re: #313 NukeAtomrod

I said planet, not atmosphere. The heat stored in the ocean is already in the system. El Nino and La Nina facilitate a transfer between one part of the ocean to the other releasing heat into the atmosphere. No heat is created or destroyed.

Heat is added mainly by radiation from the sun. The only other big source is nuclear activity in the Earth’s core. There is some minor direct heating from man’s activities like combustion, friction and the like. But that’s really all energy stored from the sun, since life itself is a direct result of solar energy.

Heat is only lost by radiating out into space.

I give up. Your initial comment was this:

La Nina and El Nino are definitely drivers of weather, but not climate. If the sun is actually going into a Dalton or Maunder-like minimum, the overall climate will get colder if solar activity is the culprit, as I believe. If the observations don’t match up as time goes on, I’ll reconsider, but right now I’m betting on the sun.

I have already referenced several articles by NOAA and reviewed the NASA sites and La Nina and El Nino clearly are seen as driving climate. From your initial statement I assume you are “betting on the sun” which has been refuted.

That’s all I have to say.