# 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:** 1\ **Showing post:** 1746
**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:** [February 4, 2014, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sick-of-this-global-warming/666440/1746 "2014-02-04T02:15:10Z")
From another topic > [@Global Warming progressing far faster than previously thought](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/global-warming-progressing-far-faster-than-previously-thought/679056/369): > > You are so completely missing the point. That could be the hashtag for all climate debates online. > [@MrDibble](#): > > The term “radiative forcing” has been employed in the IPCC Assessments to denote an externally imposed perturbation in the radiative energy budget of the Earth’s climate system. Repeating something that was already on the table doesn’t help. Really, it doesn’t. The IPCC didn’t actually make up the definition, they just adopted it. And then changed it. > **[Radiative forcing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiative_forcing#IPCC_usage)** > > Radiative forcing (or climate forcing) is a concept used to quantify a change to the balance of energy flowing through a planetary atmosphere. Various factors contribute to this change in energy balance, such as concentrations of greenhouse gases and aerosols, and changes in surface albedo and solar irradiance. In more technical terms, it is defined as "the change in the net, downward minus upward, radiative flux (expressed in W/m2) due to a change in an external driver of climate change.": A pla... In essence it’s about **The Radiation Balance**. Which is constantly altered by radiative forcings like the intensity of solar energy, reflectivity of clouds or gases, absorption by various greenhouse gases or surfaces, emission of heat by various materials. **Any such alteration is a radiative forcing** , and causes a new balance to be reached. This happens continuously as sunlight hits the surface, clouds and aerosols form, the concentrations of atmospheric gases vary, and seasons alter the ground cover. Covering a continent (or the north polar region) with [contrails](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2001JD000426/abstract) (visible or not) is a forcing. A blanket of ice or water vapor in the stratosphere is a forcing, and like most things it can be calculated what the effect is. Hell, if anybody cared it could actually be measured each day. Wait, what the fuck are we arguing about today? --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sick-of-this-global-warming/666440)._