Is the planet's surface or troposphere warming faster?

Question

Skeptics are claiming that a bias in the surface temperature record is showing the current global warming to be twice as great as it is in reality:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AhquGmoVDMhA48aHk4X1euwFxgt.;_ylv=3?qid=20071206091050AANVmkW

Yet skeptics also say that because the surface is warming faster than the troposphere (which in reality is uncertain at this point), this indicates that humans are not causing the current warming.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AonNo_A3PONVoYUsuGksfKoFxgt.;_ylv=3?qid=20071206091435AApSQPK

Well, here is the current data:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Satellite_Temperatures.png

One satellite measurement shows greater warming in the troposphere than the surface, the other shows less. However, if the surface temperature record is wrong, then the troposphere is certainly warming faster than the surface, which confirms that humans are causing the warming.

So which is really warming faster?

Answer 1

I herd about that too!!

I thought i was crazy but finally someone asked a question about it. And i also herd that the only part of our atmosphere that is currently warming is the troposphere The stratosphere, mesosphere and the thermosphere (ionosphere and exosphere)are showing cooling trends. And scientists think it has to do with more CO2 in the air trapping more of the suns radiation in the troposphere and not allowing it to escape and warm up the upper layers of the atmosphere.


We can't really say what part is warming faster at the moment, i thin we need more data and more people to believe in the theory of "global warming"

Global warming might just be theory, but i believe in it. It might not even happen, but all were saying is what could happen if we don't do anything and if global patterns keep up.

Answer 2

Dana, interesting question that shows you are grappling with the issues. You are missing part of the picture, however. One critical issue is how fast the troposphere is warming over the tropics. The theory claims this portion of the troposphere will warm much faster than the rest of the troposphere and scientists are not seeing that. Your charts do not really address the issue.

If the warming bias in the surface temperature record is fixed, it may show the troposphere is warming faster than the surface. However, it will also indicate the amount of warming is not and will not be catstrophic.

Answer 3

If the data conflict, then to make the statement that one or the other is warming faster is not very well supported.

However, the AGW proponents are in the same boat. If they accept the bias claims of the skeptics, and reduce the CO2 forcing by half to achieve a faster warming troposphere, then they must admit that CO2 driven warming is not nearly what they claim it to be.

If AGW proponents reject the idea of bias in the data, then the "hotter" troposphere required by their computer models suddenly comes into doubt, and they have no leg to stand on when the GCM predictions do not match the data.

So, either way, the tropospheric data does not support either argument.

Answer 4

Troposphere. I am not a climatologist but I trust the experts on this because they are professionals in their fields and in my opinion skeptics shouldn't challenge scientists in their specific fields which would only make them sound silly instead of being smart.

Answer 5

Neither one, global warming is a crock of crap. All it is is a theory that hasn't been proved.