Global Warming... on mars!!

[Guest bengalrick]

I want to start this post by explaining my position on global warming... i have no clue if WE are causing the warming up, or if it is like others say that the earth goes through cycles (colder for years, then warmer for year)... i go back and forth on my personal feeling if we are huring the ozone... on one hand, its hard to believe that people can affect the ozone in anyway... what i mean, is the green house gases that everyone talks about causing this is somewhat bullshit imo... for instance, [url="http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/volcanowatch/1998/98_10_22.html"]Kilauea volcano emits more than 700,000 tons of CO2 each year, less than 0.01% of the yearly global contribution by human sources. For some local perspective, this is about the same amount of CO2 as is emitted by 132,000 sport utility vehicles [/url]... volcanos let out much more green house gases than humans do, and its is actually very important that they do considering: [i]Without this naturally occurring greenhouse effect, the Earth's temperature would often be below freezing, rather than the global average of 15¡C (59¡F) that allows the existence of the familiar life-forms that we have grown to cherish (such as tomatoes) as well as those we dislike (such as mosquitoes). Our heavenly neighbors, Venus and Mars, provide an example of how the quantity of a greenhouse gas like carbon dioxide (CO2) can affect a planet. Venus's CO2-rich atmosphere creates a "runaway greenhouse effect" and an average surface temperature of 480¡C (900¡F). Mars, on the other hand, has a CO2 -poor atmosphere with virtually no greenhouse effect and an average temperature of -60¡C (-80¡ F).[/i]

so on one hand, i say that how the hell is our 0.01% of gases effecting our ozone anymore than the volcanos naturally do? on the other hand, i think about it this way... i'm not sure, so best to be sure... i mean, common sense tells me that polluting the oceans, not recycling our resources, and doing other things to keep our planet clean is a bad thing... its kind of like smokers in the early 1900's... even if you didnt' have scientific evidence telling people that smoking will hurt your lungs, you'd have to be an idiot to think that it wasn't hurting you...

so now that you know my position (i guess you can say that, b/c i'm not sure on my position ) now i will follow up w/ the issue at hand:


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[url="http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/newsroom/20050920a.html"]nasa.com[/url]

[i][b]Orbiter's Long Life Helps Scientists Track Changes on Mars [/b]


This pair of images shows a dune as it appeared on July 17, 2002, (left) and as it appeared on April 27, 2005, (right). During this period, a couple of gullies formed on the dune slip face. It is critical to recognize that the 2002 image was obtained at a time of year when the incident sunlight was coming in from a lower angle, relative to the horizon, than in the 2005 image. If the gullies had been present in 2002, their appearance would be sharper and more pronounced than they are in the 2005 image. The gullies simply did not exist on July 17, 2002. Image credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS/ASU

[img]http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/newsroom/pressreleases/images/PIA04290_th200.jpg[/img]

New gullies that did not exist in mid-2002 have appeared on a Martian sand dune.

That's just one of the surprising discoveries that have resulted from the extended life of NASA's Mars Global Surveyor, which this month began its ninth year in orbit around Mars. Boulders tumbling down a Martian slope left tracks that weren't there two years ago. New impact craters formed since the 1970s suggest changes to age-estimating models. [b]And for three Mars summers in a row, deposits of frozen carbon dioxide near Mars' south pole have shrunk from the previous year's size, suggesting a climate change in progress.[/b]

"Our prime mission ended in early 2001, but many of the most important findings have come since then, and even bigger ones might lie ahead," said Tom Thorpe, project manager for Mars Global Surveyor at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. The orbiter is healthy and may be able to continue studying Mars for five to 10 more years, he said.

Mars years are nearly twice as long as Earth years. The orbiter's longevity has enabled monitoring of year-to-year patterns on Mars, such as seasonal dust storms and changes in the polar caps. "Mars is an active planet, and over a range of timescales changes occur, even in the surface," said Dr. Michael Malin of Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, principal investigator for the Mars Orbiter Camera on Mars Global Surveyor.

"To see new gullies and other changes in Mars surface features on a time span of a few years presents us with a more active, dynamic planet than many suspected before Mars Global Surveyor got there," said Michael Meyer, Mars Exploration Program chief scientist, NASA Headquarters, Washington.

Two gullies appear in an April 2005 image of a sand-dune slope where they did not exist in July 2002. The Mars Orbiter Camera team has found many sites on Mars with fresh-looking gullies, and checked back at more than 100 gullied sites for possible changes between imaging dates, but this is the first such find. Some gullies, on slopes of large sand dunes, might have formed when frozen carbon dioxide, trapped by windblown sand during winter, vaporized rapidly in spring, releasing gas that made the sand flow as a gully-carving fluid.

At another site, more than a dozen boulders left tracks when they rolled down a hill sometime between the taking of images in November 2003 and December 2004. It is possible that they were set in motion by strong wind or by a "marsquake," Malin said.

Some changes are slower than expected. Studies suggest new impact craters might appear at only about one-fifth the pace assumed previously, Malin said. That pace is important because crater counts are used to estimate the ages of Mars surfaces.

