[Allen K. Littlefield]

Originally Posted by Lordblood

I think you misunderstood what I said was not up to debate. CO2 will rise in temperature if it finds IR light to absorb, no question about it. I can show you an IR spectrum of CO2 to prove it if you so wish.

The real argument lies in what you mentioned about the role of the sun, and on top of that the abundance of other gasses in the atmosphere having a role. In addition, the real reason CO2 poses a problem is because it absorbs a certain type of light that coincidentally is emitted by all living things (night vision is basically a camera that detects IR light). This means a population increase would also contribute to global warming. And lastly, how all of this will contribute to global warming as numbers. Will we see a 5 degree Celsius increase (this would be enough to do major damage) or .01 degree increase? You are most definitely right, CO2 is not the only culprit; many people (including me) believe it is the one that is most controllable.

On the government, I also do not want an overbearing government; there are real dangers in giving too much power to such a corrupt institution. However, I also believe that there are certain things that cannot be governed by the private sector. For instance, having a private army would not be efficient, neither would having a private public transportation system. I think the government would be most efficient in running regulations on the environment, because as of now it does not make financial sense for the private sector to change on their own. Businessmen aren't corrupt, but they are definitely maximizers.

I try to stay civilized about these debates. I think rational people should be able to discuss ideas without getting into a fight.

I thank you for your contributions and civil discourse. I am sure you are correct on your assessment of the role that CO2 plays in our overall climate. I am just not convinced that it alone is a factor. Again I submit the heating and cooling over the centuries when there were little or no human influence at the risk of becoming boring but there it is. There is also an assumption that our current mean temperature is the ONLY temp. that is good for everything and has to be maintained. This is quite impossible for the reason I just cited above, climate changes on its own without human influence.

As for the roll of govt. being "most efficient" in running regulations I have yet to see the govt. run anything efficiently or even competently. It is a vast money absorbing and spending machine intent on increasing its power, at least in my observations and humble opinion. The only thing that works is the military if it is not being misused by bespoke politicians.

The day Algore gives up his corporate jet, massive home and NObama cuts back on his fuel consuming trips home and abroad and run their refrigerators off of solar or wind only, I remain skeptical as do many others including a number in the scientific community. Some maintain the temp has NOT risen in a number of years. I guess it depends on whose data is gathered and if was funded by a govt. grant or not. Who really knows?

Again, this has been an interesting civil debate at least to this point. Let's hope it stays this way if it continues at all. I think many minds are already made up.


AKL