Quote:
Originally Posted by oil pan 4
In the 1970s scientists were convinced we were going into another ice age.
|
Again, crap. But this is crap with an amusing core of truth. What that "another ice age" really was about was that people had figured out that sulfur dioxide aerosols (large volumes of which were being emitted by e.g. coal-fired power plants prior to the Clean Air Act) have a cooling effect, as can be seen in the global temperature dips after major volcanic eruptions.
So these scientists pointed out, perfectly accurately, that if sufficient SO2 was emitted, it could cause sufficient cooling to trigger another ice age. That, plus the other nasty effects of atmospheric SO2, was part of the reason we got the Clean Air Act and such.
Now the amusing part here is that our denialist friends, though they obscure the truth behind the ice age prediction claim, still accept the reality of the effects of human SO2 emissions, Only now they give it a classy new name - "geoengineering" - and want to use it to counteract the global warming which they claim isn't happening.