Re: [Phys-l] Climate skeptic convinced by data. Was: Re: Mike Mann _The hockey

[John Mallinckrodt <ajm@csupomona.edu>]

On Feb 18, 2012, at 12:59 PM, Anthony Lapinski wrote:

> Yes, we can't do anything about the Sun and its energy output. It affects the Earth much more than anything humans have ever done or will ever do.

Already so stipulated.

> The timeline for global warming does correspond with the industrial age, but there is no direct proof of causality.

And how could there be?  Science rarely if ever provides "proofs."

> We'd have to wait hundreds of years for more data.

I'd say a LOT more than that!

> We do have core samples and tree rings which correlate with sunspot numbers and show amounts of CO2, etc.
>
> I brought in politics because this really has become a political debate when governments put regulations on air quality, automobiles, etc. But since the main cause of global warming is the Sun, then these laws are really meaningless.

That is simply nonsense.  The Sun is obviously the main cause of Earth BEING a lot warmer than it would otherwise be.  However, it is not at *all* obvious, that the Sun is the "main cause" of what *everybody* understand the phrase "global warming" to mean.  Indeed, the overwhelming scientific consensus is that it is not.

John Mallinckrodt
Cal Poly Pomona