Green | January 05, 2011 | 83 comments

Isaac Asimov on the Greenhouse Effect: 1989

source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6tSYRY90PA

Vierotchka
This video is part of a longer presentation at the Humanist Institute in New York in 1989, and it demonstrates yet again that the broad outlines of the climate change story have been understood for decades by, well, intelligent men who are guided by science.

It's been a recurring theme in this series - that the science was essentially complete long before Al Gore, long before the IPCC, long before the Hockey Stick.
  1. groups:
    News and Politics,   Green,   Culture,   Science,   9 more
  2. tags:
    Politics,  Culture,  Earth and Science,  Environment,  13 more
  3. recommended by:
    pjacobs51,
    Vierotchka,
    remanns
  4.     
    |

83 comments // Isaac Asimov on the Greenhouse Effect: 1989 // Video

  • royulery
    • 0
      royulery  

    • isaac was one of the smartest men of the century. i think at this point he would ask; what side are you on? do you support life or death?

    • 2 years ago
  • jubal
    • +4
      jubal  

    • Its always the same three or four people on this website that come to the rescue of the deniers...people who either have nothing better to do all day long sucking on the government teets or they are paid to be here just to dump their exasperating shit all over the threads.

    • 2 years ago
  • jubal
    • +4
      jubal  

    • Poppycock and Bullocks...We are experience climate change on a massive scale and anyone who denies it is deliberately doing so. The effects and changes are so noticeable, everyone can see them, and everyone that I know talks about them.

      We have weather patterns disrupted all over the globe.

      To simply write off the changes as something naturally occurring is foolish and only fuels the continued and utter disregard by multinational manufacturers who poison the environment to continue with impunity devoid of any ecological or social responsibility.

    • 2 years ago
  • coolplanet
  • mjsmith11
    • +2
      mjsmith11  
    • jubal:

      I know that the climate is changing. If you look at Alaska, you can see clear evidence in the forests. The climate will always change on Earth. How much money should I pay as a result of this naturally occurring phenomenon? How much lower should my quality of life, my family's quality of life, or even your quality of life suffer? If this natural event that happens because we are on a "live planet", can we control it? How much money must I pay to make the Earth cooler? What is the proper tax rate for a better planet? If this is all scientifically explainable that Mankind is heating up the planet, then why has all the scientific evidence that says so, been discredited? Why do the so-called scientists have to lie about the issue and conspire together to spread lies and false information? We have seen the loads of emails that clearly show that the "scientists" are intentionally spreading false information on global warming. The empirical evidence shows that the Earth is getting cooler, overall, not warmer. Why is it called "climate change" now and no longer "global warming"?

    • 2 years ago
  • IceKat
  • coolplanet
    • +1
      coolplanet  
    • IceKat:

      I notice that you don't respond to any of the thoughtful posts below.
      You just want to be at the top of the list putting everyone down.
      I see how you work.
      Trickle down......

    • 2 years ago
  • Vierotchka
  • mjsmith11
  • Vierotchka
    • +1
      Vierotchka  
    • mjsmith11:

      I am sure that you will provide us with ample incontrovertible empirical scientific evidence to back your statement that global warming is science fiction... NOT!

      I am also sure that you didn't know that Isaac Asimov (an eminent scientist first and foremost, compared to whom you truly are nothing) also wrote numerous scientific books that are recognized as state-of-the-art by scientists everywhere. Here is a link to a list of Isaac Asimov's books. Read that list and weep over what a totally foolish and ignorant statement you posted:

      http://www.asimovonline.com/oldsite/asimov_catalogue.html

    • 2 years ago
  • MrMxyzptlk
  • Vierotchka
  • MrMxyzptlk
  • coolplanet
  • mjsmith11
    • 0
      mjsmith11  
    • Vierotchka:

      The last time I checked, I am still alive and the science fiction writer is still dead. The empirical proof is clear, the Earth is getting cooler, not warmer. I will pray for you and hope one day you will be able to find the truth.

    • 2 years ago
  • Vierotchka
  • Vierotchka
    • +1
      Vierotchka  
    • MrMxyzptlk:

      Well, you are entitled to your zany opinions. I will not tell you what YOU sound like, I don't want to be banned from Current. All I can say is that it sure ain't pretty. As for your mind, you have repeatedly shown that it is hermetically closed tight.

    • 2 years ago
  • ace_ofgabriel
  • bailey78
  • JanforGore
    • +2
      JanforGore  

    • Brilliant man. And Roger Revelle and Charles Keeling were talking about it in the fifties. And this government knew about it in the sixties. And oil companies have known about it just as long. And scientists in over a 90% consensus know it too. And Tyndall and others knew it in the 1800s. The only ones who don't know it or who do and just don't want to lead on they do are the ones with ideological, political, and economic agendas, and those who only use Al Gore as their crutch because they are too ignorant to open up a book. And meanwhile, climate change continues to make its presence known, and here the world sits... still debating.

    • 2 years ago
  • mjsmith11
    • +1
      mjsmith11  
    • JanforGore:

      When did you start calling this load of crap "climate change" and stop calling it "global warming"? Did you start doing this after scientists starting doing this or when politicians started the name change? I know how upset you get when people disagree with you. THe reason that people do not buy into this scam is because the scientists that make this claims have been proven to be deliberately lying to promote a political agenda.

    • 2 years ago
  • CalgarC
  • musicjohnny
    • +2
      musicjohnny  
    • CalgarC:

      I'm not really sure you can blame that on religion. In my opinion, it's shut down by definitely intelligent men who are guided by a relentless desire for wealth no matter what the cost.

