The risk of a hothouse Earth trajectory

Re:The risk of a hothouse Earth trajectory by Windchaser on Wednesday February 11, 2026 @04:00PM (#46980886)

> Water vapor (clouds) also reflects sunlight. So it's complicated. We know the planet has had higher CO2 and higher temperatures in the past, and it did not "run away"

Yes. But stars like ours burn brighter as they move through their lifetimes, and the Sun is a bit brighter now than it was back when we had higher CO2 levels. That's why a runaway GHG didn't happen back then, but is basically guaranteed to happen within a billion years.

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Re:The risk of a hothouse Earth trajectory by SV_BubbleTime on Wednesday February 11, 2026 @04:07PM (#46980981)

So… the sun is hotter now than it was what… since the 1950s? The 1850s? The Jurassic period? What scale is do you need to make this claim reasonable?

Also, I see a lot of things presented as facts in your comment, you seem to have convinced yourself quite thoroughly.

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Re:The risk of a hothouse Earth trajectory by jemmyw on Wednesday February 11, 2026 @05:14PM (#46981965)

10% every billion years. So negligible on our timescale, but it is significant if you talk about ancient climate conditions like this thread does.

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Re:The risk of a hothouse Earth trajectory by blueflow on Thursday February 12, 2026 @07:12AM (#46987805)

complex life on earth is half a billion years old (cambrian explosion 550ma ago), so the sun shouldn't be that much of an factor.

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