Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watnot!watmath!clyde!rutgers!ames!pioneer!eugene
From: eugene@pioneer.UUCP
Newsgroups: sci.bio,sci.astro
Subject: Re: Mass extinctions (added note)
Message-ID: <1189@ames.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 3-Apr-87 18:06:44 EST
Article-I.D.: ames.1189
Posted: Fri Apr  3 18:06:44 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 5-Apr-87 06:40:36 EST
Sender: usenet@ames.UUCP
Reply-To: eugene@pioneer.UUCP (Eugene Miya N.)
Organization: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
Lines: 32
Xref: utgpu sci.bio:224 sci.astro:802

I have seen some follow-ups which concern me about their explanations.

First, readers should note that the explanations of some of the things I
said were subtle:  A temperature increase from CO2 is different than a
temperature increase from O3 although the results are the same.

Second, we cannot just say there is a greenhouse effect on the way, this
could also be the prelude to an ice age, we don't have enough geologic
record.  (Don't send mail on going to Anarctica and collecting gas and
ice layers, I know those people, we don't have enough record.)

Third, to illustrate that we don't know, Charles Keeling of the Scripts IO,
is the guy who does the CO2 work.  My favorite viewgraphs of his at a
Caltech talk he gave several years ago shows the trends and positive
correlation of CO2 versus research funding.  It's not popular to fund
CO2 research which shows CO2 (or O3, or NOx) is decreasing.  If it is,
why worry right?  We don't know what the proper proportions of these
gases were in the past.  These gases change like waves of extremely long
wavelength.  What we need is a synoptic view (theis is the remote
sensing parlance) which only recently came with satellite (as in
weather).  This is why the O3 hole was noted.  On one hand we may be
worrying over something greater than we can effect (e.g., ice ages), on
the other hand we may have already sealed our fate.  We just don't know.

From the Rock of Ages Home for Retired Hackers:

--eugene miya
  NASA Ames Research Center
  eugene@ames-aurora.ARPA
  "You trust the `reply' command with all those different mailers out there?"
  "Send mail, avoid follow-ups.  If enough, I'll summarize."
  {hplabs,hao,ihnp4,decwrl,allegra,tektronix,menlo70}!ames!aurora!eugene