Global Warming Advocates : Two IQ Points Short of a Pin Head Perhaps

Bill Nye. OK, here’s another one. What do normal people call a prolonged heating of the Earth’s atmosphere? ……… Summer.

MSNBC’s Bill Nye “the science guy” has been the regular butt of jokes as a result of his ceaseless and absolute defense of the global warming industry; with “scientific” arguments that include the fact that the UN’s IPCC shared a Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore – and “those are really hard to get.” (Ann Coulter at CPAC)

There’s some chat around the Internet water-cooler just now on Nye’s performance in a global warming debate against Joe Bastardi (State College, Pennsylvania and AccuWeather meteorologist). For the most part, it was just another boring call from Nye for unquestioning faith in the IPCC’s conclusions and all that Al Gore might wish make of them. But first some science questions.

Nye: Ah well, the evidence is overwhelming. Do you agree Joe, that in 1750 the world’s carbon dioxide was 280 parts per million?

Bastardi: Bill, you don’t want to go here, because you know why? Because I’m going to show CO2 correlation …

Nye: Do you agree?

Bastardi: Yes, I agree.

Nye: Do you agree that the planet Venus is warm because it has a lot of carbon dioxide in its atmosphere? And I say warm, warm enough to melt lead on its surface. Do you agree?

Bastardi: I don’t believe we have the proper measurements of Venus from over ten billion years ago, so I can’t tell the relationship with the Earth. But maybe you can.

Nye was pointing to Venus as an example of the results of run-away global warming; the alleged fate of Earth if we don’t pass laws against it and pay more taxes. No jokes here asking who was driving the SUVs on Venus. When the planet is at stake, we owe it to ourselves to be deadly serious. So I went to the same place the IPCC entrusts with its scientific review – Wikipedia, where the tireless editors of truth support the theory whole-heartedly.

“Studies have suggested that several billion years ago Venus’s atmosphere was much more like Earth’s than it is now, and that there were probably substantial quantities of liquid water on the surface, but a runaway greenhouse effect was caused by the evaporation of that original water, which generated a critical level of greenhouse gases in its atmosphere.”

Studies have suggested – probably. I’m reminded of a short documentary in a season five episode of Futurama, “Spanish Fry.”

Documentary: In the dense forests of the Pacific Northwest, dwells the strange and beautiful creature known as Bigfoot, perhaps.

Phillip Fry: That proves it!

Documentary: Sadly, logging and human settlement today threaten what might possibly be his habitat, although if it’s not, they don’t. … Bigfoot is a crucial part of the ecosystem if he exists. So let’s all help keep Bigfoot possibly alive for future generations to enjoy, unless he doesn’t exist. (From, “Bigfoot, Endangered Mystery”)

Wikipedia cites only one study, and it’s on how the atmosphere might be effected by the amount of sunlight (energy -> heat) that it receives. It includes for discussion, speculation that “Venus may originally have had oceans if its initial water endowment was close to that of Earth. In other words, it may have had lots of water if it had lots of water, but who knows?

Documentary: Several billion years ago Venus’ atmosphere was much more like Earth’s than it is now but it was destroyed by a runaway greenhouse effect perhaps, …

Bill Nye: That proves it!

Documentary: … although if it didn’t, it wasn’t.

What is the actual evidence that Venus was once like Earth? There is none. Earth’s history includes vast oceans and evolution of life that transformed carbon dioxide into oxygen. CO2 rich environment early. Less CO2 in the atmosphere as a result of water and life. There is no evidence that Venus had such a history. No evidence that its atmosphere was once more like the Earth’s is now. If it somehow miraculously did, it would quickly have changed because of the greater amount of sunlight hitting Venus’ surface, which is about 35 million miles closer to the Sun than the surface of Earth.

If you’re still worried about global warming, don’t be. By the end of the episode, Fry gets his nose back and Lrr, ruler of the planet Omicron Persei 8, makes up with his wife. Most importantly, Bigfoot survives – so you’ve still got that going for you.