# Is Prof. Abdusamatov All Wet? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 3, 2008, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-prof-abdusamatov-all-wet/432140 "2008-01-03T16:58:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-prof-abdusamatov-all-wet/432140/1 "2008-01-03T16:58:35Z")
Link:[http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20080103/94768732.html](http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20080103/94768732.html) This Russian astronomer has been predicting a cooling cycle, due around 2012. Is he right? Is it possible that AGW is not happening? If a new Ice Age is imminent, what should we do? ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-prof-abdusamatov-all-wet/432140/2 "2008-01-03T17:18:29Z")
Logically, there’s no reason that the two should be mutually exclusive. There may be AGW underway with greater forces se to prevail against it. ---
**Author:** ![jshore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@jshore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jshore)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-prof-abdusamatov-all-wet/432140/3 "2008-01-03T17:26:32Z")
In answer to the OP: Yes, he is all wet. Here is a part of [the Wikipedia entry](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khabibullo_Abdusamatov) on him: > [@](#): > > Abdusamatov claims that global warming results not from the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, but from an unusually high level of solar radiation and a lengthy - almost throughout the last century - growth in its intensity."[2]. This view contradicts the scientific consensus on climate change. Abdusamatov also contends that even the natural greenhouse effect does not exist, stating “Ascribing ‘greenhouse’ effect properties to the Earth’s atmosphere is not scientifically substantiated.”[3] He further states that “Heated greenhouse gases, which become lighter as a result of expansion, ascend to the atmosphere only to give the absorbed heat away.” The latter statement contradicts measurements of the chemical composition of the atmosphere, while the former violates Fourier’s law of heat conduction. So, not only does he disagree with the consensus on AGW, he doesn’t even believe in the natural greenhouse effect (which you can literally demonstrate the existence of with a back-of-the-envelope calculation) and he believes things about the chemical composition of the atmosphere that contradict measurements of it. It is also worth noting that his views on the relation of the sun and AGW to the current warming do not seem to have been published in any sort of refereed journal [as near as I can find](http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Abdusamatov&hl=en&lr=&scoring=r&as_ylo=2003), which is a very bad sign for a piece of research that some are proposing overturns the research from thousands of peer-reviewed papers. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-prof-abdusamatov-all-wet/432140/4 "2008-01-03T18:09:11Z")
And Oleg Sorokhtin seems to be a geologist. Not auspicious. Anyway, this theory does have the advantage of being much more readily falsifiable: we should see changes wthin a decade. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-prof-abdusamatov-all-wet/432140/5 "2008-01-04T00:27:47Z")
Well, Abdusamatov is a respected scientist, and a member of the Russian academy of science. He is also a solar astronomer. So, can some of his ideas carry weight? Suppose he is right-if the earth starts cooling, is there anything we can do? ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-prof-abdusamatov-all-wet/432140/6 "2008-01-04T00:51:45Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] Well, Abdusamatov is a respected scientist, and a member of the Russian academy of science. He is also a solar astronomer. So, can some of his ideas carry weight? Suppose he is right-if the earth starts cooling, is there anything we can do? [/QUOTE] He’s apprently not respected by _everybody_… But, even if he’s a total loon, his ideas can theoretically carry weight anyway. (A stopped clock twice a day, and all that.) So, if the earth does happen to start cooling…we can buy coats. Despite being relatively quick geologically speaking, an ice age isn’t going to sneak up on us in the middle of the night and bury us in glaciers while we’re looking the other way. We’ll have time to adapt and relocate if necessary. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-prof-abdusamatov-all-wet/432140/7 "2008-01-04T03:53:18Z")
If a cooling period is coming, we can just pump more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere instead of trying to reduce them. As I understand it, it’s much easier to warm the world than chill it. ---
**Author:** ![AdmiralCrunch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6f9a4e/32.png) [@AdmiralCrunch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AdmiralCrunch)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-prof-abdusamatov-all-wet/432140/8 "2008-01-04T05:30:13Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] Suppose he is right-if the earth starts cooling, is there anything we can do? [/QUOTE] According to my calculations, the decrease in temperature from the oncoming ice age will be exactly cancelled by the increase of kinetic energy generated by all the monkeys flying out of my butt. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-prof-abdusamatov-all-wet/432140/9 "2008-01-04T05:34:08Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] Suppose he is right-if the earth starts cooling, is there anything we can do? [/QUOTE] Yes. Stop reading Abdusamatov. The earth didn’t start cooling until you read about it from him, right? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-prof-abdusamatov-all-wet/432140/10 "2008-01-04T13:57:01Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] If a new Ice Age is imminent, what should we do? [/QUOTE] Solutions [here.](http://www.llbean.com/?qs=5090612-Google-AdWdsLLBean)