I am struggling to understand global warming can some one explain the science please?

Question

I am not asking for weather reports but the actual science?

1% of the atmosphere is carbon dioxide if it is acting as a green house and heat rises why hasn't the upper atmosphere grown hotter and why does it get cold after being hot - please explain?

Answer 1

Global warming, as you might expect, is a heated topic. Clearly, the earth has been warmer and cooler in the past. The question is, what has warmed and cooled the earth in the past and is that relevant today? I and many others believe we are experiencing a normal climate change with the possibility of a slight increase, and I do emphasize slight, by human activity.

While you've heard there is overwhelming consensus on anthropogenic warming, there is a growing group of scientists and intellectuals that have provided many facts about the earth's temperature and clearly illustrate there is hardly such consensus. One popular theory is that the solar activity of the sun helps regulate cloud cover, which in turn affects the temperature of the earth by reflecting more sunlight or absorbing more heat. This cycle occurs roughly every 1500 years. Furthermore, recent discoveries in the pacific show a heat vent that vents hot air into space, potentially acting as somewhat of a heat regulator for the planet, something the global warming models didn't take into account.

It boils down to the climate changes, from hot to cold, to hot again, etc. If climate were to not change it would actually be a true oddity. Following the Little Ice age, we have been on a warming trend, but we have yet to reach the same temperature as the former climate optimum.

Answer 2

Climate change typically takes place over long periods of time. There have been significant swings in global temperatures since humans appeared. Global warming and cooling are part of natural cycles. And right now, nobody disputes we're in a warming trend.

What this debate is really be about is human created global warming. Generally via the emissions carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, but also due to things like bovine flatulance (methane). All these greenhouse gases keep more heat in the atmosphere and reflect less back into space. Key human contributions come from coal burning power plants, and a lot of hamburgers (the cows).

However, because climate change has numerous factors affecting it, it's very difficult to model (like chaos theory). Currently, there are too many people exagerating likely changes based on hollywood movies and not enough people communicating the hard science to people. Makes me for one suspicious - not of global warming; but of exactly what component is human driven, and what the likely damage really is.

The earth is a dynamic place, always changing, whether we like it or not. One of humanities greatest strengths has been the ability to adapt. There is no such thing as a "perfect, static earth" - it will indeed change over time, humans or no. Another ice age will happen, is it right for us to stop it? Fluctuations in the energy generation of the sun, including the 11 year solar cycle are also big drivers of change. Al Gore had promoted a sattelite which would sit between the sun and earth and look both ways. This would of conclusively isolated the solar component - the Bush administration cancelled the project.

I understand that the report issued by the joint commission on global warming which stated a high probability of human caused global warming was misleading. What happened in this first round was each participant nations scientists vouching for their own entries - not an exhaustive review of the data. That is to come soon.

If we plan for the worst reasonable scenarios and not the chicken little ones, there's still very little we can do. This threat will not manifest itself in obvious ways. I just read that "more hurricanes are expected this year". Well, same thing was said last year but didn't happen. More importantly, the "long poles in this tent" are not spoken about.

Human population growth

I don't care how much China, Russia, US, India do - if we continue to flood the planet with our species all kinds of dysfunction will take place. Fortunately, or unfortunately nature has a way of delivering populations corrections.

If you lived through the "global ice age" scare of the 70's (and I don't mean nuclear winter) you'd be skeptical too.

Finally, the actual science ;p
I'm waiting for the final report to be peer reviewed. Thats where the answer should come from; though human nature has a way of politicizing things. So, I recommend viewing "an inconvenient truth" AND reading "State of Fear".

Answer 3

You have asked for the science behind global warming, not for a forum of discussion between 'alarmists' and 'deniers', therefore I will try and actually answer the question, at the same time trying to cover some of the misconceptions set up by other answerers. One point to mention: most people would call me an 'alarmist', in that I set my stall up with the science rather than the conspiracy theories.

All right then. There is something called the greenhouse effect, that has been effectively explained by others. Simply put, there is a layer of 'greenhouse' gases in the atmosphere, including methane, carbon dioxide, and water vapour, which allow solar rays to pass through to reach the earth's surface, but deflect a percentage of these back down to earth once they have been reflected by the earth. For example, a cloudy night is warmer than a clear night, because the infrared radiation (heat) is kept in by the clouds, made up of water vapour.

