# I'm sick of this Global Warming! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 16, 2013, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sick-of-this-global-warming/666440 "2013-08-16T18:57:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 82
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sick-of-this-global-warming/666440/1621 "2014-01-30T03:49:35Z")
Now that is self effacing humor right there folks. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_stamos_left_ear/32/3198_2.png) [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Stamos_Left_Ear)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sick-of-this-global-warming/666440/1622 "2014-01-30T04:38:31Z")
> [@](#): > > **Research Cites Role of Warming in Extremes** > > Scientists have long predicted that global warming will worsen heat waves and torrential rainfalls. In some parts of the world, that is exactly what happened last year, climate scientists reported Thursday. > > Rising temperatures add energy to the atmosphere, and computer models warn that this will produce wider and wilder swings in temperature and rainfall and alter prevailing wind patterns. In examining a dozen extreme weather events last year, scientists found that evidence that human activity — in particular, emissions of heat-trapping carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels — was a partial culprit in about half of them. > > The research, a series of 19 studies by 18 teams, was published in a special issue of the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. > > While global warming will likely increase the number and severity of extreme weather events, climate scientists have been reluctant to attribute a particular heat wave, storm or drought directly to global warming, because of the natural variations of weather. But with advances in computer modeling and analysis of climate data, they are now able to tease out the contributions of human civilization. > > The articles’ editors likened climate change to someone habitually driving a bit over the speed limit. Even if the speeding itself is unlikely to directly cause an accident, it increases the likelihood that something else — a wet road or a distracting text message — will do so and that the accident, when it occurs, will be more calamitous. > > Another team, reviewing data on a heat wave in the eastern United States in the spring of last year, estimated that the activities of humans contributed about one-third of the 6.6-degree spike in temperatures. > > [New York Times](http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/06/science/earth/research-cites-role-of-warming-in-extremes.html?_r=0) I linked to the mainstream take on it since [the actual report](http://www.ametsoc.org/2012extremeeventsclimate.pdf) will get way too sciencey for the denialists who don’t understand science. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sick-of-this-global-warming/666440/1623 "2014-01-30T04:55:03Z")
> [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](#): > > I linked to the mainstream take on it since [the actual report](http://www.ametsoc.org/2012extremeeventsclimate.pdf) will get way too sciencey for the denialists who don’t understand science. INB4: Wellnow, that report is by weather people, not climatologists, so they’re dumb and know nothing about sciencebitch. Also, it doesn’t talk about why it’s cold outside in the winter, so something something sciencebitch it’s dumb. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sick-of-this-global-warming/666440/1624 "2014-01-30T05:53:28Z")
> [@FXMastermind](#): > > Here’s the thing about this lunacy of “water vapor makes it hotter” or “water vapor acts as a feedback, more water vapor, more heating, more vapor, more heating”. It’s bullshit. It is made up out of whole cloth, it has no science behind it, no experiments, no theory and no evidence. Sure it does. The fact that warm air can hold more water vapor than cold air, for example, is just basic physics. Now, the question of exactly how much and in what way the water vapor feedback phenomenon actually contributes to global warming in the highly complex system of global climate is certainly far from thoroughly understood. But just because something isn’t thoroughly understood doesn’t mean it’s bullshit or devoid of scientific content. I’m baffled as to why you would even make such a nutty claim, just as I’m baffled why anybody would make the nutty claim that “there’s no such thing as global climate”. That’s not science, it’s not even a critique of science, it’s just an attempt to troll science. Why would anybody even bother? ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sick-of-this-global-warming/666440/1625 "2014-01-30T11:33:24Z")
> [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](#): > > 1. You’re a fucking idiot not worth my time. i.e. you are unable to actually back up your vague claims with specifics and it makes you angry when that fact starts to surface. > [@](#): > > 1. You’re a fucking idiot not worth my time. i.e. you are unable to actually back up your vague claims with specifics and it makes you angry when that fact starts to surface. > [@](#): > > 1. You’re a fucking idiot not worth my time. i.e. you are unable to actually back up your vague claims with specifics and it makes you angry when that fact starts to surface. ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sick-of-this-global-warming/666440/1626 "2014-01-30T11:42:30Z")
