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Automotive News & Views Are automobiles a major cause of global warming?
6984 messages, Last post on Dec 06, 2009 at 8:46 PM
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Colorado State University's William Gray, one of the nation's preeminent hurricane forecasters, called noted Boulder climate researcher Kevin Trenberth an opportunist and a Svengali who "sold his soul to the devil to get (global warming) research funding." Trenberth countered that Gray is not a credible scientist. "Not any more. He was at one time, but he's not any more," Trenberth said of Gray, one of a handful of prominent U.S. scientists who question whether humans play a significant role in warming the planet by burning fossil fuels that release heat-trapping gases. Hurricanes cause Tempest
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Replying to: gagrice (Oct 30, 2006 8:32 am) Rocky |
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Replying to: gagrice (Oct 30, 2006 8:21 am) As to your question, are autos a major player, probably not. Human activity contributes to the issue, however, at this point it is hard to say if human activity is causing 10% or 90% of the global warming. The auto contribution is also tough to nail down. Power plants add a fair amount of CO2 to the air. The good news is that CO2 injection in the ground looks promising. So I guess when we all buy electric cars the CO2 from the power plants will not be a problem.  Should we do anything on the auto front? Some tax breaks might be OK. As time goes on higher energy prices will likely reduce global warming contributions more than any government sponsored program. I for one am impressed by some of the new cars coming out. The new Altima and Sentra have some pretty good MPG numbers. Honda has also announced a more fuel efficient 2.4L motor. We will be seeing better diesels in the next few years and we now have the low sulfur fuel. Overall, I would say things are headed in the right direction from a global warming/pollution standpoint. The fact that the this general manager wants to screen the news, well, that does not surprise me. The analogy to killer bees was just dumb. Bees are important. They can also cause problems. http://www.semissourian.com/story/1176056.html http://www.local10.com/news/10036682/detail.html |
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Replying to: gagrice (Oct 30, 2006 8:21 am)
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Replying to: avalon02wh (Nov 04, 2006 4:59 am) |
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And what ever happened to that story about California trying to sue the automakers over global warming. I read the headline and the story in USA TODAY and then never heard anything else about it. Anyone heard what happened with that?
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Replying to: avalon02wh (Nov 04, 2006 4:59 am) |
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Atmospheric carbon dioxide has been increasing for some time. Burning fossil fuels (oil, coal, natural gas....) adds carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Automobiles by themselves are only a part of the fossil fuel problem. Carbon dioxide is a green house gas, meaning that it traps heat in the atmosphere, which leads to warming of the earths surface. The sunlight adds energy to the earths surface. This energy, which comes in as short wave energy, must be released back into space as long wave energy. Carbon dioxide slows the long wave energy transmission through the atmosphere. One point that should be noted, earth has had ice ages in the recent past. Perhaps, without the increased carbon dioxide, we are due for another? So, things could be worse, or at least an ice age would probably not be better. |
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The globe warmed about a quarter degree celsius between 1900 and 1950. From the early fifties till the late seventies, it cooled about an eigth degree C. That was when activists were screaming that global cooling would end all life on earth, and we 'must do something immediately'. Thirty years later, global warming is going to end all life on earth, according to the same people. Use of fossil fuels was not curtailed in the period of cooling. We have insufficient data to show human activity is a significant cause of global temperature change. Those who claim we do are invariably seeking money for their research, or have political goals. I support energy conservation for other reasons, but am not in a state of panic over global warming. Harry
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Replying to: oldharry (Nov 05, 2006 7:44 pm) Year CO2 Temp 1959 315.98 14.07 1960 316.91 14.01 1961 317.65 14.07 1962 318.45 14.04 1963 318.99 14.09 1964 319.52 13.83 1965 320.03 13.90 1966 321.37 13.98 1967 322.18 13.98 1968 323.05 13.96 1969 324.62 14.08 1970 325.68 14.02 1971 326.32 13.89 1972 327.46 14.00 1973 329.68 14.12 1974 330.25 13.89 1975 331.15 13.94 1976 332.15 13.86 1977 333.90 14.11 1978 335.50 14.02 1979 336.85 14.10 1980 338.69 14.16 1981 339.93 14.22 1982 341.13 14.07 1983 342.78 14.25 1984 344.42 14.07 1985 345.90 14.04 1986 347.15 14.12 1987 348.93 14.27 1988 351.48 14.30 1989 352.91 14.19 1990 354.19 14.37 1991 355.59 14.32 1992 356.37 14.14 1993 357.04 14.14 1994 358.88 14.25 1995 360.88 14.38 1996 362.64 14.24 1997 363.76 14.40 1998 366.63 14.56 1999 368.31 14.33 2000 369.48 14.31 2001 371.02 14.47 2002 373.10 14.54 2003 375.64 14.52
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