RU|Mother Nature putting a brake on global warming

Mother Nature putting a brake on global warming

Ravenwood - 02/12/04 06:00 AM

British researchers spent months commissioning a study to find out what most of us already knew. Plants benefit from increased carbon dioxide. This is bound to make the global warming chicken littles cry foul, but British researchers have concluded that the Earth can take care of itself. Apparently the increased levels of carbon dioxide (the substance that plants breathe) have been a boon for plants.

Global warming may be slowing as trees in the tropical forests of the Amazon are growing and dying much more quickly, new British research suggests.

The growth rate of trees in the Amazon Basin has nearly doubled in recent decades, which may have helped slow the earth from heating up, according to the research published by The Royal Society.

Of course, I've been saying that for years, and it didn't take me who knows how many months and millions of dollars to reach that conclusion.

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But you were not being paid to come to that conclusion were you. If you had been, might you not still be "looking for more data" or "re-checking calculations"?
Rules for scientific studies in the public sector:

Length of time needed to complete an enviro-study varies in direct porportion to amount of funds in budget for studies.

Likelihood of reaching a conclusion varies inversely to likelihood of more funds being available in the near future. (More funds coming = no conclusion yet!)

C32

Posted by: charlie32 at February 12, 2004 10:28 AM

Ah Hah! Global warming, caused by the bushmilitaryindustrial complex Vast Right Wing Conspiracy, keeps the proleteriat from making trouble by distracting them with the need to constantly mow the lawn. Clever conspiracy!

or - wait - isn't the right wing that mows its suburban lawn? So maybe global warming is a left wing conspiracy.

I'm all confused.

Posted by: Persnickety at February 12, 2004 1:12 PM

But, can plants keep up with the increase in carbon dioxide?

Furthermore, doesn't increased plant growth mean an increase in animal life? What with the increase in available food?

The matter's much more complicated than news stories would indicate. We live in a chaotic system, which means the system as a whole may not react the way it appears it would. It also means that parts of the system won't react the same way as other parts of the system.

The Maldives are flooding, the Arctic is thawing, and George Bush would do better in interviews if he'd admit he doesn't know everything, but has people who can find out about it for him (of course it's irrelevant, if I'm gonna take the 'liberal' view on the subject saying something irrelevant is required:)).

Folks, changes are coming. It would be better to prepare then to deny.

Posted by: Alan Kellogg at February 13, 2004 4:00 AM