Medical students as the critical link to address climate change

Comments

1. dennisa says:

   July 21, 2017 at 12:13

   I would have hoped that medical students, having had some training in science and the scientific method, would look beyond the headlines and the computer models to discover for themselves that there really is nothing untoward happening with the various climates around the globe. To think that a minor trace gas like CO2 can act as a thermostat for the earth is naive in the extreme and it cannot be backed up by science. It is a well mixed gas, just 0.04% of the atmosphere and does not sit as a blanket stopping the escape of heat from the earth’s surface.

   https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/EnergyBalance/page4.php

   “Temperature doesn’t infinitely rise, however, because atoms and molecules on Earth are not just absorbing sunlight, they are also radiating thermal infrared energy (heat).

   The amount of heat a surface radiates is proportional to the fourth power of its temperature. If temperature doubles, radiated energy increases by a factor of 16 (2 to the 4th power). If the temperature of the Earth rises, the planet rapidly emits an increasing amount of heat to space. This large increase in heat loss in response to a relatively smaller increase in temperature—referred to as radiative cooling—is the primary mechanism that prevents runaway heating on Earth.”

   Reply
   • Kevin Ardon says:

     September 3, 2017 at 22:04

     Thanks for commenting Dennisa and apologies for the delayed response.

     The article you use in your argument is based on an observational study, which does not use the scientific method. Physics are well explained in that article but it never discussest the heat-trapping effect of greenhouse gases over outgoing energy. What they do mention is:

     “Most heat escaped from areas just north and south of the equator, where the surface was warm, but there were few clouds. Along the equator, persistent clouds prevented heat from escaping.” So if clouds prevent heat from escaping, can you imagine what a persistent huge layer of greenhouse gases can do?

     Earth’s climate is changing rapidly compared to the pace of the natural variation in climate that has occurred throughout history. To support this statement, there is plenty of evidence from different research groups around the world. For example, 15 of the last 16 years have been the warmest years on record in centuries. Also, instrumental measures from both land and oceans show that temperature have increased 1.0 °C in the last 100 years. Long-term climate records indicate that this rise has happened faster than it did in the previous 1,700 years.

     The hundreds of studies that have documented and proved changes in temperature, melting glaciers, rising sea levels, heat waves and extreme weather precipitation lead the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to conclude that it is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century. Over the last century, there are no alternative explanations supported by evidence that are either credible or that can contribute more than marginally to the observed patterns. These are just some major facts, but I’m sure you can find even more scientific evidence to help you understand more about climate change. Thank you for engaging in the discussion and for your comment.

     Reply
     • Kevin Ardon says:

       September 3, 2017 at 22:12

       These are the articles I used for my comment:
       http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v538/n7624/full/nature19798.html?foxtrotcallback=true

       http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v545/n7654/full/545296a.html

       https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/3920195/Final-Draft-of-the-Climate-Science-Special-Report.pdf