"Of course even if the global warming is all natural one could still ask if we should try to stop it, that is another matter."
... or can we even stop it? As you noted, the earth was cycling through warm and cold periods well before humans could have an effect. Can we stop that if we want to? Or maybe we slow it imperceptibly? I tend to think we need to consider how we'll live "with" global warming. And perhaps how we'll live during the next ice age as well?
I think in theory it can be stopped. For example isn't there something like thermonuclear winter that follows nuclear war? I guess from all the dust in the atmosphere reflecting the sunlight?
That is of course not a viable solution, it only shows that apparently man made mechanisms can both heat or cool the atmosphere.
We've never actually created a thermonuclear winter but it was indeed a prediction. I think the problem is one of scale rather than technology ... can we do enough?
True, but I think there was a vulcanic explosion that caused several cold and miserable years? It was too far in our past, though, so again it is part speculation I think. Don't remember the specifics, I think it was during the 30 year war?
Re:Global Warming's Terrifying New Math
by legulere on Friday September 21, 2012 @04:11PM
(#4555509)
Destroying the ozone layer also helps cooling.
And what is hard to believe for US citizens last summer was relatively COLD globally - only slightly above 1950-1980 average: http://data.giss.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/gistemp/do_nmap.py?year_la...
That's true ... here in Pennsylvania we didn't have as many blazing hot days again this summer. Last winter was milder than many previous ones.
So from my perspective it seems like the temperature swings have less amplitude but are centered around the same bias as they always were.
Note ... My opinion only. No data was harmed (or even used) to substantiate my impression.
Of course even if the global warming is all natural one could still ask if we should try to stop it, that is another matter.