WWTBAM Bored

I did my civic duty yesterday and sent in my absentee ballot. I voted for Obama.

I watched the Biden/Palin debate last night and am glad I voted for Obama-I think he made the better choice of a running mate. Palin scares me. She said that she doesn't think humans are the main cause of global warming. What other causes are there? I think that since she's from Alaska (parts of which are near the Arctic Circle) she should study the issue. Maybe she should go to one of Al Gore's lectures!

Kazoo65 wrote: She said that she doesn't think humans are the main cause of global warming. What other causes are there?

Ummm.....gee I don't know. Maybe the SUN?!

As far as I know our (the human race) carbon footprint on Mars is pretty small. I'm pretty sure the robots there run on batteries. And Mars has/is experiencing warming as well.

Kazoo65 wrote:Maybe she should go to one of Al Gore's lectures!

Maybe those who think we humans are having much of an impact on global warming should look up at the big bright hot thing in the sky and accept that we are too insignificant to matter.

BackInTex wrote:Maybe those who think we humans are having much of an impact on global warming should look up at the big bright hot thing in the sky and accept that we are too insignificant to matter.

Have you ever heard of an equilibrium?

Remember, in addition to receiving energy from the Sun, the Earth also radiates it back into space. The Earth's temperature changes until the amount of energy it receives and the amount of energy it radiates balance.

Is it really that difficult to understand that human activities can and have changed that balance? And that what's necessary to change the balance is much, much smaller in magnitude than the energy input and outflow that create the balance in the first instance?

Here's an illustration. Place each thumb on one end of a ruler and push your thumbs toward each other with all your might. Nothing will happen -- the system is in equilibrium. But just a tiny nudge that sends your thumbs out of alignment . . . . --Bob

Bob78164 wrote:

BackInTex wrote:Maybe those who think we humans are having much of an impact on global warming should look up at the big bright hot thing in the sky and accept that we are too insignificant to matter.

Have you ever heard of an equilibrium?

Remember, in addition to receiving energy from the Sun, the Earth also radiates it back into space. The Earth's temperature changes until the amount of energy it receives and the amount of energy it radiates balance.

Is it really that difficult to understand that human activities can and have changed that balance? And that what's necessary to change the balance is much, much smaller in magnitude than the energy input and outflow that create the balance in the first instance?

Here's an illustration. Place each thumb on one end of a ruler and push your thumbs toward each other with all your might. Nothing will happen -- the system is in equilibrium. But just a tiny nudge that sends your thumbs out of alignment . . . . --Bob

I guess I don't really get this argument. If I have two light bulbs of different wattage, I (or a black body, or whatever) will get warmer sitting next to the one with the higher wattage. It is true that, in getting warmer, I will then radiate more heat into the space around me, but that's because I now have more heat relative to my surroundings. And if you touched me, you would feel that heat.

Weyoun wrote:

Bob78164 wrote:

BackInTex wrote:Maybe those who think we humans are having much of an impact on global warming should look up at the big bright hot thing in the sky and accept that we are too insignificant to matter.

Have you ever heard of an equilibrium?

Remember, in addition to receiving energy from the Sun, the Earth also radiates it back into space. The Earth's temperature changes until the amount of energy it receives and the amount of energy it radiates balance.

Is it really that difficult to understand that human activities can and have changed that balance? And that what's necessary to change the balance is much, much smaller in magnitude than the energy input and outflow that create the balance in the first instance?

Here's an illustration. Place each thumb on one end of a ruler and push your thumbs toward each other with all your might. Nothing will happen -- the system is in equilibrium. But just a tiny nudge that sends your thumbs out of alignment . . . . --Bob

I guess I don't really get this argument. If I have two light bulbs of different wattage, I (or a black body, or whatever) will get warmer sitting next to the one with the higher wattage. It is true that, in getting warmer, I will then radiate more heat into the space around me, but that's because I now have more heat relative to my surroundings. And if you touched me, you would feel that heat.

BiT is claiming that because the Sun is so big, its effect on global warming necessarily swamps any man-made effects. Not so. It's true that increasing the wattage of your light bulb would increase the temperature of a body sitting next to it. But there are plenty of other ways of achieving a temperature increase, such as painting the body black or covering it in insulation. And the effects you can achieve this way can be quite dramatic. --Bob

Kazoo65 wrote:I did my civic duty yesterday and sent in my absentee ballot. I voted for Obama.

I watched the Biden/Palin debate last night and am glad I voted for Obama-I think he made the better choice of a running mate. Palin scares me. She said that she doesn't think humans are the main cause of global warming. What other causes are there? I think that since she's from Alaska (parts of which are near the Arctic Circle) she should study the issue. Maybe she should go to one of Al Gore's lectures!

Yes, you should go to one of his lectures but that's all you'll see him do at a podium. Lecture. He'll never debate anyone because he knows he doesn't have a leg to stand on and his theories are crap.

Tocqueville3 wrote:

Kazoo65 wrote:I did my civic duty yesterday and sent in my absentee ballot. I voted for Obama.

I watched the Biden/Palin debate last night and am glad I voted for Obama-I think he made the better choice of a running mate. Palin scares me. She said that she doesn't think humans are the main cause of global warming. What other causes are there? I think that since she's from Alaska (parts of which are near the Arctic Circle) she should study the issue. Maybe she should go to one of Al Gore's lectures!

Yes, you should go to one of his lectures but that's all you'll see him do at a podium. Lecture. He'll never debate anyone because he knows he doesn't have a leg to stand on and his theories are crap.

What do you mean I don't have a leg to stand on? At the very least, I still have this 2X6 that Bubba used to use to prop me up during official events back in the 90's. Plus, now that I look like a Weeble, I may wobble, but I guarantee you I won't be falling down....

Al Gore wrote:

Tocqueville3 wrote:

Kazoo65 wrote:I did my civic duty yesterday and sent in my absentee ballot. I voted for Obama.

I watched the Biden/Palin debate last night and am glad I voted for Obama-I think he made the better choice of a running mate. Palin scares me. She said that she doesn't think humans are the main cause of global warming. What other causes are there? I think that since she's from Alaska (parts of which are near the Arctic Circle) she should study the issue. Maybe she should go to one of Al Gore's lectures!

Yes, you should go to one of his lectures but that's all you'll see him do at a podium. Lecture. He'll never debate anyone because he knows he doesn't have a leg to stand on and his theories are crap.

What do you mean I don't have a leg to stand on? At the very least, I still have this 2X6 that Bubba used to use to prop me up during official events back in the 90's. Plus, now that I look like a Weeble, I may wobble, but I guarantee you I won't be falling down....

Weebles wobble...
Weebles wobble...
Weebles wobble...
But they don't fall down!!

Good job, Kazoo.

Palin scares me too.

And last night, she creeped me out, winking at me.

Bob78164 wrote: Is it really that difficult to understand that human activities can and have changed that balance? And that what's necessary to change the balance is much, much smaller in magnitude than the energy input and outflow that create the balance in the first instance?

Butterflies and hurricanes.

Bob78164 wrote: But there are plenty of other ways of achieving a temperature increase,

Exactly! And there is no scientific proof we are causing it. To use our resident scientists' methods we must have a control subject. That subject is Mars. Oops. Same thing is happening there that is happening here. There goes the hypothesis.