Much of recent global warming actually caused by the Sun [The Register]

[The_Librarian]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/10...big_as_people/

New data indicates that changes in the Sun's output of energy were a major factor in the global temperature increases seen in recent years. The research will be unwelcome among hardcore green activists, as it downplays the influence of human-driven carbon emissions.

As the Sun has shown decreased levels of activity during the past decade, it had been generally thought that it was warming the Earth less, not more. Thus, scientists considered that temperature rises seen in global databases must mean that human-caused greenhouse gas emissions - in particular of CO2 - must be exerting a powerful warming effect.

More at The Register here : http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/10...big_as_people/

[stricken]

i wish we could take the focus off carbon and emphasise all the other crap we are pumping into our environment causing all sorts of irreversible effects.

"I own a factory that dumps toxic sludge into the ocean.. but thats okay... cos i drive a Prius."

[BrokenLink]

Hmm im no scientist....but im pretty sure the sun has always been cause most of our warming

[TJ99]

Scientists finally discover much of wetness is caused by water!!

Unbelievable?

Believe it!

[ponder]

i wish we could take the focus off carbon and emphasise all the other crap we are pumping into our environment causing all sorts of irreversible effects.

"I own a factory that dumps toxic sludge into the ocean.. but thats okay... cos i drive a Prius."

+1

[Arthur]

Pretty soon they'll announce the earth is a sphere and goes round the sun. Ain't scientists amaaa-zing!

[Nothxkbi]

This article is almost as /facedesk as this one

Overfeeding linked to child obesity

“Bottle-fed babies are primed for a life of obesity,” reported the Daily Express. Babies who put on weight too fast in their first months are more likely to become fat, the newspaper added.

Link...

Pretty soon they'll announce the earth is a sphere and goes round the sun. Ain't scientists amaaa-zing!

Oh c'mon, everyone knows the sun goes around the earth...

[BCO]

More on the subject:

http://www.realclimate.org/index.php...per/#more-5140

*edit* also a nice quote from a Guardian article:

Some climate change sceptics have suggested the changes in the sun's brightness can explain the global warming seen over the past century. But Haigh said: "It does not give comfort to climate sceptics at all." If the sun warmed the Earth less when it was at the solar maximum, then the reverse was also true, she said: "You can't have it one way and not the other."

In addition, she said, the warming influence of rising greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, emitted by human activities, was at least 10 times greater than changes in the strength of the sun.

[mister]

i wish we could take the focus off carbon and emphasise all the other crap we are pumping into our environment causing all sorts of irreversible effects.

"I own a factory that dumps toxic sludge into the ocean.. but thats okay... cos i drive a Prius."

agree 100%

[BCO]

i wish we could take the focus off carbon and emphasise all the other crap we are pumping into our environment causing all sorts of irreversible effects.

"I own a factory that dumps toxic sludge into the ocean.. but thats okay... cos i drive a Prius."

Surely the best approach is to focus on ALL pollutants? Why ignore carbon and focus on everything else? Why focus on carbon and ignore everything else? Total false dichotomy.

[fskmh]

More on the subject:

http://www.realclimate.org/index.php...per/#more-5140

Seeing as the article linked to doesn't provide any direct refutation of Haigh et al's claims, I thought I'd paste the conclusion:

While it does seem clear that the overall trend from 2003 to 2009 is an increase, closer inspection suggests that this anti-phase behaviour only lasts for the first few years, and that subsequently the trends are much closer to expectation. It is conceivable, for instance, that there was some undetected or unexpected instrument drift in the first few years. The proof of the pudding will come in the next couple of years. If the SIM data show a decrease while the TSI increases towards the solar maximum, then the Haigh et al results will be more plausible. If instead, the SIM data increase, that would imply there is an unidentified problem with the instrument.

In the meantime, this is one of those pesky uncertainties we scientists love so much…

[grayston]

Oh c'mon, everyone knows the sun goes around the earth...

Rubbish! The Earth is stationary. AND flat. There's some simple scientifical tests you can perform to prove it: http://www.landoverbaptist.net/showthread.php?t=45427

[BCO]

Seeing as the article linked to doesn't provide any direct refutation of Haigh et al's claims, I thought I'd paste the conclusion:

I don't think the article I linked was intended to provide direct refutation of Haigh et al. It merely highlights that The Register's headline that "much of recent global warming is actually caused by the sun" is incorrect.

The Realclimate article simply discusses this rather strange phenomenon where the sun seems to have a greater warming affect during the solar minimum.

Haigh's own comments clearly state that their findings in no way undermine the current greenhouse gas theory of global warming - if anything they reinforce our understanding of anthropogenic warming.

[fskmh]

I don't think the article I linked was intended to provide direct refutation of Haigh et al. It merely highlights that The Register's headline that "much of recent global warming is actually caused by the sun" is incorrect.

So then why not say so? Simply pasting links to realclimate without offering any comment opens the door to interpretation as such.

[BCO]

So then why not say so? Simply pasting links to realclimate without offering any comment opens the door to interpretation as such.

I figured that people would have enough basic comprehension skills to read and understand the Realclimate post without me having to explain it. Guess I was wrong.