BoatBanter.com - View Single Post

basskisser

Tom Francis wrote:
On 11 Oct 2006 07:45:47 -0700, "Chuck Gould"
wrote:

Tom Francis wrote:
Well, it appears that "global warming" may not be the only cause of
severe hurricanes.

Imagine that - you mean it's not all "global warming"?

Nah - can't be - that doesn't fit the Al Gore Model of Doom.

http://tinyurl.com/jzxxq

That's really good news. By the way, did you know that smoking isn't
the only cause of lung cancer? If we extend the same logic, I guess we
don't have to worry about either global warming or cigarette smoking
because we would have at least some hurricanes *anyway* and thousands
of non-smokers die of lung cancer every year.

Anybody with an understanding of how and why winds of any description
occur in the atmosphere of our planet would not be reluctant to
recognize that temperature differentials are among the primary engines
of winds and storms, whether over land or sea.

Take a look at earth from outer space, particularly on the dark
(nighttime) side of the planet.
The coastlines and the plains in the industrialized areas are so
brightly lit and energized that
the glow can be seen for hundreds of miles or more. To completely
pooh-pooh global warming, one must take one of two pretty radical
positions: 1) That all of that light and associated activities
involving combustion do not change the temperature of the atmosphere
or alter the distribution of solar energy to the land, sea, and
atsmospheric gasses. Essentially, "the planet would be exactly the same
temperature if there were no industrial activity going on". Or, 2)
Increased temperatures have no effect on winds, currents, or the other
natural forces that we have come to accept as normal or at least
predictible.

Oh I agree with you - but the atmospheric models are complicated and
the more real science we do to try and understand it, the better off
we will be.

I have never denied, at any time, that warming of the atmosphere is
part of the equation - but that's exactly the point. It's part of the
equation. Solar winds, African dust, the fluttering of butterfly
wings in New Mexico - it's very complicated. It's not just one thing.

Also, I will try and find a picture I received among a group of
pictures from STS-11 which were sent me as part of an amateur radio
package I did for the local Middle School - allowed the kids to talk
to the astronauts (that was one of the coolest things I have ever
done).

Anyway, it's a picture of the East Coast taken at night - it's like
one mass of light - amazing image.

I'll find it and scan it.

http://www.darksky.org/images/satelite/usa_1996-97.gif

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories...1994-1995b.jpg