May 15, 2007

New Phytoplankton Model May Revise Warming Estimates

New Phytoplankton Model May Revise Warming Estimates

This seems like very important information pertaining to climate change attributed to CO2. If phytoplankton account for 2/3 of the biosphere's uptake of CO2, we'd best be able to know what affect it has under varying conditions before we fritter away a tremendous amount of energy and capital to remediate tiny sources of this gas.



Another much more important aspect of climate change is the Water Cycle. Scientists know very little about the influences of that cycle and it's regulation of the earth's temperature. Water vapor exerts the greatest influence by far of any gas to regulate and determine the temperature of the planet. But much more information is needed about it, too.

How can VP Gore and others contend that the" science is settled" about global warming when the affect of these two principal factors are not well understood?

"Scientists interviewed for this article said it's too soon to say whether the more accurate phytoplankton count will be good news or bad news for the global climate's future. But climate researchers will have a more accurate picture once they factor the new phytoplankton model into their estimates, they said.

Phytoplankton perform two-thirds of all the Earth's photosynthesis -- the process by which plants turn light, nutrients and carbon dioxide into food. The amount of CO2 processed by phytoplankton during photosynthesis affects concentrations of CO2 in the water, which determines how much of the greenhouse gas the oceans can absorb."

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