Stratospheric Polar vortex rotating counterclockwise at 10hPa (about 1% of earth's surface pressure) collides with anti-vortex rotating clockwise above north Atlantic ocean causing massive compressional heating in area shaded in light blue.
Wading naked into the abyss without so much as a clue why, I find myself writing about climate change.
(actually I do, I just read a bunch of anti climate change troll comments on another article)
One of the best synopses that I have read is "you either understand it, or you do not"
Well, I am one who believes I understand it. A neverending battle between the heat of the earth and the absolute 0 of space seeking an entropic balance within the atmospheric buffer we call climate (big picture) and weather (little picture) and then we have solar radiation as an ally to the heat of the earth...oh yes and gravity plays its role as well (moon, tides, and....ice)
The multiple scientific disciplines involved ,Thermal, Fluid, and gas dynamics....but wait there's more, anthropology,architecture,archaeology,biology,botany....Thats just the A's and B's of it...but you get the gist. They all provide clues to our past and future
Let's begin with the basics (I know some of you might get bored, but it is necessary, I'll try to keep it K.I.S.S.)
Hot air rises and cold air falls.
Water always seek the lowest level.
Water evaporates(heat activated, cooling effect)lower atmosphere.
Water condenses (cold activated, heating effect) upper atmosphere.
Rain falls, collecting atmospheric dust particulate along the way.
Solar radiation, heats the atmosphere at a molecular level,not just the earth.
Wind is a result of high,and low pressure systems "balancing"
Climate is a super fine balancing act,and here are some factors that create/destroy that balance.
OK...I admit I have to cheat now,I hit an information blockage of where to start,so ill post some links
Climate's changed before:
Natural climate change in the past proves that climate is sensitive to an energy imbalance. If the planet accumulates heat, global temperatures will go up. Currently, CO2 is imposing an energy imbalance due to the enhanced greenhouse effect. Past climate change actually provides evidence for our climate’s sensitivity to CO2. http://www.skepticalscience.com/...
It's the sun:
In the last 35 years of global warming, the sun has shown a slight cooling trend. Sun and climate have been going in opposite directions. http://www.skepticalscience.com/...
It's not bad:
The negative impacts of global warming on agriculture, health, economy and environment far outweigh any positives. http://www.skepticalscience.com/...
There is no consensus:
That humans are causing global warming is the position of the Academies of Science from 19 countries plus many scientific organizations that study climate science. More specifically, around 95% of active climate researchers actively publishing climate papers endorse the consensus position. http://www.skepticalscience.com/...
It's cooling:/
Empirical measurements of the Earth’s heat content show the planet is still accumulating heat and global warming is still happening. Surface temperatures can show short-term cooling when heat is exchanged between the atmosphere and the ocean, which has a much greater heat capacity than the air. http://www.skepticalscience.com/...
Models are unreliable:/
While there are uncertainties with climate models, they successfully reproduce the past and have made predictions that have been subsequently confirmed by observations. http://www.skepticalscience.com/...
Temp record is unreliable:/
Numerous studies into the effect of urban heat island effect and microsite influences find they have negligible effect on long-term trends, particularly when averaged over large regions. http://www.skepticalscience.com/...
Animals and plants can adapt:
A large number of ancient mass extinction events have been strongly linked to global climate change. Because current climate change is so rapid, the way species typically adapt (eg - migration) is, in most cases, simply not be possible. Global change is simply too pervasive and occurring too rapidly. http://www.skepticalscience.com/...
Antarctica is gaining ice:
While the interior of East Antarctica is gaining land ice, overall Antarctica is losing land ice at an accelerating rate. Antarctic sea ice is growing despite a strongly warming Southern Ocean. http://www.skepticalscience.com/...
These are the main points; and yes I see grammatical errors, however if I try to correct them the links won't work
to wrap this up it is a big deal that need's addressed ....RDH