Crap or Gold

[rick]

Ron Gatrelle wrote in message
<002f01c03409$a2010620$9b0f1218 at gscrk1.sc.home.com>...
>    First, global warming. I don't have a source for this because I heard
it
>while driving in the car, and, well, I'm getting old and forget my
snuff....

>(snipped) ...Guess what. The ground has
>been warming FIRST.
>    Now lets say this is absolutely true. What would it mean? It would mean
>a lot of things, not the least of which is that all the scientists,
>environmental lobbyists, politicians etc., who have been blaming everything
>on pollution and ozone failure, are wrong. Remember this is an IF (a
devil's
>advocate if you will).

>Rev. Ron Gatrelle.
>
An alternative thought is that what you heard on the radio is complete
nonsense.  Perhaps many of the scientists have been basing their ideas on
evidence and perhaps they are doing the standard science thing of evaluating
the new evidence and seeing how it holds up against the mountain of other
evidence?  Now that's an interesting thought.

I wonder if you understand that the ozone hole is not thought to be
connected to global warming?  Scientists discovered some chemistry, and
discovered the ozone hole and the best current idea is that the migration of
persistent fluorocarbon molecules into the stratosphere causes the release
of excess chlorine which catalyzes the decomposition of ozone under the
right conditions.   The observed global warming is speculated to be
connected to the observed increase in CO2 levels.  The correlation is
suggestive because the mechanism, greenhouse effect, is well understood.
Alternative explanations like solar cycle have not been rejected but are
being actively explored.  It is my understanding that the question of
whether the increase in CO2 levels is mostly human-induced or not is much
less settled and is being actively pursued.  Different answers fit into
different political positions better.  Scientists, like other humans, have
their personal beliefs and hopes but science plods on in spite of this.  Its
the quality of the evidence that counts.  It is hard to evaluate the quality
from a radio blurb..
Just my thoughts.
Rick