A Bit More Science

Published as an Openline call to the OMR in early 2007.

I noticed an Openline callers comments on the February 16th Opinion page which caught my attention and I hope that I am not presumptive in offering some advice to the caller and also some facts. The Rush Limbaugh show is satire and informative and a good starting point to understanding truth. The caller is right that Rush is not a scientist but please don’t step of the cliff and land on Al Gore, who isn’t a scientist either.

The most prevalent and efficient greenhouse gas is not CO2, it is water vapor, which accounts for 60% of the heat-trapping gases, CO2 accounts for 26%. Currently, we have about 380 parts per million (ppm) of CO2 in the atmosphere. A recently completed UC Davis study concluded that 300 million years ago the level was on the order of 2,000 ppm. Methane, another greenhouse gas, has other than human sources as well. 76% comes from wetlands, which produce 145 million metric tons of the gas each year during the decomposition of organic material. The worlds production of chlorofluorocarbons (CFC’s) peaked at 1.1 million tons per year and if 100% of that was released it would have added 750,000 tons of chlorine into the atmosphere. That number is insignificant compared to the 300 million tons the oceans yield annually by the evaporation of seawater alone.

Don’t be fooled by those who claim that the science is conclusive on the cause or the level of warming or that the science community is in agreement. Well over 5,000 scientists have signed the petition and whose names can be found at The Petition Project. Don’t blame yourself for your pursuit of happiness and a healthy and whole life. But please feel free to buy a $50,000 electric car if that makes you happy.