Episode 4 Why Predictions Are Hard

In a time when the very concept of science is controversial,  it is important to remember that facts matter, because denying them does not make them go away.  This episode includes a brief guide for testing purported facts, because saying something does not make it true.

An update on what has been happe3ning and what scientists worldwide are saying now.

A discussion of some of the evidence driving the consensus among climate scientists that we are seeing human-caused climate change.

In this episode we discuss the meaning of energy and different ways the word is used in different disciplines.  We discuss the conversion of energy from one form to another and the fact that although the total quantity of energy is the same after any process as before, some of the energy is always converted into forms that aren't useful.

A discussion of what computers models are, how they fit into the science of climate change,  and why modeling clouds  still causes controversy among climate scientists.

Vicious cycles, or positive feedback loops, are described in which a little warming causes a change which causes more warming.  The result is that we may expect the rate of warming to increase.

In order to maintain a constant temperature, the earth would have to lose an amount of energy equal to that which it receives from the sun. This episode discusses how common greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, methane, and water vapor make it harder for the earth to lose  energy, resulting in the earth warming.

Introducing Warming World Explained, a nonpolitical podcast clarifying the basic science underlying climate questions for a general audience.  This  episode introduces the host, discusses some of the topics to be covered,  and then discusses some preliminary issues.