Does CO2 create warming or does warming create CO2?
There is little doubt that CO2 has been increasing in the atmosphere. There is also a “consensus” that we have had a slight warming. When the warming started, how much have we warmed and what is the cause is still highly contentions.
Twenty years of field studies reveal that as the Earth has gotten warmer, plants and microbes in the soil have given off more carbon dioxide. So-called soil respiration has increased about one-tenth of 1 percent per year since 1989, according to an analysis of past studies in today’s issue of Nature.
The scientists also calculated the total amount of carbon dioxide flowing from soils, which is about 10-15 percent higher than previous measurements. That number — about 98 petagrams of carbon a year (or 98 billion metric tons) — will help scientists build a better overall model of how carbon in its many forms cycles throughout the Earth. Understanding soil respiration is central to understanding how the global carbon cycle affects climate.
The global warming proponents will tell you that any warming will lead to more CO2 released from the soil creating a positive feedback. In this sense, positive is bad. It’s like that horrible screech year hear when a microphone picks up the feedback from the speaker.
The deniers will tell you that this is evidence that man is not the cause. The planet has been warming slowly since the Little Ice Age and the extra CO2 comes from burning fossil fuels, the soil and oceans. It’s no big deal. It is just natural cycles.
I don’t know. What I do know is:
- The debate is not over
- The Progressives are using fear for a political power grab
- When politician use science to push policy, science is hurt
Always keep looking for answers…and ignore those in Washington who went to law school and now preach to us about science.
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