The camera has recorded seasonal patterns of clouds and dust within the atmosphere over the entire planet. In addition, other instruments on Mars Global Surveyor have provided information about atmospheric changes and year-to-year patterns on Mars as the mission has persisted. Daily mapping of dust abundance in Mars' atmosphere by the Thermal Emission Spectrometer has shown dust over large areas during three Mars southern hemisphere summers in a row. However, the extent and duration of dust storms varied from year to year.

Mars Global Surveyor was launched Nov. 7, 1996; entered orbit around Mars
Sept. 12, 1997; and returned the first Mars data from its science instruments Sept. 15, 1997. Beyond its own investigations, the orbiter provides support for other Mars missions, such as landing-site evaluations, atmospheric monitoring, communication relay and imaging of hardware on the surface. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL's industrial partner is Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, which built and operates the spacecraft.

For newly released images on the Internet, visit: [url="http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/solarsystem/mgs-092005-images.html"]http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/solars...005-images.html[/url] and [url="http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2005/09/20/"]http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2005/09/20/[/url] .

For more information about NASA and agency programs on the Internet, visit: [url="http://www.nasa.gov/home"]http://www.nasa.gov/home[/url] [/i]

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i personally think that we should strive to clean up the earth, but piss on the wacko enviromentalists that want us to stop the world as we know it, b/c of their "evidence" that the earth is warming... i say "no shit!!" to them people... but explain why its also warming in mars!!!

[Guest steggyD]

Some scientists believe that the sun's activity is causing global warming more than anything. This would go right along with that theory.

A group of Russian scientists think that in about 10 years, the sun is going to calm down in its activities, and have placed a large wager with another group of scientists on the next 2 decades of global temperatures.

[Guest bengalrick]

[quote name='steggyD' date='Sep 21 2005, 04:57 PM']Some scientists believe that the sun's activity is causing global warming more than anything. This would go right along with that theory.

A group of Russian scientists think that in about 10 years, the sun is going to calm down in its activities, and have placed a large wager with another group of scientists on the next 2 decades of global temperatures.
[right][post="154478"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right][/quote]

i read that too about the russian scientists...

personally, i think that we should keep our planet clean, but realistically, we aren't making the difference that we are led to believe...

i can't believe that nobody else has replied to this thread... there are some guys and gals on here that are pretty passionate about the environment... maybe they just haven't read it yet...

[Guest steggyD]

Oh yeah, keep it clean, definitely. I have sensitive lungs, very sensitive. And I know when the air is unclean. There is nothing I hate more than air pollution. On the other hand, the solar system is going through its own cycles, and there is not much we can do to change it. The most we can do here, is prepare for whatever catastrophes it can cause, such as an entire alphabet's worth of hurricanes in one season.

[Guest BlackJesus]

[img]http://www.chapelhill.homeip.net/Antarctica/packice.gif[/img]

[b]North Poles are overrated

Lets melt them





[/b]

[Guest bengalrick]

bj, the south pole is also melting in mars... could it possibly be that the sun is in a hotter stage, as the sun goes through its normal cycle?

[Guest BlackJesus]

[quote]bj, the south pole is also melting in mars... could it possibly be that the sun is in a hotter stage, as the sun goes through its normal cycle?[/quote]

[i][b]Could it be? Sure

I guess it could be that our Greenhouse gases also reached Mars.... But this is also unlikely


All of that shit that flys up into the air goes somewhere... and we know it doesn't go into space.....

But hell I'll be dead before most of the damage... and as of now I don't have any kids so ...... [/b][/i]

[Jamie_B]

[quote name='BlackJesus' date='Sep 22 2005, 02:53 PM'][i][b]Could it be?  Sure

I guess it could be that our Greenhouse gases also reached Mars.... But this is also unlikely
All of that shit that flys up into the air goes somewhere... and we know it doesn't go into space.....

But hell I'll be dead before most of the damage... [color="blue"]and as of now I don't have any kids so[/color] ...... [/b][/i]
[right][post="155032"][/post][/right][/quote]


That you know of. [img]http://forum.go-bengals.com/public/style_emoticons//3.gif[/img]

[Guest bengalrick]

i think there is very little (if any) debate that there is global warming going in on the earth... the real questions are:
1. are we causing it?
2. can we prevent it?
3. will we be alive when it gives (j/k )

[Jamie_B]

[quote name='bengalrick' date='Sep 22 2005, 04:20 PM']i think there is very little (if any) debate that there is global warming going in on the earth... the real questions are:
1. are we causing it?
2. can we prevent it?
3. will we be alive when it gives (j/k )
[right][post="155129"][/post][/right][/quote]


You also forgot #4.

Is it George Bush's fault?

[Guest bengalrick]

[quote name='Jamie_B' date='Sep 22 2005, 03:34 PM']You also forgot #4.

Is it George Bush's fault? 
[right][post="155147"][/post][/right][/quote]

well, we know answer for sure huh?