A Place to Stand

Global warming on Neptune’s moon Triton as well as Jupiter and Pluto, and now Mars has some scratching their heads over what could possibly be in common with the warming of all these planets.

In the meantime, some have noticed an interesting relationship between solar activity and temperature proxies via ice cores going back thousands of years:



I still don't know. Could there be something in common with all the planets in our solar system that might cause them all to warm at the same time?

The fact that this warming on the other planets is detectable from here while satellitete readings of Earth largely don't detect warming here suggests to me that that it is more serious there & I thought of a possible reason:

The global warming on other planets seems to be very much greater than on Earth.

Could this mean that on Earth we have negative feedback systems (increased clouds etc) which minimise change whereas on most of these the feedbacks are either non-existent or positive.

If so this might suggest that Earth has a much more stable environment than is common in the solar system & thus probably the universe.

If so it reinforces the Rare Earths hypothesis that planets able to evolve intelligent life are uncommon. Neil Craig

I have commented previously on the Rare Earths Hypothesis & how it attempts to explain that we may indeed be alone in the galaxy. The alternative seems to be thaintelligentnt creatures tend to destroy themselves which makes the RE theory comparativeloptimisticic.
from CCNet

UPDATE this response on CCNet

Paul Driessen [pdriessen@cox.net]

In response to Neil Craig's letter (CCNet 8 March 07; Solar System Warming?), I've always thought climatologist Roy Spencer's observation was right on the mark. The greenhouse effect, he notes, helps ensure that our Earth remains habitably warm. Weather, especially the evaporation-precipitation cycles, he continues, helps ensure that it remains habitably cool.

In other words, Mr. Craig is on target with his suggestion about negative feedbacks. Operating in conjunction with positive feedbacks, they keep our planet habitable, despite frequent hiccups in the form of wild weather, nasty storms and inconvenient climate cycles. They also help our Earth stave off those climate disasters that are the staple of Hollywood horror movies, breathless headlines, anti-technology green activists, politicians, bureaucrats, all too many grant-dependent scientists, and science fiction films like "Convenient Half-Truths."

Paul