Quote:
Originally Posted by redpoint5
I'm fairly convinced that what Neil says; that human activity has contributed the most significant portion of warming recently, is accurate.
What I'm not convinced of is that it's going to be a catastrophe, though it's undeniable that rapid change stresses all life.
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Everything we can see in the universe follows that same rules. Warmer fluids are less dense than when they are cooler, and they hold less gases in solution as they warm. Water evaporates more in warmer conditions. Heat drives the ocean currents, and the weather.
There will be feedback amplifications, if we wait too long. Like water releasing carbon dioxide (that it has been absorbing). Like melting the tundra (notice I didn't say PERMAfrost). Like lowering the albedo of the polar regions. Like melting clathrates (i.e. methane ice). Like more and more water vapor in the atmosphere. Like releasing carbon from the soil after we dump more artificial chemicals on it. Like more wildfires.
If we push it too far, we get to hydrogen sulfide. We don't want to go there.