"D Kat" wrote in
et:

I'll try this again (I should write a book called "Global Warming for
DUMMIES"... I don't mean that as an insult by the by).

Most of the earth is covered in water. The oceans and great lakes are
heat sinks and it is the large bodies of water that drive our weather.
For all practical purposes ALL of our weather. If you have heard of
El Nino (unusual weather for the year because part of the Pacific is
warmer than usual), think of it in those terms only think SUPER El
Nino that never ends. The last ice age occurred because of just a 5-9
degree weather change. Having your yearly average temperature drop
only a few digress is not going to give you massive glaciers if all
you're talking about is the earth's air temperature dropping a few
degrees. It is the change in the oceans that change the climate.
What keeps the West coast so much warmer than the East coast is the
pattern of the ocean's currents. The storms we get are from high and
low pressure, water in the atmosphere, etc. - all of which come from
the ocean. Scientist from several different fields (geology,
paleontology, biology, etc.) all concur that the earth is warming at a
faster rate than seen before and that it is due to man's production of
chemicals that he is putting in the air. At this point you are not
seeing anyone disagree with the data or the theory (none that have
gone through peer review that is.... those papers are all most all
coming from the industries that will be hurt if we ever get the balls
to put things right or by nuts that say the earth is flat).

I have no vested interest in supporting the theory. I in fact don't
care much that it is happening. Life in geological time frame will do
just fine. For humans it will mean more disease of the tropical form,
plants and animals will go extinct which is already happening at the
fastest rate since Dinosaurs because we are destroying their habitat,
we will more than likely have to give up eating meat (I already have),
etc. I will find it sad to see animal types disappear but others will
take their place..... they just may be all of the cockroach, rat,
tumbleweed, etc. variety (those that thrive under adverse
conditions..)

Yeah... we need spring soon before I continue with these long winded
monologs....

Well most of what you said sounds reasonable, but I guess my point about
water is probably more or less your point without the geologic scale.
I'm guessing the ridiculously high specific heat of water will moderate
the temperature extremes of any local climate a lot better and therefore
someone (like me) who lives in a coastal region is more likely (but not
like me) to say "global warming? what global warming" even though the
weather is nutty, but because of the moderating effect of the ocean, not
as nutty as it could be.

The only things I would disagree with are, it's not just the pumping up
of CO2 and other chems, that are screwing things up, it's also the
deforestation. I imagine forests not only act as a significant heat sink
on land but also have the added benefit of locking away any excess CO2
and maybe even some chemicals.

The other thing is why the west coast is warmer. Maybe the ocean
currents have something to do with it (and the larger surface area of the
Pacific), but having the Rocky Mountains to block warm ocean air from
moving east has got to have some effect, too.