This is a natural effect, and is what keeps the earth warm enough for humanity to thrive. However, the greenhouse effect is being exacerbated by constant contributions by human-caused gases, mainly carbon dioxide (huge amounts of which are pumped into the atmosphere by planes, cars, factories, and slash-and-burn deforestation), methane (thanks to livestock, and melting peat bogs), and water vapour (this is in fact partly caused by humans, as aeroplanes give off water vapour, at a height at which the atmosphere cannot deal with it). Therefore, the planet is slowly and incontrovertibly warming at an accelerating rate. This is partly because of a feedback loop: for example, the warming is causing the permafrost in Siberia to melt, which is exposing peat bogs. These give off methane (a much stronger greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide), which in turn causes more warming, which causes more melting...etc.

It's really quite simple science, which you may understand better if you watch something like 'An Inconvenient Truth', or visit www.realclimate.com. At any rate, it is clearly happening.

Answer 4

Carbon dioxide acts like a screen keeping the heat in like a greenhouse
Thats why its called the greenhouse effect
So the more Carbon dioxide you have the more the earth heats up
This is caused by burning fossil fuels like gas and petrol and coal and even wood
and removing trees as they would take away the CO2 through photosynthesis

Answer 5

The temperature of anything in the space (like the Moon, Earth, Venus, etc) depends of how much radiation (from the Sun) receive (not reflexes) and how much heat is radiate. If the % CO2 is raising, part of the radiation (infrared) return to Earth. The effect would amplify because more water goes to the air (another greenhouse gas). And if part of the ice would melt, less light would be reflex to space and more radiation from the Sun heats the Earth..

Answer 6

The previous answerer stumbled into a truth, that overcast nights are warmer. Is there increased CO2 on overcast nights? No, of course not. There is increased water vapor which is a far more important greenhouse gas than CO2. Since noone could argue that humans contribute significantly to water vapor, you hardly ever hear that it is a greenhouse gas, let alone the most important one, especially from the alarmists. The reason is that the human induced global warming scare is a political entity that has very little to do with science. Temperature, CO2 levels, sea levels, and ecosystems are not static meaning they change all the time. All change is not bad and those who try to fool the general population and suggest we are going to die if we don't give up our lifestyle or give them money for further study are a con artists though I believe many of them actually believe in it.

Answer 7

Ok basically heres how i understand it...theres a great explanation of global warming in an inconvenient truth the al gore documentary...

ok so...we have this thin layer of atmosphere over our earth...and this layer of atmosphere traps radiation that from the sun that bounces off the earth, called infrared radiation...some of the radiation is good...keeps the earth at a reasonable temp...but an excess of greenhouse gases make that layer of atmosphere thicker and traps dangerous amounts of infrared radiation inbetween the earth and that thin layer of atmosphere and the earth...heating it too much...

hope i helped

Answer 8

There is an invisible layer in the earth's atmosphere called the Ozone layer. The particles are dense in this layer and it acts as a safety barrier and weakens the harmful rays that come from the sun down to the earth. Carbon emissions which are produced by aeroplanes, cars and factories to name but a few cultprits, are damaging this giant safety barrier, causing these harmful rays to get through much stronger. This is causing the temperature on Earth to increase day by day, with potentially catastrophic effects on our weather system and enivironment, such as Ice caps melting, causing the sea level to increase and the water temperatures to change, which will lead to severe flooding and possibly cause earthquakes, tsunamis etc.

Scary but true!!

Answer 9

Global warming is the observed increase in the average temperature of the Earth's near-surface air and oceans in recent decades and its projected continuation

Answer 10

the real science disproves the statement that this global warming phenomenon is not
"man-made"

it can never be
man accounts for less than .015% of all co2 emmisions, which is only 10% of greenhouse gases, most of it is water vapor

most of it comes from dead leaves and plants

but if global warming was from greenhouse gas emmisions, then the trophosphere would be warmer than the surface of the earth, and today, it is not, which suggests that the earth is warming from something more natural, like increased solar activity from the sun.
but overall, these socialist people who believe that it is our fault for this little half a degree rise in average temperature are crazy, literally, all they do is produce an industry for themselves to make money in, and boy they are getting to be very successful

if Al Gore really believed that man is causing this, then do you think he would use 21 times the amount of energy a average american household does?

NO