Has anybody caugt the Discovery Channel special on global warming? http://dsc.discovery.com/tvlistings/episode.jsp?episode=0&cpi=25252&gid=0&channel=DSC I just happened to catch it over the weekend and reccommend it very highly! The two hour special was incredibly interesting, and presented information and perspective that I had not run across previously. They go far deeper into the issue than the simple greenhouse gasses = global warming take on it that you generally get. The discussion of feedback mechanisms between atmosphere and biosphere was particularly interesting to me. According to the web site they will air it again on August 21st at 12 noon.
I saw it on July 16 and thought it was very well done. Just wish I had recorded it so that I could edit out the 30 min's of commercials.
I did record it and just finished watching it last night. One thing I noticed was that Discover was offering the DVD for cheap: like $5 or something. I felt that it was very well done. At times, Tom played Devil's Advocate when interviewing the experts which I thought was good. Unfortunately, like all things, I fear that the only people actually watching the program were the people who didn't need to watch the program. At the same time, the people who needed to watch the program were not watching the program.
Isn't that the truth ? I was at the ball game recently, and ran into a couple of friends. One told me he was going on a cruise to AK - I mentioned that I'd like to get up there before much more warming occurs, and he nodded knowingly (he's a pro photographer and will be with a bunch of other shooters - so there should be a bunch of nice pics as a result). The other one dismissed that warming even existed ("we've had a cool summer in Chicago this year"). I didn't even bother explaining how, under global climate change, some places WILL become cooler on average. Instead, I just turned my attention back to the game (and thought about just how close of a friend I wanted to continue to be with him, given that I get my season tickets from him). I should give him a call today and ask if he still thinks we're having a 'cool summer this year', as it's been near 100F for the last few days and will continue through this week. Regarding the DVD - if it's $5 including s/h, that's a nice deal. I had recorded it to DVD myself a few weeks ago, and forgotten to offer to the group earlier (hopefully Xcel and Eric were able to successfully view the copies I finally sent out to both of them of the HBO show).
Postive feedback loops are a PITA. Sure, carbon dioxide concentration may increase and correspond to a linear increase in heat retained over some small time interval, but then this increase in heat melts ice that increases the rate at which heat is trapped by decreasing albedo, this increase in heat starts melting bogs and releases methane, a more potent GHG than carbon dioxide, which further increases the amount of heat retained. A linear increase in carbon dioxide over some small time interval turns into an exponential increase in heat retained during some larger time interval. Yay! :bananajump:
