Your view of CO2
Vote now in our poll, below
If humanity influences the climate, then the mechanism involves carbon dioxide. There’s nothing else we do that scientists have said might affect the temperature or any other feature of the weather.
But could carbon dioxide dominate the climate? It certainly affects the climate, through raising the temperature a bit — that much is non-controversial. Measuring the temperature increase as it’s introduced to the atmosphere is problematic, but it appears as though the first 120 ppmv has the most effect, about 2.3°C; the next 267 ppmv (more than doubling it) adds less than 0.5°C.
Calculations show that doubling CO2 again, to about 800 ppmv, would add another 0.5°C, but at the current rate of increase it won’t get to that level until 2255.
Some people say the greenhouse effect of CO2 is too small to dominate the climate (it has much less influence than water vapour), while others say that, like a poison in the body, you don’t need much to have a catastrophic effect.
What do you think? Does CO2 dominate the climate?
Vote here
If the voting buttons are absent, you have already voted (or someone on that machine has).
To comment on the poll, post a comment below.
What now?
Oppose the madness! Spread word of this poll—we’d appreciate your help with that; please tell people you know and email them this link to the poll to come here to vote.
If you have a web site, please consider using this link to our poll. If you have any questions about handling these links, flick me an email to convenor [at] climateconversation.wordshine.co.nz.
Any of that will make a difference. And you’ll be a blimmin’ hero!
Thanks!
Ha ha ha!
Your poll only registers NO votes – maybe it even registers YES votes as NO votes!
What a flippen disgrace – fabricating/manipulating evidence to serve your ideology.
Hi David,
You’re quick to make assumptions, but you are wrong. We have no ideology but truth.
I can assure there’s no trickery involved, as we don’t host the poll, it’s done offsite by a third party. We have no control over it.
There is a “no” vote registered now. It is the first one. Perhaps that is your vote. Have another look. When you reload the page the updated voting results will be visible.
If you’re still unhappy, please leave another comment.
Thank you for visiting. Perhaps you can record your opinions on one of the articles.
Cheers,
Richard Treadgold.
Hi, Richard,
Regarding your polls, referring to the iceberg one, what about naming a group of icebergs as “a melt of icebergs”; after all, once they have broken off whatever they will have started to melt.
Keep up the good work.
GSW
Hi G/S,
Yes, I agree it’s a good candidate. “Melt” is one of the options in our poll, go ahead and vote for it if you wish.
Richard.
Richard – a small challenge on one point. You say that CO2 atmospheric concentration will reach 800ppm by 2255 “at the current rate of increase”.
But the current rate won’t continue. It’s quite closely correlated with global population – which demographers tell us will reach a maximum of nearly 9 billion by about 2050, then reduce to 7.5 billion by 2100. So, on this basis alone, the rate of increase will reduce in 40 years and keep going down thereafter.
Then the second greatest contributor to the rate increase is “carbon intensity”. China says they will reduce theirs by at least 45% within 10 years, and India is expecting to do almost as well. These are the 2 largest future emitters.
The G20 and others have stated that they don’t want the current level of 285ppm to rise above 350ppm during the next century. On any reasonable set of forecasts, the world will meet that target very comfortably.
Excellent news, Barry, thank you! I am pleased to be corrected on these figures, since they were causing some anxiety — distant, but anxiety nonetheless.
Barry Brill: “… current level of 285ppm to rise above 350ppm ”
Shouldn’t that be 385 (or 388) and 450 ppm respectively?
Just asking.
Good point, FijiDave. Now that you draw my attention to it, I think you could be right. Current level is 388 and the number 450 is a popular one.