a variety of ways.
Interesting website. It goes to the heart of climate change, that it's a complex subject. Here is another quote from it.
"Human activity has driven up atmospheric carbon dioxide to levels not seen in more than 800,000 years. A greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide acts as a blanket, trapping heat from the sun and holding it close Earth’s surface. As we increase levels of this gas in the atmosphere, we have been causing Earth to warm, which has wide-ranging implications."
Interesting how later in that article as I posted they thread the needle and play both side by saying how the don’t really understand how mankind affects carbon. They must be collecting money from both sides. Lol. We are not going to resolve this within a Motorcycle forum, I’m sure its way to muddy to do that. HardRockMiner I appreciate your intelligent thought out reply’s. I was not trying to one up you, only to show you opposing views, without the intent of changing your stance. We need both side of a subject to be expressed. It called checks and balances. If we still had an objective media, these discussions would be documented in a more equal view. I’m a big outside guy, I love the natural beauty places present to us. If we could purely rely on true science I’m sure the majority of us would be more willing to meet in the middle and help. It our leaders and big money that push us into our respective corners and vehemently fight off the other side. As with most things money corrupts!
To be clear, the physical properties of CO2 have been clearly understood for several hundred years. It absorbs radiative energy at the wavelengths I mentioned several pages ago. As CO2 concentration increases in the atmosphere its increased heat impact on the greenhouse effect can be estimated. There is a formula to do that, but scientists use a more accurate method by counting the impact at each and every wavelength in what is called longwave radiation. The result is measured by satellite as the spectrum I published where you can see how much is absorbed and by which gas. This can be compared to the theoretical value, and it compares fairly closely. The math gets complicated by a number of factors, including clouds, which tend to prevent radiation from moving upwards into space. There are other variables that I won't get into here. Suffice to say that scientists have a pretty good handle on this, but not a complete one.
My view is that regardless of why climate is changing we need to prepare for the consequences of greater variability in weather patterns due to climate change. 1 in 100 year floods may become 1 in 10 years. Similar pattern for droughts. A greater concern in my view is the social disruption we'll begin to see in areas where summer temperatures begin to reach unliveable levels, causing millions or even hundreds of millions of people to head for cooler climates. This will cause massive problems for countries like Canada and the USA. Whether one believes that climate change is human caused or not....it's changing and we will need to prepare for a very different planet in the future.
