Comment Re:It didn't happen last time (Score 1) 955
I watched an interesting documentary about global warming on ABC (Autralian ABC, not US commercial channel) that highlighted a little known experiment called pan evaporation (sorry, can't remember said doco's name)
It basically highlighted the fact that the energy from the sun reaching earth is diminishing due to the fact that it is the sun's rays that causes water to evaporate from a large pan in the sun. i.e. less solar energy=less water evaporation.
The hypothesis was that increased cloud cover and more airborne soot/dust particles were blocking out more solar radiation than in previous generations. This hypothesis was proven correct when the evaporation rates normally taken each day were compared with the rates taken when air traffic was shut down over the US after the WTC/Pentagon attacks.
On those days, there were no aircraft steam/vapour trails in the sky due to no aircraft and this caused a large increase in the amount of solar radiation reaching the earth's surface over the US and hence, more water evaporating from evaporation pans in the US.
Now, I'm no climate expert, but if global temperatures are rising, but with less solar radiation reaching the earth, this basically tells us that what we've been predicting about global climate change has been missing a key factor that we should be taking very seriously. All plants get their energy from the sun's energy and less energy can only mean less crop yield which farmers across the globe are already starting to discover
It basically highlighted the fact that the energy from the sun reaching earth is diminishing due to the fact that it is the sun's rays that causes water to evaporate from a large pan in the sun. i.e. less solar energy=less water evaporation.
The hypothesis was that increased cloud cover and more airborne soot/dust particles were blocking out more solar radiation than in previous generations. This hypothesis was proven correct when the evaporation rates normally taken each day were compared with the rates taken when air traffic was shut down over the US after the WTC/Pentagon attacks.
On those days, there were no aircraft steam/vapour trails in the sky due to no aircraft and this caused a large increase in the amount of solar radiation reaching the earth's surface over the US and hence, more water evaporating from evaporation pans in the US.
Now, I'm no climate expert, but if global temperatures are rising, but with less solar radiation reaching the earth, this basically tells us that what we've been predicting about global climate change has been missing a key factor that we should be taking very seriously. All plants get their energy from the sun's energy and less energy can only mean less crop yield which farmers across the globe are already starting to discover
