First International Conference on MOLDAVIAN RISKS – FROM ...
First International Conference on MOLDAVIAN RISKS – FROM ...
First International Conference on MOLDAVIAN RISKS – FROM ...
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<str<strong>on</strong>g>First</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>Internati<strong>on</strong>al</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>C<strong>on</strong>ference</str<strong>on</strong>g> <strong>on</strong> <strong>MOLDAVIAN</strong> <strong>RISKS</strong> - <strong>FROM</strong> GLOBAL TO LOCAL SCALE<br />
16-19 May 2012, Bacau, Romania<br />
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE GLOBAL WARMING<br />
Jean-Louis Le Mouël<br />
Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Membre de l'Académie des Sciences<br />
Corresp<strong>on</strong>ding author: Jean-Louis Le Mouël, E-mail address lemouel@ipgp.fr<br />
Abstract: One first gives a brief presentati<strong>on</strong> of the greenhouse effect, as it is generally<br />
understood, and of the c<strong>on</strong>centrati<strong>on</strong> evoluti<strong>on</strong> of <strong>on</strong>e of the greenhouse effect gases<br />
present in the atmosphere, the carb<strong>on</strong> dioxide, CO2. The increase of this c<strong>on</strong>centrati<strong>on</strong> is<br />
due, for an essential part, to the burning of oil, natural gas and coal; it is said<br />
anthropogenic. Is the increase, since 1850, of the global temperature of the lower<br />
atmosphere layers, widely accepted, due to this increase of the CO2 increase? That is<br />
currently the dominant view, harshly defended by the Intergovernmental Panel <strong>on</strong> Climate<br />
Change (IPCC). But this is <strong>on</strong>ly a hypothesis. The climate indeed, varies, and has varied at<br />
all time scales, from day to hundreds of milli<strong>on</strong> years. The two relevant questi<strong>on</strong>s are the<br />
following: i) Is the temperature elevati<strong>on</strong> observed during the 20 th century excepti<strong>on</strong>al? ii)<br />
Does it require anthropogenic causes? The two observati<strong>on</strong>s <strong>on</strong> which the thesis of the<br />
anthropogenic global warming relies up<strong>on</strong> are: a more rapid increase of the mean<br />
temperature during the last half or third part of the 20 th century, and temperatures reaching<br />
higher values over the 20 th century than during the two milenia before. N<strong>on</strong>e of them <strong>–</strong> the<br />
sec<strong>on</strong>d “observati<strong>on</strong>” being hampered by poor data <strong>–</strong> can be c<strong>on</strong>sidered as proving human<br />
global warming. The argument in favor of this thesis relays <strong>on</strong> predicti<strong>on</strong>s obtained from<br />
numerical models. Up to which point can we trust them? The effect of the Sun activity <strong>on</strong><br />
climate variati<strong>on</strong>s is claimed to be fairly small. This is not sure at all, the Sun activity<br />
signature being found in a number of climatological parameters. This aspect is also<br />
underlined during the presentati<strong>on</strong>. Finally, some aspects of a possible impact of global<br />
changes <strong>on</strong> local scales are c<strong>on</strong>sidered.<br />
Key words: climate changes, greenhouse gases, temperature evoluti<strong>on</strong>, Sun activity.<br />
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