One year in one site it’s asphalt. At another site it’s A/C. At another site it’s cars parking near by. The average over time shows heat accumulation. The reality is that the world is not getting warmer, the thermometers in areas changing from rural to urban are in ever warmer locations due to the stuff near them changing.

An asphalt parking lot will not be hotter next year than it is this year. So if the readings suggest that it is getting hotter, it’s not because it’s in a parking lot.

This article is of course the worst kind of spin, worthy of Faux news. Nice job on snagging those of us not intelligent enough to think as we read the article though.

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“The point is that CO2 is not a air pollutant “

Nonsense! It’s oxidized carbon released from underground (in the case of fossil fuels) and strewn willy nilly into the air. Pollution is the undesired distribution of a material into a space we don’t intend for it to build up in.

I have talked to many people who (previously) agreed with the global warming and CO2 connection. As we debated they all readily admitted they do not know the science but take the scientists word. They will then typically concede my points but but argue that we still need to prevent air pollution. I agree. The point is that CO2 is not a air pollutant and the scientists who misrepresent the data are polluting true scientific efforts and the public trust. My concern is that sincere attempts to improve the enviroment will meet a wave of backlash when the shoddy science of CO2 warming unravels.

I have worked on watershed restoration projects. Not only in California but globally we have lost 50% of our wetlands. Wetlands with their higher heat capacity moderate temperature fluctuations. And this loss of wetlands is not incorporated in any climate models that I am aware of. However this wetland loss does not include degradation of stream channels in which down cutting of these channels have lowered the water tables. In our watershed this led to a loss of willow habitat that was replaced by sage brush. The loss of transpiring plants can lower local humidity and affect temperatures by 2 degrees. Estimates in California are that 99.9% of our streams have been dgreaded.

My 2 degree temperature difference due to transpiration comes from studies on hydraulic redistribution and its effect on temperature. This was in part motivated by scientists trying to understand why climate models have tropical rain forest overheating more than measured.

See http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/102/49/17576

I feel like the CO2 advocates have stolen the environmental movement and are taking away funds that could be put towards restoring wetlands. Attacking big oil and carmakers does nothing to restore our wetlands and safeguard the majority of species that use that habitat. And even if CO2 advoacates are right, restoring wetlands maybe the best hedge to ameliorate temperature change up or down.

Great site. Keep the debate going!