> [@FXMastermind](#): > > Hahaha you always crack me up with that, even when I know you are serious. Thanks. What’s funny is that if some TV psychic predicted “extreme weather” for next year, they would immediately see there’s a problem with the prediction. It’s like predicting that there will be a “big surprise in Hollywood next year.” But when the Church of Global Warming engages in the same shenanigans, it seems perfectly fine to them. Until someone points it out and then they start getting angry. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sick-of-this-global-warming/666440/1627 "2014-01-30T13:18:25Z")
“Water vapor is a feedback. Period.” Water vapor is the gaseous phase of a compound, damn, did any of you take chemistry? Thermodynamic feedback mechanisms involve [gulp] thermodynamics. It’s sad that the “We’re fucked” Alarmists throw this around like it makes their point … it doesn’t … the statement quoted above is just stupid. Water has both a fairly high specific heat and high latent heat of deposition, as well as having “asymmetric distribution of electric charge” in trumps (meaning it’s polar). These three plus it is the most common surface feature on Earth makes it the primary thermodynamic driver, bar none. As long as your statements violate **U[sub]f[/sub] - U[sub]i[/sub] = Q - W**, where U = internal energy, Q = heat and W = work, then you’re living in the wrong universe. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sick-of-this-global-warming/666440/1628 "2014-01-30T13:30:42Z")
> [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](#): > > 1. You’re a fucking idiot not worth my time. > 2. You’re a fucking idiot not worth my time. > 3. You’re a fucking idiot not worth my time. I think you’re over-estimating the value of your time. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sick-of-this-global-warming/666440/1629 "2014-01-30T15:19:28Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > “Water vapor is a feedback. Period.” > > Water vapor is the gaseous phase of a compound, damn, did any of you take chemistry? Thermodynamic feedback mechanisms involve [gulp] thermodynamics. I think you missed **wolfpup** ’s point. “Water vapor is a feedback” doesn’t mean that that’s how water vapor is **defined** , it means that water vapor acts as a feedback mechanism in greenhouse-gas-caused atmospheric heating. > [@watchwolf49](#): > > As long as your statements violate **U[sub]f[/sub] - U[sub]i[/sub] = Q - W**, where U = internal energy, Q = heat and W = work, then you’re living in the wrong universe. But the routine physics concept of water vapor feedback doesn’t violate this or any other principle of thermodynamics. What makes you think it does? As I said in my previous post, I’m baffled why anti-science types are picking on this very unremarkable bit of climate science to make a fuss about on the internet. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sick-of-this-global-warming/666440/1630 "2014-01-30T16:21:55Z")
Wait, are we up to denying that water vapour is a greenhouse gas, now? Or are we saying it’s a _forcing_? So the hydrological cycle is a lie? I’m having trouble keeping up with the stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sick-of-this-global-warming/666440/1631 "2014-01-30T17:11:02Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Wait, are we up to denying that water vapour is a greenhouse gas, now? Or are we saying it’s a _forcing_? So the hydrological cycle is a lie? I’m having trouble keeping up with the stupid. The anti-science meme of the moment seems to be to deny that water vapor is a feedback in atmospheric warming (and cooling too, for that matter: its amplifying effect on temperature change is independent of whether the temperature change is positive or negative). Or rather, not so much to “deny” it as to arbitrarily attack the whole concept as being somehow scientifically meaningless and/or entirely unsupported. Which is absurd. As I pointed out above, there is of course a lot of legitimate scientific debate as to the precise amount of impact water vapor has on present-day global warming. But that doesn’t mean that the concept itself isn’t scientifically valid. AIUI, in simplest language the phenomenon can basically be described as “warmer air holds more water vapor, more water vapor absorbs more radiation, thus warming the air further, repeat”. (The cooling counterpart is “colder air holds less water vapor, sheds excess water vapor as precipitation, resulting drier atmosphere absorbs less radiation, thus cooling the air further, repeat”.) In slightly less simple language, temperature increase quasi-exponentially raises what’s known as the “saturation vapor pressure” or approximately the maximum partial pressure of vapor, beyond which the vapor starts to condense and precipitate out. (The precise relationship between saturation vapor pressure and temperature is given by the so-called [Clausius-Clapeyron equation](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clausius%E2%80%93Clapeyron_relation#Meteorology_and_climatology).) And, of course, increasing that saturation pressure means that more water vapor can stay in the atmosphere without precipitating out. And water vapor in the atmosphere absorbs thermal radiation, i.e., acts as a greenhouse gas, causing further temperature increase. So you end up with hotter moister air than you would have had just from the initial temperature increase alone. [Much less simple language with bunches of equations.](http://books.google.com/books?id=ZkYgymQgl7YC&pg=PA355) ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sick-of-this-global-warming/666440/1632 "2014-01-30T18:13:35Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > I think you’re over-estimating the value of your time. Well I think he would prefer to spend his time pretending to be morally and intellectually superior. As opposed to actually thinking critically. ---
**Author:** ![Gedd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gedd/32/4938_2.png) [@Gedd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gedd)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sick-of-this-global-warming/666440/1633 "2014-01-30T18:22:52Z")
On a side note, if anyone was curious, the recent snowfall in Atlanta doesn’t crack the top 10 in the past 65 years. [http://www.11alive.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=171853](http://www.11alive.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=171853) > [@](#): > > The National Weather Service has listed the greatest snowfall amounts for their Atlanta reporting location at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport since 1949: > > 1. 7.9"…March 24, 1983 > 2. 5.8"…January 12-13, 1982 (became known as "Snowjam 82’) > 3. 5.0"…January 18-19, 1992 > 4. 4.6"…January 2-3, 2002 > 5. 4.4"…February 17-18, 1979 (all sleet/ ice pellets) > 6. 4.2"…March 13, 1993 (“Blizzard of 93”) > 7. 4.2"…January 7-8, 1988 (sleet/ ice) > 8 4.0"…March 10, 1960 > 8. 3.9"…February 1952 > 9. 3.6"…January 21-22, 1987 ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sick-of-this-global-warming/666440/1634 "2014-01-30T18:26:34Z")
> [@brazil84](#): > > Well I think he would prefer to spend his time pretending to be morally and intellectually superior. As opposed to actually thinking critically. …said the racist crazy person. ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sick-of-this-global-warming/666440/1635 "2014-01-30T18:31:50Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > …said the racist crazy person. > [@](#): > > No trolling > > By trolling, we mean **posting of inflammatory comments solely to get a rise out of people**. If we feel your primary goal as a poster is to make people mad, you’ll quickly find yourself on the road to banning. [Revised Forum Rules for the BBQ Pit: read this before posting - The BBQ Pit - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=507985) I would advise all the fuckhead trolls, who only post insults, that "the Pit is NOT a free-for-all - you don’t have to be nice, but you do have to be reasonably civil. " If you only drop in to post insulting idiocy, and have nothing to add, much less anything to say, then you are violating the spirit of the place. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sick-of-this-global-warming/666440/1636 "2014-01-30T19:01:52Z")
> [@FXMastermind](#): > > [Revised Forum Rules for the BBQ Pit: read this before posting - The BBQ Pit - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=507985) > > I would advise all the fuckhead trolls, who only post insults, that "the Pit is NOT a free-for-all - you don’t have to be nice, but you do have to be reasonably civil. " > > If you only drop in to post insulting idiocy, and have nothing to add, much less anything to say, then you are violating the spirit of the place. Ah, Junior Modding. Not too surprised you’d go there, really. Per the well-known 2001 case of [_Pot v. Kettle_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1eHKf-dMwo), accusing others of trolling is the “last resort of the skilled troll.” I challenge you to support your position that **MrDibble** was posting “solely to get a rise out of” **brazil**. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sick-of-this-global-warming/666440/1637 "2014-01-30T19:05:46Z")
> [@FXMastermind](#): > > [Revised Forum Rules for the BBQ Pit: read this before posting - The BBQ Pit - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=507985) > > I would advise all the fuckhead trolls, who only post insults, that "the Pit is NOT a free-for-all - you don’t have to be nice, but you do have to be reasonably civil. " > > If you only drop in to post insulting idiocy, and have nothing to add, much less anything to say, then you are violating the spirit of the place. Quick, tell me the rules about junior modding next, oh wise one! **brazil** is provably a racist and a crazy person, as shown by his postings on race-related topics and his crazy personal “ignore list”. Which speaks to his grasp of science, as well. He understands genetics about as well as he understands thermodynamics i.e not at all. If you don’t like the company your own anti-science lunacy forces you to keep, well, tough shit. There you are, in the ball pit with the other crazies. Try not to get too much drool in there. ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sick-of-this-global-warming/666440/1638 "2014-01-30T19:10:41Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > If you don’t like the company your own anti-science lunacy forces you to keep, well, tough shit. Now now, GIGO might be dumber than a rock, but he isn’t really anti-science or a lunatic. OK he might be a lunatic, but he is, in his heart, a scientific person. ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sick-of-this-global-warming/666440/1639 "2014-01-30T19:12:00Z")
> [@andros](#): > > Ah, Junior Modding. I find a gentle reminder of the posted rules more civil than hitting the report button. I always feel like a goddamn narc if I report anything. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sick-of-this-global-warming/666440/1640 "2014-01-30T19:15:57Z")
> [@FXMastermind](#): > > Now now, GIGO might be dumber than a rock, but he isn’t really anti-science or a lunatic. OK he might be a lunatic, but he is, in his heart, a scientific person. So **FX is** not just an anti-science lunatic, but thinks “_I know you are, but what am I_?” is the most sophisticated of comedy? That …well, that seems about right, actually. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sick-of-this-global-warming/666440.md?page=81) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sick-of-this-global-warming/666440.md?page=83)