Re: References? (was Re: Global Warming)

[Robert A Cohen <bbq@ESU.EDU>]

I don't know the answer but perhaps the explanation of the descrepancy, if
there is one, has to do with the difference between surface temperatures
and equilibrium temperatures.  For example, the equilibrium temperature of
venus is less than the equilibrium temperature of earth.  My guess is that
the equilibrium temperature (i.e. the temperature needed to balance the
absorbed solar radiation) more accurately reflects the cloud top
temperature.  As long as the earth's albedo doesn't change and the sun's
output doesn't change, we wouldn't expect the equilibrium temperature to
change (venus' equilibrium temperature is low because its albedo is so
high).  The presence of CO2 doesn't change the equilibrium temperature but
it does affect the surface temperature.

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| Robert Cohen               Department of Physics       |
|                            East Stroudsburg University |
| bbq@esu.edu                East Stroudsburg, PA  18301 |
| http://www.esu.edu/~bbq/   (570) 422-3428              |
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On Wed, 4 Apr 2001, Brian Blais wrote:

> [snip]
>         For example, the web site
> http://wwwghcc.msfc.nasa.gov/overview/microwave.html displays satellite data
> which shows *no* warming trend.  The satellite data is supposedly a better
> global measure, and not subject to the urban heat island effect as much as the
> surface data.  What is the response to these findings?
>
>         I personally feel that the global warming issue is a real one, but I
> also feel that if the scientific community requests that countries radically
> change their behaviors, at great expense, then it needs to justify that there
> really *is* an effect.  I admit that this subject gets very heated, especially
> given the stakes involved.  Does anyone have a theory (other than urban heat
> island) which explains the apparent contradiction between the surface and
> satellite data?
>
> [snip]