cods wrote on Apr 10
th, 2011 at 7:56pm:
astro_surf wrote on Apr 10
th, 2011 at 7:47pm:
[quote author=cods link=1302418527/15#20 date=1302428040]
if we cut emissions today, global temperatures are not likely to drop for about a thousand years
And if we don't cut emissions then temperatures continue to climb and climb for considerably longer than a thousand years, a subtle nuance in what Flannery was actually saying that went way over the head of the deniers. The point of reducing emissions isn't to reduce temperatures but to stop temperatures from going up.
Quote:tell me astro if we can stop them going UP why cant we bring them down?.
We can... In several hundred to a thousand years, which is exactly the point Flannery was making.
Quote:you see usually when something gets hot like a bushfire it takes a long long time for it to cool down long after the flame has gone out that fire is still red hot.
Yeah... OK... You don't get the physics behind AGW at all.
Quote:so emmissions all round the world stop tomorrow... how long before the temperature stops rising??
As long as it takes for the planet to absorb the excess CO2 in the atmosphere, a geological process that can take up to a thousand years to complete.
Quote:you do have a guarantee on the timing of course?
the brains behind all this would have all that data I am sure.
Yes, the data on the timescale that the carbon cycle works is widely available, try picking up a first year geology textbook for starters, or an encyclopedia even:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_cycle