I get many suggestions for ‘natural’ causes for Global Warming. Here I’ll address a few:
The Mauder minimum is a lengthy period of negligible sunspots. The last one, circa 1650-1720 corresponded to
I get many suggestions for ‘natural’ causes for Global Warming. Here I’ll address a few:
The Mauder minimum is a lengthy period of negligible sunspots. The last one, circa 1650-1720 corresponded to the little ice age with many cold winters. Currently we are at a nearly zero minimum of sunspot activity.
Now before you go out looking for heavy parkas, or put on the internet that we’re going into another ice age, look up the best predictions, which are: sunspots will increase to a peak in about 2013 in the familiar 11-year cycle.
But, maybe it would be nice if they stayed near zero and we entered another 50-years of diminished solar input. However, it would just disguise the basic greenhouse GW for a few decades, then when it disappeared (as it always has) GW will come on like thunder.
Another possibility: the Chinese are pouring sulfates into the stratosphere. It’s a geoengineering experiment (unplanned) that can cool the planet.
Anti GW types can jump on this. It will work theoretically to some unknown degree (just like the climate is warming to some unknown degree). Lessee, sulfates often end in hydrogen sulfide and an acidic atmosphere. Wonder what other things it will cause? Currently it looks like a much smaller effect than greenhouse warming.
Finally, there’s a recent paper suggesting that doubling CO2 will force a marine cloud increase that will be a positive feedback — Oh oh, this one suggests GW will be at the maximum predicted.
For general information, the extraordinary high temp record last week was due to winds from the north over water and land moisture from recent thunderstorms that humidified our air (just a bit to the east or west would have made it much drier). Then an unusual wind shift to from the east providing dry air warming by subsidence just in time to spike the nightime warmth. A perfect heat storm? And of course nothing to do with GW.