Climate Change "Skeptic" Doesn't Understand CO2

hey guys thanks for tuning in if you're wondering why I sound different it's because I left on vacation for a weekend could only bring my old microphone so if I don't sound as sexy as before you know why anyway we're tackling a different topic today I've been asked a lot if I'm ever going to talk about climate change I've briefly talked about it before but I haven't really dedicated an entire video to it truth is I'm not a climate scientist I'm more comfortable talking about other topics like cancer for example because I'm familiar with it but yeah that doesn't mean I will stay silent because in case you don't know people who spread public misinformation about the climate is something that really really grinds my gears let's get started the claim is that carbon dioxide causes dangerous global warming as we will see in this video the counterclaim appears to be far more accurate that co2 is not a major driver of beneficial global warming so this guy has an entire series about the lies of climate change and whatnot this video here is a follow-up to a topic he made saying how global warming has more beneficial effects than detrimental ones we're not here to talk about that so I'll probably cover that in a future video for now let's just talk about carbon dioxide I'll be cutting out some parts of the video to keep a succinct feel free to check out the original video though Al Gore implied a false causation in his infamous Inconvenient film when there is more carbon dioxide the temperature gets warmer because it traps more heat from the Sun inside he showed a correlation between temperature and co2 but forgot to mention that all those ups and downs of co2 came long before heavy industry in automobiles irrelevant to the clip you showed Al Gore was teaching that co2 is a greenhouse gas that has a positive correlation to temperature the more co2 there is in the atmosphere the hotter tends to be we understand the science behind this just because co2 levels have gotten high well before humans arrived does not invalidate Al Gore's point in the clip you showed in addition the carbon dioxide level variations in the past were quite different compared to what we are seeing today unless you're trying to tie this in somehow to Al Gore's point I don't see how it is relevant scientists have since discovered that the co2 changes were the effect of temperature changes not the cause you're wrong but not entirely wrong there is a positive heat system let's start from the beginning more co2 and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere causes increased temperatures this is because co2 has a heat trapping effect whereas molecular structure allows the atoms to kinetically vibrate when exposed to infrared radiation trapping heat for a while before releasing it something that most gases cannot do once heating has happened many positive feedback systems exist that will further increase temperatures for example when the ice caps melt this decreases the surface area for light to be reflected off as white surfaces causing more absorption of infrared radiation by the earth methane trapped in the ice will also be released which is another powerful greenhouse gas and the earth is filled with these types of positive feedback loops that will increase the severity of temperature increases once carbon dioxide levels go up drying up of rainforests maintaining airborne co2 deforestation water vapor pressures decomposition these are all positive feedback systems that will further increase temperatures many of which do so by further increasing co2 levels so you are somewhat correct if you are referring to these specific mechanisms although I doubt that's what you had in mind there is one correlation that definitely is well demonstrated though that co2 does cause temperature increases we've demonstrated this in laboratories we even understand the mechanisms on how this happens these days you usually see climate change denial lists agree with some of the basic science such as that climate change is happening and that co2 causes warming now many people are left that claim to outright deny basic facts warming came first then the co2 levels increased the delay was as much as 800 years warmer temperatures drove excess co2 out of the oceans temperature was in control not the other way around whoops you're trying to present a process here that doesn't really exist in fact it's quite the opposite effect on what you're saying allow me to explain first yes carbon dioxide dissolves less easily in warmer temperatures that part is true however this fact is not nearly as significant compared to the sheer amount of co2 being pumped in as the co2 concentration increases in the atmosphere the pressure gradient allows more gas to be dissolved in the oceans this is basic science at least a quarter of the carbon dioxide humans released as pollutants are dissolved in the Earth's water so while global warming is happening we aren't seeing more co2 leave the oceans no no no it's the opposite more dissolves I'm sure we're all familiar with what happens that carbon dioxide dissolves into carbonic acid in the water which then dissociates into hydrogen and bicarbonate this is actually the buffer humans have in our Bloods to regulate pH levels and since it's a buffer it can resist pH change but if you keep pumping co2 into the system the pH will keep getting lower due to the released protons the oceans waters are slightly basic just over a pH of 8 so when more carbon dioxide is being introduced is neutralizing the oceans waters towards the pH of 7 and that is bad news this is a massive change of the oceans ecosystems in such a short amount of time now of course there are benefits to some organisms but that hardly undermines the detriments of everything for example neutralized ocean pH levels will literally dissolve calcifying organisms in the ocean I won't get into the specific details but these organisms will not be able to produce calcium bodily structures and they will literally dissolve this will greatly disrupt many other species too since calcium dependent organisms make up a large portion of the food chain and there are many other negative consequences - ranging from the alterations of metabolic rates of animals to inhibiting echolocation new unknown effects of ocean acidification --zz are still being studied we don't even have the full picture yet and we are definitely heading in that direction