Say Anything Blog

There is accumulating evidence that Mars, like the Earth, is currently experiencing global warming.  Via Instapundit, see for example this AP story.

There are a couple of things that make the Mars global warming interesting.  First is the fact that terrestrial human generated emissions play no part in the Mars climate.  Secondly, because Mars’ atmosphere is much thinner than the Earth’s, the greenhouse effect on Mars is currently much weaker than on Earth.  Thus most of the current heating can only be explained in terms of extra-planetary effects, such as an increase in solar radiance or a natural tilt effect similar to the Milankovitch cycles on the Earth.

That latter explanation is somewhat troublesome, as is argued by researcher Habibullo Abdussamatov, because of new evidence linking the changes in Martian temperature to the solar cycle.  Doctor Abdussamatov concludes that

The long-term increase in solar irradiance is heating both Earth and Mars. [...] Man-made greenhouse warming has made a small contribution to the warming seen on Earth in recent years, but it cannot compete with the increase in solar irradiance

Also interesting is the fact that Mars may be in the process of undergoing a major climate warming event:  Most of the “ice” on the Martian poles is frozen CO2.  If this CO2 were to melt, enough would be released to raise the atmospheric density to roughly 1/10 of that of Earth, and raise Martian surface temperatures so,

That takes us from a situation of working in a near vacuum with a space suit to being able to run around on the surface with an oxygen mask and a heavy coat. It’s what the terraforming people were always talking about.

Predictably the AP writer shills for the global warming advocates in his criticism of the Abdussamatov storywith this amazingly 4th-grade level insight on the new study:

Perhaps the biggest stumbling block in Abdussamatov’s theory is his dismissal of the greenhouse effect, in which atmospheric gases such as carbon dioxide help keep heat trapped near the planet’s surface. [...] He claims that carbon dioxide has only a small influence on Earth’s climate and virtually no influence on Mars.

Actually, dumba$$, what he claimed was human generated greenhouse gases have only a small influence on our climate.  Learn to read your own copy.  And there is other evidence for that, like water vapor being the dominant greenhouse gas on Earth, not CO2.