re: #22 carnaby

The amount of CO2 is minuscule compared to the total composition of the atmosphere, not compared to the amount of CO2. The earth atmosphere is currently something like 0.038% CO2 by volume. So if you take away a third of that, you are left with an atmosphere that is 0.026% CO2. Any way you slice it, it’s puny.

Just wanted to know where you are coming from… and now we do. It’s the KUSI weatherman’s approach, i.e., John Coleman and his effort to lead the innumerate astray.

It is a fallacy to try and represent the amount of CO2 using % and declare it small because it is after the decimal point. There are a very many chemicals in life that are quite deadly at that %.

Indeed, to understand molecules one should deal in Avogadro’s number, which is about 6 x 10^22 atoms of Carbon-12 in 12 grams of mass. Since humans put roughly 30 billion metric tons of carbon in the atmosphere per year, that is 30 gigatonnes / 12 grams x Avogadro’s number = 1 x 10^35 atoms of carbon man’s fossil fuels add to the atmosphere per year.

100000000000000000000000000000000000 atoms more of carbon per year, and you call that “puny”.

It’s a silly game to play, but that is what you’re doing.

The reason relatively small changes in CO2 end up having such a large effect is because the flow of energy from the Sun is so large, and because of conservation of energy.

Small rudders steer very big ships, and all of that.