solar powered global warming?
A little over a year ago, groups and activists who deny humans’ involvement in global warming have found a new culprit to blame for Earths slowly rising temperatures. The Sun. Apparently, its warming up and sending out more solar flares and more heat which naturally warms up the Earth and all of our activities which pump billions of tons of pollutants into the atmosphere are too insignificant to match the might of our parent star.
The idea is part sound science and part pseudo-science. You see, the sun really is warming up and has been doing so for the last 4.6 billion years. Over the next 250 million years, it will raise our planet’s temperature by over 10 degrees. But note the timeline. Were talking about a 2.5% increase in solar output which will take about 25 million years to warm our planet by only one degree. The sun might play a role in global warming but its highly unlikely. The average global temperature is already up by one degree on average in a century, 10,000 times faster than the normal increases in solar output.
As for solar flares, theyre just short bursts of energy and claiming that they would somehow warm the Earth is the same as claiming that turning an extra light bulb in your house for a few seconds a day helps heat your house in the winter. Claims of global warming being observed on Mars, Jupiter and Neptune have also been shown as lacking in evidence and left scientists scratching their heads as to why the heat wouldnt affect Mercury, Venus, Saturn and Uranus.
Global warming is a contentious topic highly charged with politics and allegations of ideology messing with good science. In truth, we know that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases accumulating over the past century play a role in warming the planet. Were pretty sure that we are accelerating whatever natural processes are involved. Earths climate is a very complicated thing and were still studying it. But why are we so bitter, angry and ideological about the whole thing, entering denialist or fanatical supporter mode?
I would place a major part of the blame on Al Gore. While Gore made some valid points and his work catapulted the problems of pollution, alternative energy and global climate change into a media spotlight and all of these causes are worthy, how he did it injected an undue amount of politics into what should be a scientific matter. By making it the cause du jour in major liberal centers, by giving grand speeches of how we must act now or else and by making a huge deal out of how everything should be carbon neutral, hes made global warming a liberal cause which immediately raises skepticism from many conservatives. How many editorials by those who either deny global warming outright or whitewash our effect on climate by our extensive pollution mention Gore by name and attack him as a glory hound?
What gets lost in the ideological squabble is real science and thats exactly on what we should focus. When it comes to solar powered global warming, the science says no.
