# Is there a correlation between long-term temp changes on Earth and Mars? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 10, 2011, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-correlation-between-long-term-temp-changes-on-earth-and-mars/595815 "2011-09-10T11:05:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-correlation-between-long-term-temp-changes-on-earth-and-mars/595815/1 "2011-09-10T11:05:43Z")
A friend on facebook has mentioned such a correlation. (It’s a global warming discussion.) I’ve never heard of such a thing, and google reveals nothing. Have you heard of this before? Do you know where the idea is coming from? ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-correlation-between-long-term-temp-changes-on-earth-and-mars/595815/2 "2011-09-10T11:21:21Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > google reveals nothing. 😕 What search terms did you use? [Apparently not the obvious.](http://lmgtfy.com/?q=%22global+warming%22+mars) ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-correlation-between-long-term-temp-changes-on-earth-and-mars/595815/3 "2011-09-10T11:27:49Z")
It’s another bullshit attempt by the looney right to claim that climate change is not our fault. The false claim is that temperatures are rising on all the planets, so the sun is causing it. Not true - temps are rising on some planets but not others. The Bad Astronomy blog has many entries on climate change denialism, including this red-state herring. Whether climate change is caused by human or solar activity, we would have to take the same annoying expensive steps to save our climate that the anti-reality nutjobs want to avoid. Their argument here is not only factually wrong, it’s useless even if it were correct. I shouldn’t be so blunt but I am oedipally sick of these lying moronic politicians and the brain-dead sheeple who defend every single one of their falshoods. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-correlation-between-long-term-temp-changes-on-earth-and-mars/595815/4 "2011-09-10T11:59:29Z")
Of course, regardless of global warming, in the long term, one would expect for there to be a correlation – the sun is the primary driver of both planets climates (readily seen by imagining the climate without sun), and variations there would be expected to lead to correlated variations on all the solar system’s planets. Take the extreme cases: snuff out the sun, and it gets cold fast; have it go red giant, and there will be a marked increase in temperature throughout the solar system. ---
**Author:** ![NNN99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ac91a4/32.png) [@NNN99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NNN99)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-correlation-between-long-term-temp-changes-on-earth-and-mars/595815/5 "2011-09-10T15:27:32Z")
Unfortunately, No. Mars is to far out to be affected by sun light as Mars is surrounded by a vacuum nothing changes. ---
**Author:** ![brocks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@brocks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brocks)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-correlation-between-long-term-temp-changes-on-earth-and-mars/595815/6 "2011-09-10T15:37:23Z")
> [@NNN99](#): > > Unfortunately, No. Mars is to far out to be affected by sun light as Mars is surrounded by a vacuum nothing changes. So I guess the explanation for its polar caps growing and shrinking seasonally is “space heaters”? ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-correlation-between-long-term-temp-changes-on-earth-and-mars/595815/7 "2011-09-10T15:50:29Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > 😕 > What search terms did you use? > [Apparently not the obvious.](http://lmgtfy.com/?q=%22global+warming%22+mars) I used combinations of “earth” “mars” “temperature” “correlation” and words in that semantic area. Fuck you, Blake. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-correlation-between-long-term-temp-changes-on-earth-and-mars/595815/8 "2011-09-10T15:53:24Z")
I don’t know, today I search google and it comes up with plenty of hits. All I can think of to explain last night’s searches is typos. This does not make Blake any less of an asshole. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-correlation-between-long-term-temp-changes-on-earth-and-mars/595815/9 "2011-09-10T15:58:48Z")
Found the searches. Turns out I was using terms taken from my friends’ own posts, which turned out not to be the best terms to use. Which is beside the point because mr. B is still a you-know-what. ---
**Author:** ![PaulParkhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@PaulParkhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulParkhead)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-correlation-between-long-term-temp-changes-on-earth-and-mars/595815/10 "2011-09-10T16:04:04Z")
> [@NNN99](#): > > Unfortunately, No. Mars is to far out to be affected by sun light as Mars is surrounded by a vacuum nothing changes. Are you saying that Mars has no atmosphere? This is not correct. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-correlation-between-long-term-temp-changes-on-earth-and-mars/595815/11 "2011-09-10T16:04:15Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > Fuck you, Blake. > [@Frylock](#): > > This does not make Blake any less of an asshole. > [@Frylock](#): > > Which is beside the point because mr. B is still a you-know-what. **Moderator Warning** **Frylock** , I’m sure you know that insults are not permitted in GQ. I’m sure you also know that if you screw up an obvious search, you’re bound to get a little snark here, if not from **Blake** then from others. This is an official warning. Don’t do this again. