Climate Denial Crock of the Week

7 Responses to “Following Fire and Drought, Torrential Record Storm in West”

1. ecoquant Says:

   
   October 24, 2021 at 10:39 pm

   Yeah, hate to see it, but, frankly, there’s nothing shocking here.

   Nothing to see here. Move along home.

   Have been warned that climate disruption would be crazy. And so now, when it’s too late to stop it at this level, you want us to get upset?

   We can stop it from getting worse the day we zero greenhouse gas emissions. Until you buy and act on that, don’t bother me with your whining.

   Reply
   • rhymeswithgoalie Says:

     
     October 25, 2021 at 11:45 am

     We can stop it from getting worse the day we zero greenhouse gas emissions.

     Er, no.
     There’s a major latency factor.

     If we stopped emitting GHGs today the climate will continue to worsen for decades until the system reaches balance and we achieve a new steady state. Think of the Keeling Curve as the burner setting on a stove under the pot of climate change. Even if we stop raising the ppm CO2, the setting we’re at right now will continue to retain more sunlight energy (i.e., heat up) until the amount that makes it back out through the atmosphere equals the amount coming in.

     Reply
     • ecoquant Says:

       
       October 25, 2021 at 4:25 pm

       That’s old science. Another peer reviewed look finds the latency is 10 years.

       But it won’t cool after we stop emitting even after the 10 year lag. That’s because 95% of the energy is going into oceans, and they take a long time to cool down, water being such an excellent reservoir of thermal energy.

       It’ll stop warming, though.

       Reply
       • rhymeswithgoalie Says:

         
         October 28, 2021 at 2:08 pm

         Is this what you mean?
         https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-17001-1

         I read it as 10 years before it appeared in the signal, not that the signal would flatten.

         Reply
         • ecoquant Says:

           
           October 28, 2021 at 3:20 pm

           My source was a public lecture by Institute Professor Susan Solomon at MIT, probably . It may be a reprise of something in her letter with Damon,

           Matthews, H. Damon, and Susan Solomon. “Irreversible does not mean unavoidable.” Science 340, no. 6131 (2013): 438-439.

           which was written in response to criticism of her

           Solomon, Susan, Gian-Kasper Plattner, Reto Knutti, and Pierre Friedlingstein. “Irreversible climate change due to carbon dioxide emissions.” Proceedings of the national academy of sciences 106, no. 6 (2009): 1704-1709.

           These are all widely available. I quote from the first paper:

           Because of these equal and opposing effects of physical climate inertia and carbon cycle inertia, there is almost no delayed warming from past CO2 emissions. If emissions were to cease abruptly, global average temperatures would remain roughly constant for many centuries, but they would not increase very much, if at all. Similarly, if emissions were to decrease, temperatures would increase less than they otherwise would have.

           You can check the first paper for details.
       • rhymeswithgoalie Says:

         
         October 30, 2021 at 2:01 am

         Ta for the info in your unreplyable comment.
         😉

         Reply
   • rhymeswithgoalie Says:

     
     October 25, 2021 at 11:48 am

     As the young people say: Fuck around and find out.

     We’re finding out.

     Reply

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