Methane And Mini-horses: Fossils Reveal Effects Of Global Warming

Science Daily ^ | 2003-02-19

[Junior]

Ping

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

GIGO

[TaxRelief]

So, in summary class:

If global warming is a reality, then mankind and all the beasties on the earth are actually shrinking, despite what you have been told by the WHO (World Health Organization).

[VadeRetro]

"If an animal has a one- or two-year period in which to grow to maturity and reproduce, and it's trying to do that on a diet that's difficult to digest and not very nutritious, it's not surprising that it would evolve to be smaller. And it's also not surprising that when times are good again and carbon dioxide levels are lower and plants grow like they normally should, that the animals would go back to what we think of as their normal size."

He didn't mention that a siamese-cat-sized horse dissipates heat from its surface area more easily than a collie-sized horse. Internal volume is a cubic function. Surface area is a square function. Changes in size scale change the ratio of the volume to be cooled and the surface area available to cool it. Resistance to heat stress could be a selection factor in a world that is heating up.

[Jaxter]

"... a period of warming that occurred about 55 million years ago."

How could that be? There weren't even any Republicans around back then.

[ClearCase_guy]

Uh, is this article hinting that horses were big, millions of years ago, but, through large amounts of CO2, eventually adapted and became the diminitive eohippus? And then got big again later? Adapting through dwarfism??

Also, I thought that the fossil record showed dragonflies with wingspans of 2 feet or more. The old theory was that different atmospheric makeup allowed such growth. Now, we're being told that poor atmosphere led to low-quality vegatation, and thus, slower insect growth.

I know science is supposed to change and improve as new information comes in, but much of evolution theory strikes me as CYA after new information destroys the old model. They don't throw out the theory, they just twist their brains around the new information so that it can fit the same old theory.

[Junior]

The dragonflies in question lived during the Carboniferous period, long before the age of the dinosaurs. Researchers studying fossils from this era believe the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere was a bit higher than today, allowing for larger insects.

[IYAS9YAS]

My Uncle's pigs don't grow as big in the summer as they do in the winter...they don't eat as much when it's hot. Been observing that without any federal grants or special edumacatin'.

[VadeRetro]

Been observing that without any federal grants or special edumacatin'.

Kudos to the pigs as well for knowing what to do.

[The Shootist]

"Within about 10,000 years of peak warming, mammals such as primates and the groups that include horses and deer appeared together for the first time in North America, apparently having crossed land bridges from other continents."

Let me get this straight. The climate warmed. The ice caps melted. The sea levels rose. But LAND BRIDGES appeared between continents? How's that again?

[Junior]

Believe it or not, heavy glaciation and the resultant drop in sea levels is associated with global warming.

[ClearCase_guy]

It's true. Lower sea levels are evidence of Global Warming. Higher sea levels, too. And it goes without saying that warmer weather is associated with Global Warming. But what many people don't know is that colder weather is also evidence of Global Warming. And although the jury is still out on this, some people assert that lack of climate change is also a sign of Global Warming.

[Junior]

Actually, it's more extremes in climate that are associated with global warming. Nice try.

[Free the USA]

http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/bump-list

[ClearCase_guy]

Not so fast. What do you mean by Climate extremes? Suddenly we get big snow storms in Maryland? But mild summers in Minnesota? That sort of wide-spead anomalous behavior? That sounds good, but sea-level changes can't fit that arguement since sea-levels tend to be ... well, level.

The Standard Global Warming argument is that warm weather melts glaciers, causing sea levels to rise, causing coastal erosion. You have just argued that Global Warming causes increased glaciation, and dropping sea levels.

It's all a bunch of hooey.

[null and void]

Bingo!

[null and void]

There weren't even any Republicans around back then.

They were Neanderthal Paleo-Republicans. The kind the left thinks are still around...

[Junior]

Colder winters and warmer summers. I'm sure you're a trained climatoligist considering your claim that this is all a bunch of hooey. Hell, you know so much more than the actual folks doing the work -- you understand all the umpteen dozens of variables involved -- that you can just pooh-pooh the experts in the field.

[null and void]

You have just argued that Global Warming causes increased glaciation, and dropping sea levels.

Oddly enough I've heard environaziswackos make that very argument. The warming causes increased evaporation, increased evaporation increases precipitaion (in part as snow), increased cloud cover reduces melting, snow builds up, glaciers form, world ends...