A Few Things Ill Considered

Martian melting

Posted by coby on January 30, 2013
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NASA’s JPL division has an interesting article on thawing dry ice (frozen CO2) near the polar regions of Mars.

Aside from its being interesting, I only bring it up as it reminds me of the faux skeptic talking point about Mars warming, ergo the sun drives warming here on earth.  It is about as far from a truly skeptical argument one could imagine as it rests (or at least it did when it originated) on the flimsiest of evidence that there is climate change on Mars at all.  A truly skeptical approach would not make the leap from two photos of one spot to a global trend.  Even if you establish the existence of a warming trend at all, attribution to changes in insolation is not a given.  In fact, the apparent warming was thought to be due to Mars’ own orbital variations, similar to Earth’s Milankovich cycles.

And further, if Mars was warming and it was due to solar factors this does not in anyway make the Earth’s greenhouse effect suddenly disappear!  So, not too much skepticism going on in the heads of people spouting that one….

 

Meanwhile, back on not Earth, the video below is an interesting summary of the thawing process NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has been observing over the last few years:

Embedded video from

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology

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Comments

  1. #1 The Climate Change Debate Thread - Page 2100
    February 2, 2013

    [...] on Mars. Any "warming" there seems to be due to the planet's orbital variations. Martian melting – A Few Things Ill Considered Sign in or Register Now to [...]

  2. #2 DEW
    United States
    February 11, 2013

    Considering that the scientific consensus is that Mars lacks the necessary geophysical mechanisms to maintain an atmosphere, they might look to the mechanisms that do determine how energy is stored and released in the Marsian interior. These mechanisms are cyclic, just as much as the Earth’s are. . . and are not specifically tied to solar cycles, or at least not cycles that influence atmospheric temperature patterns. I am not a well educated scientist, just a lay observer, but I consider the possibility that the effects of natural cosmic cycles are being exacerbated here on Earth by the rampant advances of human technologies and these are contributing to issues relating to overpopulation.

  3. #3 mandas
    February 11, 2013

    Not sure what you are trying to say DEW. But I would be interested in your view on how you know that Martian energy stroage and release is ‘cyclical’, especially if you do not know what those mechanisms are (what do you think they are?). And what do you think are the ‘natural cosmic cycles’ that are being exacerbated on Earth, and what are the advances in technology that you refer to?

    Thanks

  4. #4 Vince Whirlwind
    February 14, 2013

    ‘natural cosmic cycles ‘? huh?

  5. #5 Vince Whirlwind
    February 14, 2013

    My mind is busy boggling…..are there any “unnatural cosmic cycles”?…….And what are “cosmic cycles”? Periodic bursts of neutrinos that affect nothing?

    Seriously, DEW, you have some serious nonsense in your head.