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Why is Mars heating up?

Started by Lee_S, 04/04/2007 08:40PM
Posted 04/04/2007 08:40PM Opening Post
I found this article interesting.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/space/04/04/mars.climate.reut/index.html

If Mars is heating up and Earth is heating up, I would think that at least some part of global warming is due to natural changes in the Sun.
This isn't to deny the involvement of greenhouse gases, but I'd think that it could help establish some solar variable that should be factored in when discussing global warming.


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I have several telescopes, but none are semi-APO, APO, or in anyway valuable.
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Posted 04/04/2007 09:44PM #1
I'd be more concerned about the rain, Spain, that's mainly in the plane[t]? No doubts about droughts.

Let's not worry about where factors we can't control come from- that is unless you WANT to build a quadrillion-dollar sunshield for the earth. In the meantime God grant us the wisdom to do something about the things we CAN do something about- like our share of greenhouse gases. Its ridiculous that there isn't a multinational supereffort to utilize all the free solar, wind, and wave power that's out there, none of which would contribute to global warming.

But then such sources don't fire up the Western masculine imagination like burning things, or splitting atoms, or damming mighty rivers. Environment-safe energy sources are for girlie-men.

Jess Tauber
Posted 04/06/2007 02:21PM #2
I am willing to say that the sun is heating up the earth. However, that does not mean that humans can continue to release excess greenhouse gas without worrying about the consequences.

There are plenty of consequences that have more than one cause. Yet, if these consequences are damaging, we need to do something about those causes we can control--even though we cannot do anything about the other causes.

For instance, I think that it is hazardous to drive in an ice storm. I think it is hazardous to drive while intoxicated. Does that mean we should allow people lto drive drunk in an ice storm? Nope, in my mind, the guy is still subject to drunk driving laws even though other things may have contributed to the accident.

Or: People have been dying of cancers and heart attacks from any number of causes since long before tobacco was popularized. And smoking exacerbates the number of deaths due to cancer and heart attacks. But I think that we should still try to stop smoking, even though we may still have some cancer and heart attacks around.

Similarly, the sun has its cycles. And Greenhouse gasses do heat the earth. We cannot control the sun, but we can control the greenhouse gasses to some extent. So, it is time to do what we can.

Alex