[extropy-chat] The great global warming swindle

[Damien Broderick]

At 03:54 PM 4/3/2007 -0500, I wrote:

>I haven't watched this program yet,
>
>http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4499562022478442170&q=%22the+great+global+warming+swindle%22
>
>but as usual I'm bemused by the way so many stories posted on this
>list about anthropogenic planetary heating echo the very small number
>of naysayers.

Okay, I take it all back. Well, not all, but quite a bit. It's an 
irritating program in many ways--embarrassingly buoyant and 
inveigling 1950s' ad music when the wonders of heavy industry are 
being pushed, the absence of any response from clmate experts holding 
contrary views--but it's a lot more challenging than I expected. I 
was especially won over by the segment in the middle of the piece 
presenting evidence against carbon driving (rather than, as appears 
to be the case, carbon level consequent upon heating) and in favor of 
the primary impact of cyclic solar dynamics:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4499562022478442170&q=%22the+great+global+warming+swindle%22

As it happens, I drew upon an early version of this general theory in 
my 1997 book THEORY AND ITS DISCONTENTS, and was roundly pilloried in 
reviews. The TV program provides one key new component that I barely 
hinted at a decade ago: cosmic irradiation grows clouds, which cause 
cooling by increasing albedo, and cosmic rays density is inversely 
proportional to solar wind flux (which in turn is signified by 
sunspot activity). Lovely stuff.

Damien Broderick