"Roger" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 02 Jul 2006 18:18:11 -0000, Dylan Smith
wrote:

On 2006-07-01, Matt Barrow wrote:
1) What percentage of annual CO2 production is human caused and what
portion
is natural?

Human production is around 3% of annual planetary CO2 production.

Mt St Helens produced about 10 Million tons of CO2
Annual production from fossil fuel is about 26 Billion tons.
(Figures from National Geographic)


2) What are the short-term and long-term effect of CO2 concentrations?

It's difficult to separate out long and short term until you define
them. In this case we can now navigate open water across the north
polar cap in the summer. They figure within several decades there
will be no north polar ice cap at mid summer.

And I guess that's why Antartica's and Greenland icepacks are INCREASING.


This has the possibility of opening up access to even more oil
reserves.

Currently many glaciers in Greenland are receding at over a Kilometer
per year. Although the global average is up only about one degree F
over the last 100 years when you get to more northerly latitudes such
as Alaska and Siberia the change has been more dramatic with 5 to 6
degrees being the norm. That has lead to buildings sinking that were
built on the permafrost and bugs that were never a problem destroying
large tracts of forest.


What, you just come from watch Algores movie?

Short term (likely less than a century and possibly a few decades) we
are looking at ocean levels rising 3 to 5 feet with 20 feet not out of
the question. If all the polar ice caps and glaciers were to melt
(which probably won't happen even long term) we'd be looking at
roughly 200 feet. We are also looking at storms becoming more violent
and with greater frequency.

Long term we are looking at unpredictable weather shifts at the local
level. As the permafrost melts and the peat decomposes there will be
even more CO2 released. Currently the oceans are absorbing (serving
as a sink) for far more CO2 than expected. Long term if the waters
rise about 8 to 10 degrees (takes a long time) the frozen methane
under the ocean floors near the continental shelves will be released
as it was in the Permian extinction which was far greater than the one
around the time of the dinosaur extinction.

AT some point enough fresh water will be released to stop the Gulf
Stream conveyor belt. When that happens NW Europe including the UK
will become much colder.

On the positive side growing green matter is a good sink for CO2 as
are new forests, BUT the forests are a temporary measure.


Geezlouise!!! Diversify your inputs man!!