the proton concentration the oceans have been measured over time since the Industrial Revolution and it has increased by almost 30% and this is still exponentially increasing now it's not often that we look at effects of global warming past what it means directly for us humans but it is very important to take a step back and see what this means for the oceans ecosystems the carbon cycle is being altered and we need to either keep up or stop it from changing co2 is a greenhouse gas but water vapor is by far the primary greenhouse gas on this planet by some estimates as much as 60% of the global average greenhouse effect yes water is indeed a greenhouse gas its dipole structure allows it to absorb and release infrared radiation water vapor is the largest contributor to the greenhouse effect on the planet there's no doubt about that but we're not talking about what gas contributes most to the greenhouse effect on earth we're talking about what contributes to global warming the increased greenhouse effect of the planet while water does play a large role in trapping Heat carbon dioxide is the one whose concentration is being increased at alarming rates by human activity and it itself is enough to drive temperatures up in addition allow me to introduce you to another feedback system carbon dioxide increases temperatures which increases evaporate generates this causes more water to take the form of water vapor and decreases precipitation due to this warmer climate more water vapor in the air means more warming due to its greenhouse effect so even if you make the argument that water plays a larger role in the Earth's warming releasing more co2 will still also increase water vapor concentrations your argument is invalid as we saw in the last video the late 20th century rate of warming 1970 to 2000 was slightly less than that of the early 20th century rate of warming 1910 to 1940 more than that the massive co2 production during and after World War two could not keep the world from cooling in the period from 1940 to 1970 and it could not budge the late 20th century rate of warming to be any faster than the earlier warming that century like all people who deny manmade climate change are presenting a graph here without its full context there are a few reasons why a cooling effect occurred during these 30-some years the main one is quite directly linked to world war ii while yes a lot of carbon dioxide was released during this time the machinery also produced aerosols pollution doesn't just come in the form of co2 there are multiple types of gases that are released and along with this are solid particles such as dust these aerosols are released into the air and encourage cloud formation that increases albedo a lot of the solar radiation was therefore reflected back into space causing cooling this effect is known as global dimming and a lot of ideas are coming up to use global dimming to counter warming effects of course global dimming has its own set of consequences such as less sunlight entering the atmosphere which can lead to many other effects now this doesn't mean that co2 didn't warm up the planet during the mid 20th century no co2 was warming the planet but its effects were countered by the sheer amount of aerosols being released into the atmosphere during World War two pollution quotas were removed which allowed global dimming to occur after the war quarters were reintroduced which decreased both aerosols and co2 released into the atmosphere which is why the temperature increases after 1975 weren't much greater than before the war discussion co2 is a weak greenhouse gas at the tiny concentrations of co2 currently held in our atmosphere carbon dioxide is overwhelmed by the cooling effects of water what are these cooling effects first water when it is warm by Sun evaporates if your hand is clean lick the back of your hand and blow on it the evaporation of the liquid produces a powerful cooling effect this is caused by energy being soaked up to convert the liquid into a gas please don't tell me you actually believe this counter co2 effects of course water does have a cooling effect on the surface that it evaporates from this is due to the higher energy water molecules leaving behind an average lower temperature of the molecules staying behind when it evaporates but guess what when that water vapor turns back into a liquid it has to release that energy the water cycle will recycle that heat back out of the system although yes warming effects would indeed cause more of the water to be in the form of water vapor overall however even you yourself mentioned earlier that water vapor is a greenhouse gas so more water vapor would mean more warming you just debunked yourself but the cooling benefits of water don't end there when all that water vapor works its way into the upper atmosphere it cools and condenses forming clouds and clouds shade the ground cooling them all ok so I knew this would be a confusion clouds don't just form whenever water vapor enters the atmosphere I covered a topic a while ago talking about pumping salt water into the air to form more clouds in order to counter global warming the thing is you will need more than just pure water to do this either you need aerosols or you need cold temperatures after all you need cooler conditions in order to turn a gas back into a liquid oh and guess what it doesn't seem like will have many more cold conditions once the earth starts heating up don't you think you anyway for the rest of his video he just plays some clips from memory about the Sun we're not gonna get to that today we've covered quite enough climate change is definitely a topic I plan to revisit so be sure to stay tuned for that if you haven't already I'd love to have you subscribe to this channel for weekly videos also hit that Bell it ain't gonna hit itself ding-ding-ding you hit it yet no all right I'll just be sad then [Music]

Channel: Professor Stick

Views: 124,887

Rating: 4.8712254 out of 5

Keywords: professor, stick, professor stick, professor stick climate change, professor stick global warming, global warming, climate change, evidence for climate change, global warming evidence, carbon dioxide, carbon dioxide causes global warming, greenhouse gases, climate change skeptic, global dimming, climate change alarmist, climate change myths, truth about climate change, carbonic acid, carbon cycle, warmth

Id: U0CcyqKlkHs

Length: 11min 20sec (680 seconds)

Published: Sat May 26 2018