We all know the theory - we've increased the atmospheric CO2 levels by 30% of the immediately prior CO2 level (or, 1/11,000th of the atmosphere, though the AGW advocates don't put it in that context), CO2 traps heat, and starting about 80 years after we started to increase the CO2 level, the planet started warming, and has since warmed 1.1 degree F.
But it's also true that the present climate shift is similar in rate and extent to all the other ones, that the climate history is a sequence of intermittent multi-century warm and cool periods, and that we were coming out of a 400+ year cool period when the present warm period began. It's also true that during many warmer periods, CO2 levels were lower than today. CO2 is one of the weaker 'greenhouse' gases and its effects are dwarfed by water vapor, the level of which has almost nothing to do with us.
Stratospheric cooling is consistent with the CO2 blanket theory but has been going on for only about 20 years, not 120.
2007-01-26
00:48:54
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