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-correlation-between-long-term-temp-changes-on-earth-and-mars/595815/12 "2011-09-10T16:05:14Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > **Moderator Warning** > > **Frylock** , I’m sure you know that insults are not permitted in GQ. I’m sure you also know that if you screw up an obvious search, you’re bound to get a little snark here, if not from **Blake** then from others. This is an official warning. Don’t do this again. > > Colibri > General Questions Moderator Okay. And not to insult Blake further, but I do want to note I think a link to “let me google that for you” together with puzzled faces and words like “obvious,” after someone has already said they googled it, is a little more than "snark,"is more than “snark.” It is itself insulting. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-correlation-between-long-term-temp-changes-on-earth-and-mars/595815/13 "2011-09-10T16:19:09Z")
> [@NNN99](#): > > Unfortunately, No. Mars is to far out to be affected by sun light as Mars is surrounded by a vacuum nothing changes. [That’s not right.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_Mars) ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-correlation-between-long-term-temp-changes-on-earth-and-mars/595815/14 "2011-09-10T16:52:26Z")
I’ve been wondering about this as well. The stories in 2007 about “global warming on mars,” like [this Times article](http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1720024.ece), seem to be based on [this Nature paper by Fenton, Geissler & Haberle](http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v446/n7136/abs/nature05718.html). But the paper only reports on observed albedo change on Mars, and says the observed albedo change is **predicted** (based on computer models) to cause a 0.65C temperature rise. I haven’t seen an actual temperature record to confirm this has happened - if there is one, can someone post a reference or link? (p.s. It’s amusing to see that global warming deniers always say computer models are useless, but have no trouble believing this particular computer model of Mars.) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-correlation-between-long-term-temp-changes-on-earth-and-mars/595815/15 "2011-09-10T17:17:21Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > And not to insult Blake further, but I do want to note I think a link to “let me google that for you” together with puzzled faces and words like “obvious,” after someone has already said they googled it, is a little more than "snark,"is more than “snark.” It is itself insulting. [Moderating] Annoying to be sure, and I would prefer that **Blake** or anyone else not post such a link, which is against [GQ etiquette](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=9751639&postcount=1). > [@](#): > > we aren’t interested in hearing about how stupid the question was because a search could have answered the question. Nor are we interested in hearing how simple it was for another poster to find the answer in a search engine. If it’s that simple to find the answer, go ahead and post the answer. However, it doesn’t rise to the level of a personal insult. Your response on the other hand was way over the top. In the future, report the post or Pit the offender, rather than insulting them in GQ. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-correlation-between-long-term-temp-changes-on-earth-and-mars/595815/16 "2011-09-10T17:20:08Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > 😕 > What search terms did you use? > [Apparently not the obvious.](http://lmgtfy.com/?q=%22global+warming%22+mars) **Moderator Note** **Blake,** in reference to the above, let’s not post links to “let me Google that for you” in the future or make other similar commentary. No warning issued, but in the future just give the information rather than being snarky about it. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-correlation-between-long-term-temp-changes-on-earth-and-mars/595815/17 "2011-09-10T21:55:50Z")
What I find hilarious is when the truth-deniers spout this line, and use Pluto as one of the examples. Yeah, Pluto is warmer this century than it was last century. And it’s warmer right now on Earth than it was six months ago. That said, you need to show a lot more than that there’s a correlation. Undoubtedly, there is, but the much more relevant question is how large that correlation is, especially compared with correlations like to the amount of anthropogenic CO[sub]2[/sub] in the atmosphere. ---
**Author:** ![brocks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@brocks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brocks)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-correlation-between-long-term-temp-changes-on-earth-and-mars/595815/18 "2011-09-10T22:00:02Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > What I find hilarious is when the truth-deniers spout this line, and use Pluto as one of the examples. Yeah, Pluto is warmer this century than it was last century. And it’s warmer right now on Earth than it was six months ago. You sure? I thought perihelion was in January.