Reply to Re: Global Warming Hoax/Conspiracy?
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Well, it's hard to deny that burning organic matter produces CO2, and that CO2 isn't going to disappear just like that. And if you introduce new CO2 into the atmosphere it's got to go somewhere, right? Staying in the atmosphere is a believable theory to me... 
Everything I know about vibrational spectroscopy tells me that substances such as carbon dioxide and water absorb infrared light much more efficiently than oxygen can. Absorbing infrared light means the earth is opaque to it's own radiation but translucent to sunlight as the earth emits infrared light and the sun emits visible light (and lower energetic waves as well, obviously). So, to me the relation between substances absorbing in the infrared range and the greenhouse effect seems rather trivial to me, but maybe that's because I'm studying chemistry.
In real life climate change is a complicated matter. We have trouble predicting the weather a week from now, and climate is defined as an average over 30 years. For example, Fireball is right that temperature rises can lead to higer levels of CO2 in the atmosphere. This is because hot water can dissolve less gas than cold water can, so the CO2 that is dissolved in the oceans now will partially be released in the atmosphere if the temperature of the ocean rises.
Now you can interpret this information in two ways: 1. The earth warms up for whatever reason and CO2 levels rise. 2. CO2 levels rise causing even more CO2 to release, even more reason to be careful.
You choose your explanation, I prefer the second.
Everything I know about vibrational spectroscopy tells me that substances such as carbon dioxide and water absorb infrared light much more efficiently than oxygen can. Absorbing infrared light means the earth is opaque to it's own radiation but translucent to sunlight as the earth emits infrared light and the sun emits visible light (and lower energetic waves as well, obviously). So, to me the relation between substances absorbing in the infrared range and the greenhouse effect seems rather trivial to me, but maybe that's because I'm studying chemistry.
In real life climate change is a complicated matter. We have trouble predicting the weather a week from now, and climate is defined as an average over 30 years. For example, Fireball is right that temperature rises can lead to higer levels of CO2 in the atmosphere. This is because hot water can dissolve less gas than cold water can, so the CO2 that is dissolved in the oceans now will partially be released in the atmosphere if the temperature of the ocean rises.
Now you can interpret this information in two ways: 1. The earth warms up for whatever reason and CO2 levels rise. 2. CO2 levels rise causing even more CO2 to release, even more reason to be careful.
You choose your explanation, I prefer the second.
