Here are some facts that everyone should accept:
1) Historically, atmospheric CO2 increases have lagged behind (and amplified) global temperature increases by several centuries. This is an argument man-made GW skeptics often make, and it's true.
2) Currently, atmospheric CO2 concentrations and avg. global temperature are increasing at roughly the same time and rate:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Mauna_Loa_Carbon_Dioxide.png
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Instrumental_Temperature_Record.png
3) As a greenhouse gas, CO2 causes GW. It doesn't necessarily INITIATE GW - if something else has already initiated GW then CO2 will act as a feedback and amplify it - but increased atmospheric CO2 concentrations will cause GW to increase.
Now, if CO2 lags behind GW by centuries when something else initiates it, and CO2 and GW are currently increasing at the same time and rate, how do you account for this discrepancy if the current GW isn't primarily caused by humans?
2007-06-07
08:53:41
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21 answers
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asked by
Dana1981
7
in
Global Warming