Originally Posted by NinerSevenTango  Well, you pretty well made my point for me.
The polar caps on other planets are shrinking, but the effect of solar input (which is the main energy input for the whole system) on the poorly understood earth's climate is very low.
It appears that clouds might be a little (a lot) more important than carbon dioxide. And it appears that condensation might have a lot to do with influx of energetic particles coming from the sun.
I think researchers on the public dole who are being paid to conclude that we need to have a new world government with dictatorial control over everyone's economic activity (your life) are a more dangerous threat than the weather is. Not just because of the life or death question of whether people will be allowed to support themselves, but also because of the wars that will ensue when the attempt is made to prevent entire countries from supporting themselves.
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No you misunderstand entirely.
Since the Solar effects are so little understood [by anyone], they require more research.
That in no way implies whether they are important or otherwise. Added figures
The solar effects are assessed by the
IPCC at 0.12 [0.06 to 0.3] Wm-2 (Global), whereas CO2 alone is assessed at 1.66 [1.49 to 1.83] Wm-2 (Global), so the solar contribution is much smaller than man-made CO2.
What has been clearly demonstrated is a strong relationship between significant man-made changes in the atmosphere and global temperatures. The changes are not trivial as you claimed previously -
your adjective was 'infinitesimal', which is
demonstrably wrong: example 26% increase in CO2 since pre-industrial times based on the findings of the IPCC.
The certainties have been stated as has the level of scientific understanding. Your reference to
'polar caps on other planet[s]' is spurious as you well know. I refer you to my previous statements about the much less well understood climates of other planets.
Mercury has none.
At 400 degrees C, Venus is rather unlikely to have ice caps.
There is only one other planet in the solar system with ice caps [other than Earth] and that is Mars. The rest are mostly gaseous worlds and are covered in clouds.
Mars has virtually no water [subject to study], no significant magnetic field and a Solar year 1.88 that of Earth, so atmospheric parallels with Earth are neither easily drawn, nor probably of much relevance.
The way science works involves peer reviews and a single piece of scientific research is rarely significant. The IPCC involves hundreds of scientists and their work is subjected to peer review.
You appear to quite concerned about the potential political implications of attempts to combat Global Warming.
What about the
immense potential political implications of
not successfully combating Global Warming? The prospects for the world seem very likely to be
far worse if we do nothing.
Widespread food shortages, degradation of ecosystems including the oceans, inundation of many of the world's the fertile coastal plains, starvation, large-scale population movements.