Comments on ComplexClimate: Clouds in a Glass of Iced Beer

Excellent post and writing style. Bookmarked.

2010-02-03T23:22:44.614Z

Excellent post and writing style. Bookmarked.

Eli, In my Tiamat Hypothesis of a climate which i...

2009-11-30T20:20:52.396Z

Eli,

In my Tiamat Hypothesis of a climate which is a dynamical system, one subsystem is as follows:

As temperature rises the saturated water vapour density increases almost exponentially. Thus the greater the temperature, the greater the positive feedback from the greenhouse effect of water vapour. But eventually the water vapour condenses and the clouds form. So the solar forcing is cut off and the system stabilises.

That scenario really only applies in the tropics where the sea surface is warm enough for the positive feedback to be significant.

You have to account for the positive feedback from...

2009-11-28T15:35:38.814Z

You have to account for the positive feedback from increased water vapor in the atmosphere before you get to clouds.

Thanks for the link to Emsley's bio. I was goi...

2009-11-23T18:26:37.722Z

Thanks for the link to Emsley's bio. I was going to email him to ask if his views had changed, but I couldn't find an email for him on his bio page. I may have to resort to regular mail. I'll let you know if I learn anything.

By the way, I tried to list myself as a follower here, but couldn't figure out how to do it. Perhaps you don't have that feature enabled?
jg

I hadn't heard of Emsley, but Google is my fri...

2009-11-18T22:02:07.860Z

I hadn't heard of Emsley, but Google is my friend and here is his web page.

No doubt this is book you read:
The Consumer's Good Chemical Guide: Separating Facts from Fiction about Everyday Products, Corgi Books, 1994.

Winner of the Rhone Poulenc Science Book Prize 1995. A balanced account of chemicals such as perfumes, sweeteners, alcohol, cholesterol, fats, fibre, painkillers, PVC, dioxins, nitrates and carbon dioxide, which have often been the cause for popular concerns, and wrongly so [my emphasis].

The book is nearly 15 years old but there is no evidence that he has recanted.

Delightful post. I've grown cautious of books ...

2009-11-18T17:53:21.212Z

Delightful post. I've grown cautious of books that fit the category of Clouds...(I'm struggling for a category name), figuring that people writing these are not publishing research that may be a better source. I'm thinking of a book by John Emsley, whom I believe to be fairly well know in England, called The Good Chemicals Guide. I read it in the 90s and am now a little embarrassed that it's section on global warming influenced me. I wonder how many of these authors retract what they've said?
Regarding feedbacks, I started describing the global changes as a bell curve of effects (I'm sure others have too and I don't know to whom to give credit). Move CO2 to the right a little, and you move the curve and all it's + and - feedbacks, such that you can always find counteracting effects on either side of the curve, but like you say, the new setpoint is a little higher.

jg