Quote:
Originally Posted by chrisrushton  I'm an astrophysicist (working on a doctorate in star formation now) and I'm pretty sure that's unlikely to be the case. It's true that the sun works in cycles but the fluctuations in global temperatures measured (for example) in ice cores over the course of the earth's "life" are small compared to what we have seen over the last 50 or so years. 50 years is very short in an astronomical sense, less than the blinking of an eye. The universe is 1000000000 years old (ish) so 50 years is a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a percent. We are talking a massive coincidence and thats shaky ground.
Venus heats up because it has greenhouse gasses. It is closer to the sun so hotter on the surface and means that many lighter gasses evaporate off the surface. The heat makes volcanoes more active and the surface chemistry is different. The net result is more greenhouse gasses are emitted but cannot be fixed in rocks in the way that they can be on earth. Earth will end up like Venus if greenhouse gasses are not taken under control, that is a fact. Not in my lifetime but it would be inevitable. I've not seen any research about any other planet temperatures.
Either way, if humans are the cause or not, we are still pumping out plenty of greenhouse gasses and should cut back on them. They aren't good for the world in the long run, even if they aren't the cause of the short term spike in global temperature we are seeing at the moment.
By the way, if you want to make scientific claims, you really should present a source to back them up. Not being snotty, but it looks like you just made it up if you don't. |
I'm definitely not a scientist but I did physics and chemistry in senior high school. So I base a lot of my claims on claims other scientists have made, as I have not personally discovered myself that any other planets are indeed getting warmer.
If you do a bit of research - I just googled solar system heating up and you will find quite a bit of info.
Sun Blamed for Warming of Earth and Other Worlds | LiveScience Global Warming on Mars, Pluto, Triton and Jupiter The Whole Solar System is Undergoing Global Warming., page 1