[A] new study in the Aug. 2 issue of the British science journal Nature suggests that the absence of technology, not its reckless use, may be a major factor in raising the Earth’s global temperature.
The haze of pollution called the “Asian Brown Cloud,” caused by wood and dung burned for fuel, may be doing more harm than the tailpipes of our SUVs.
Researchers led by Veerabhadran Ramanathan, a professor of atmospheric sciences at Scripps Institute of Oceanography in California, launched three unmanned aircraft last March from the Maldives island of Hanimadhoo to fly through the Brown Cloud at various altitudes.
A total of 18 missions were flown to explore the blanket of soot, dust and smoke that at times is two miles thick and covers an area about the size of the U.S.
They found that the cloud of soot and particulate matter boosted the effect of solar heating on the surrounding air by as much as 50%.
“These findings might seem to contradict the general notion of aerosol particulates as cooling agents in the global climate system . . . .” concluded the Nature article summing up the study. Dang. Just when we thought the science of global warming was settled.
These findings also may help to explain the rapid melting among the 46,000 glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau and why the Himalayan glaciers have been retreating since at least 1780.
(h/t Joe B.)
Related? Early morning photo of a high altitude black cloud formation I took out the window on my flight to Australia in 2002.
Climatologists still haven’t fully integrated and explored Mie theory in their models?
Oh, boy…
With the release of this new study we can affirmatively say that the Kyoto protocol is BULLS**T due to the burning of cow dung!!
Truly priceless!
Thus if the Iranians build a natural gas pipeline to India the BS problem of ‘Brown Cloud’ will dissipate over time. Further deforestation should decline as wood burning is replaced by natural gas. This should make the Bengal tigers happy as their habitat should thereby be enhanced.
Meeow! Say “Nice kitty” because you don’t want to become a small dead animal.
Cheers
actually, I gotta confess. It’s my fault.
Last weekend, I cleaned my BBQ with the “turn the burners on to max, close the lid and scorch the gunk off” method. I created enough smoke to cause enough global warming to melt the cold, black heart of a Liberal or defrost the the half dozen stem cells that make up the brain of the average dipper.
I am truly sorry.
If anyone has Al’s phone number, I will call him and buy some credits.
I will, honestly.
Fred:
Don’t be hasty. No need to send your hard earned money to the Goreacle. Send it to me. Last weekend I kept my bbq turned off. So I offset your emissions. So just send your money to me and the environment will thank you.
I would think that when this sh*t lands on glaciers etc, and thereby changes the albedo of the snow, it would cause a lot more melting than would be explained by and overall change in global or regional air temp. So:
1) Melting glaciers does not equal global warming
2) Let’s stop chasing an invisible molecule that is the natural by-product of all activity on this planet, and let’s concentrate on cleaner energy that will produce a visible improvement in air quality, with health benefits to go along. If that means letting the chinese and Indians produce Coleman stoves without a license fee, and giving them the designs for our best smoke-stack scrubbers, let’s do it. It will be a hell of a lot cheaper than trying (and failing) to comply with Kyoto.
The willingness of Small Dead Animal commentors to go the extra mile to help each other out is awe inspiring. Thank you Reid for setting such a good example for the rest of us. If only we could all be so selfless as you. — John M Reynolds
Hi Fred,
I’ll sell you some credits for a great deal. I’ll offset your carbon releasing sin by guilting my neighbour into cleaning his barbeque by hand. Of course since this is a SDA enabled transaction Kate will require a cut… Guilt paper transfers are the way of the future – welcome aboard the hybrid bus!
By the way there’s this Nigerian guy that’s desperate to find someone who can lend him their bank account# so he can store his diamond trade money temporarily…interested?
Actually the affect of fuel burning is in the IPCC models.
The real problem is that wood, coal and dung are very inefficient and cause tons of particulate.
It would be better for low technology countries to move to higher tech, but that don’t have the means or the infrastructure to support a higher technology society.
Land use is a real problem, but don’t forget most of our goods are made overseas where our pollution laws don’t apply.
If China had to have the same emissions laws as us, the price of goods would be comparable and pollution would be less.
Name that Canadian contest;
Who is making a $gazillion industrializing China ?
hint; #3 of 101 best Canuck screwers.
hint; Kyoto’s godfather.
hint; resposible for China’s Kyoto exemption.
I did talk to that nice man from Nigeria . . . all is taken care of now.
He sold me a $gazillion GhG credits for only pennies on the dollar, but he promised me I can sell them to Liberals, Leftoids & Moonbats for full retail price.
What a cool deal.
Interestingly enough Ron, the millions made by the Carbon credit Godfather of Chinese pollution also had repercussions on his health. I understand after his extensive stay in Beijing ,chairman Moe was rushed to a US health facility with respiratory ailments.
The real danger in the Kyoto Protocol is that it is trying to restrict the use of clean burning fossil fuels. Carbon dioxide and water vapour are biproducts of complete combustion. Neither of these biproducts is dangerous to human health.
It does nothing to restrict the use of imperfect combustion like cow dung and other fuels that emit carbon monoxide and soot which are dangerous to human health and cause real air quality issues.
To me it seems obvious that anyone that really cares about the environment would try to take steps to reduce the biproducts of incomplete combustion instead of trumpeting Kyoto.
It’s better to try to stop something that is causing real immediate environmental damage, then something that may cause a possible change to the climate (which is always changing) 10 to 100 years into the future.
Got a link for that WL ?
It’s interesting that the automobile was first seen as, among other things, a solution to the pollution caused by horse poo. Most major cities in the late nineteenth century were getting buried in the stuff. Plus ca change . . .
Wackos claim that only be rejscting tecnology and returning to a primative way of living will save the earth which proves their a bunch of crack-pots and idiots
The reason I’m asking WL , is doesn’t he have some splain’in to do to the US authorities ?
Do I have to put off my plans on putting in a wood burning stove this year? I don’t look forward to the gas bills this winter. The more efficient we all get at sealing/insulating our homes the higher the administration, rider, access fees and so forth go up.
I was really looking forward to heating without gas. Am I doomed to pay these vultures?
No I do not to want to buy any off set credits from Reid and that guy in Nigeria can eat dust.
There’s Irony in that somewhere…………
Tenebris – I’ll bite … what’s the Mie theory?
if’n cheyekneemen keeping making pohlooshun, then we will all choke to death before the GW rising waters drown us
so problem has resolved it’s self:-)))
Fred – If your doing as much as me, on my BBQ, to eliminate the bovine threat – I nominate both of us for a senate seat … or at least the “Order of Canada”. I’m completely for responsible BBQing.
My smoker is kinda neutral … I do smoked salmon and beef jerky.
Furthermore
http://www.wooket.com/cartoon_panels/pages/092604grasp.jpg.htm
Every time I think people here couldn’t get their heads up their asses any further you go and prove me wrong again.
“The Sound of Settled Science.” A more accurate title for this thread would be “Amateur Science Hour.”
Featuring global warming refutation #672. Next week, refutation #673 – we don’t know what it will be exactly, but it’s bound to be good, and it will finally poleaxe the Great Global Warming Swindle for sure.
…i just farted. Fred can I borrow some credits?
UNGA TO MUNGA. ME INVENT M-16 NE ME NEVER MISS MAMAMOTH
Could you imagine what it was like in NYC when there was all that horsie poo?