A Primer on CO2 and Climate, 2nd Edition | 
 enlarge | Author: Howard C. Hayden
Publisher: Vales Lake Publishing, LLC
Category: Book
Buy New: $14.95
New (1) from $14.95
Avg. Customer Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 135040
Media: Perfect Paperback
Edition: 2nd
Pages: 87
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.4
ISBN: 0971484562
Dewey Decimal Number: 551
EAN: 9780971484566
ASIN: 0971484562
Publication Date: May 8, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Product Description
Much of the world is poised to take very drastic steps to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the hope that doing so will keep the world from becoming overheated. Indeed, some alarmists call for an 80% reduction in burning of fossil fuels (from which the world gets 85% of its energy) by 2050. But does CO2 really control climate? Perhaps we should look at the facts before committing to CO2 reduction policies that would surely be devastating. Hayden's Primer is based on the notion that the first step in understanding the relationship between CO2 and climate is to gather the facts. Outputs from computer programs are not data.
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| Customer Reviews:
 A good primer August 12, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
As one who is relatively well read in the literature of the GW debate, it's rare to find a book that gives a new insight into things. Although on the short side, this book is one such. Well written for the most part while sometimes covering complex things. The author argues convincingly (which may be easier than it sounds) against the accuracy of GCM's (Global Circulation Models).
The best short introduction to the topic June 15, 2008
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
If you care about climate change, read this book: it is much the best introduction to CO2 and climate change, and is a superb guide for those who seek to influence or to understand energy and climate change policy.
This is an EXCELLENT primer for climate change/global warming. April 28, 2008
11 out of 12 found this review helpful
This is an excellent book for those who have only basic science skills, yet have an interest in learning what a qualified scientist can teach them about fundamental science relating to climate change and global warming and their relationship to atmospheric CO2. You will learn that the theory espoused by Mr. Gore and the IPCC is baseless for the simple reason that the atmosphere does not work like a typical "greenhouse" and that, in any event, atmospheric CO2 is severely limited in its potential impact on climate and climate change. Highly recommended for both novices and those who are experienced with this topic.
Classical Gas! March 30, 2008
14 out of 15 found this review helpful
Well done, Howard Haden. A succinct and understandable tome on CO2 and its relationships to the earth's environment. I read this short book this evening as "desert" after the main course of "Climate Confusion" by Roy Spencer. Combine Hayden's information about the science and graphic representation (and misrepresentation) of measurements of temperature variations and CO2 levels (not to mention Milankovitch Cycles and ice ages) with Spencer's insights on weather, climate, and the economy and in the time span of a few hours, of enjoyable and understandable reading, I have learned more useful information on these topics than ever before. It would seem that Al Gore has some inconvenient explaining to do. . . and Hayden deserves (not carbon) credit for his excellent contribution in debunking the CO2 = global warming myth.
Remarkable non-technical account of the role of CO2 in the climate October 21, 2007
67 out of 69 found this review helpful
Dr. Hayden (Professor Emeritus of Physics from the University of Connecticut) has written a wonderful little book giving a non-technical description of the role of CO2 in the atmosphere. In 53 pages he lays out a large number of facts about CO2 and it's possible contribution to a warming earth.
He covers the general questions:
"<< Is the earth warming?
<< If the earth is warming, is mankind responsible?
<< If the earth is warming is that a bad situation?
<< If the earth is warming, and if mankind's use of fossil fuels is
responsible, and if the situation is bad, is there anything we
can do to remedy the situation?"
Dr. Hayden uses 36 figures and 8 tables to clearly illustrate his points.
His summary is succinct and he reaches each point very quickly. He starts with the greenhouse gas phenomenon and contrasts the role of the CO2 absorption spectrum with the role of the spectrum of H2O, it's dimer and trimer.
He discusses the increase in CO2 in recent years and then goes back to discuss the CO2 and temperature graph covering the last 400,000 years publicized recently by Al Gore. He also covers the 1812 - 1964 period, and then discusses CO2 over about 500 million years (the CO2 was many times higher in almost all earlier geologic periods).
Dr. Hayden points out many of the difficulties in making reasonable temperature measurements and argues (successfully in my opinion) that by far the best global temperatures are those from satellites. These currently show (Dec. 78 - Jun. 07) an increase below 0.13 degrees / decade. The short time satellites have been in orbit covers less than 30 years. Many think this period records the most rapid global temperature increase in the last 150 years, so I believe this small temperature increase cannot be reasonably counted as part of a long term trend. The shorter trends often reverse several times in a 100 year period so the record does not yet permit reasonable extrapolation.
He also discusses how the discredited 1,000 year "hockey stick" graph of temperatures (Mann, et. al.) has been corrected and shows higher temperatures in the 1400's than at present. The hockey stick appearance was a statistical error that is common among non-statistically trained economists and financiers. Physical evidence in the form of 1,000 and 5,000 year old tree stumps above the present tree line, confirm a warmer period in earlier human history.
He provides a brief discussion of O-18 measurements as a proxy for long term temperature trends as well as C-14 and Be-10 and their use in measuring past solar activity.
Dr. Hayden has an excellent discussion backed up by several illustrations of carbon flows into an out of the various sinks. The biggest flows of carbon into the atmosphere are the it's release by warm ocean water and soil respiration. The biggest flows out of the atmosphere are photosynthesis on land and CO2 uptake by cold ocean water. These are about 30 times and 40 times respectively the flow of carbon into the atmosphere from fossil fuel burning. He also provides a brief explanation for the decreasing greenhouse effect for each addition of CO2 to the atmosphere. There is also a comment on the retroactive causality implied by suggesting that increases in CO2 cause increases in temperature.
His discussion of computer models is dear to my own heart as I spent several years modeling infinitely simpler flows using the best research at the time (early 1980's). We found that our 2 phase, crude, water, gas flows with pressure, temperature and orifice variations were only going to be able to predict a short distance from measured conditions. Those predictions required "training" on a longer past measured history and even then were subject to occasional contradiction by the real world. The only justification was they were better (fewer million dollar mistakes) than an experienced engineer's top-of-the-head guess. I believe the global climate models suffer from so many omissions and even some assumptions that seem to violate physical laws that any reliance on their predictive ability is religion not science.
This summary work has discussions of the special temperature situation in the Antarctic, the claims of more violent storms, the effects of aerosols, correlations, solar activity, glacial retreat, polar ice caps on Mars, sea levels, mosquitoes, and the supposed scientific consensus.
When discussing anthropogenic global warming in his summary, Dr. Hayden concludes that "yes, the earth has been warming up." Are humans responsible "to some minor extent, probably; to a large extent, no." He argues that, based on past history, warming may be good for some areas and bad for others.
Assuming the foregoing summary is incorrect and humans are causing our planet to warn, Dr. Hayden discusses the political solution and what he calls "Engineering Dreams by non-Engineers." He discusses the problems with 6 of these "Dreams" including: greater efficiency, sequestration, renewables, fission, fusion, and hydrogen. While some can be useful, none offer a replacement for fossil fuels to the level the global warmers deem necessary.
I have read a number of interesting papers covering many of the topics he includes, but Dr. Hayden has produced a remarkable summary of the global warming issue in a very small book.
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