    • 2 years ago
  • CalgarC
  • Juas
    • +5
      Juas  

    • All my respects to this great man. Mr Issac Asimov. Probably one of the smartest persons on the planet.

      Anyone who dares to limit hes intelligence is an ignorant fool. One thing everyone should be clear about is that Asimov was never wrong... well, in anything.

      I bet noone has even read one of the 800+ books he wrote.

    • 2 years ago
  • remanns
  • Vierotchka
    • +3
      Vierotchka  
    • Juas:

      I devoured his science fiction books decades ago. Oh, and he wrote 466 books, not 800+ books. On the other hand, he did write a great many short stories - a short story doesn't count as a book.

    • 2 years ago
  • remanns
  • MrMxyzptlk
  • coolplanet
    • +4
      coolplanet  
    • MrMxyzptlk:

      The indisputable rise in atmospheric carbon from 280ppm to 380ppm within the 20th century is hardly "insignificant." CO2 levels have remained near 280 parts per million for the past 10,000 years according to ice core and sea sediment records.
      What is even more troubling is that, within the past few years, CO2 levels have reached 430ppm according to James Lovelock, factoring in the enormous amount of methane suddenly being released by melting tundra (methane turns to CO2 in the atmosphere).
      430ppm might sound insignificant but it weighs around 1,000 gigatons and the last time Earth experienced such levels of CO2 was 15 million years ago!

      http://www.greenbang.com/todays-co2-highest-in-15-million-years-new-research-fin...

    • 2 years ago
  • coolplanet
  • MrMxyzptlk
  • coolplanet
    • +4
      coolplanet  
    • MrMxyzptlk:

      What if, what if, what if.....
      You constantly question the motives and findings of millions of scientists from around the world.
      The last time a nation rejected science was under Hitler when Einstein had to flee for his life to America.
      The greenhouse effect was discovered over a century ago and is a long-established scientific fact. It is the law of any greenhouse -- the higher the atmospheric level of CO2 the warmer the greenhouse becomes.
      Global warming was an unproven hypothesis until the 1990s when it became an accepted theory by a concensus of the world's leading scientists.
      DENIERS ARE LIARS

    • 2 years ago
  • MrMxyzptlk
  • coolplanet
    • +4
      coolplanet  
    • MrMxyzptlk:

      Climetologists worldwide number in the hundreds of thousands. And geologists who do the ice core drilling, marine biologists who do the coral and sea sediment sampling, and geopaleoanthropologists who do the fossil records have all contributed to the accepted theory of global warming, and number in the millions.
      You obviously know nothing about this subject.

    • 2 years ago
  • fun_size
    • +4
      fun_size  
    • MrMxyzptlk:

      How does that not logically make sense? For the past 100 years humanity has been spewing carbon dioxide into the air by burning fossil fuels. This is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for over a century at an ever increasing rate. At the same time we are chopping down more and more forests, nature's air scrubbers, thereby reducing how much C02 gets absorbed and increasing how much enters the atmosphere. As coolplanet demonstrates the numbers dont lie. The amount of C02 in air is much higher than its been since before humans even existed.

      Now look at the icecaps of various mountains around the world. They continue to shrink in size and have been doing so for decades now. The same goes with sea ice in the arctic. Almost every year we hear about "freak" storms or "freak" temperatures, rainfall, snowfall, droughts, etc. Weird weather is becoming the norm... it hasnt always been so. Now im not a scientist but logic points to the fact that there is something seriously wrong here.

    • 2 years ago
  • IceKat
  • MrMxyzptlk
  • MrMxyzptlk
  • jubal
  • coolplanet
  • coolplanet
    • +1
      coolplanet  
    • MrMxyzptlk:

      You don't know anything about this subject, do you?

      Tree rings, ice cores, coral reefs, sea sediment and rock strata are the themometer that scientists of many disciplines employ to determine climate going back millions of years.

      Atmospheric bubbles in ice cores are compared with other ice cores from around the world, along with records from tree rings (the bristlecone pine alone dates back 10,000 years), coral reefs, sea sediment and rock strata dating back millions of years.

      Admit it. You guys have a problem with the theory of evolution.

      You are motivated by a religious dogma that man is the most important thing on Earth.

      And man can do no wrong -- the very definition of denial.

    • 2 years ago
  • coolplanet
  • coolplanet
  • MrMxyzptlk
  • MrMxyzptlk
  • coolplanet
    • 0
      coolplanet  
    • MrMxyzptlk:

      Obviously you are most concerned about The Bottom Line -- your stock in oil.
      I just realized that, when Nixon took us off the gold standard, he put us on the oil standard!
      I'm beginning to understand why you guys are so frightened by clean technology.
      Thank you.
      Please keep providing us with an insight into the "mind" of mindlessness.

    • 2 years ago
  • coolplanet
    • -1
      coolplanet  
    • MrMxyzptlk:

      Oh please!
      Let's endlessly debate the laws of thermodynamics now.
      Which came first, the frickin' chichen or the fryin' egg???
      You guys just want to argue forever and DO NOTHING but distract.
      I understand your game and will raise you the pot.

    • 2 years ago
  • hanzdogy
  • remanns
  • remanns
  • remanns
    • +3
      remanns  
    • Image

    • The last renaissance man.

      Article from:The Humanist Article date:March 1, 1993 Author:Chambers, Bette

      -When Isaac Asimov died on April 6, 1992, the national media poured forth a flood of praise in celebration of his indisputable genius. He was called a "twentieth-century Renaissance man" and the "Great Explainer." While not the most prolific writer of the century - a writer of eminently forgettable romance fiction has him beat in sheer weight of words and pages - Asimov clearly deserved the appellation "Renaissance man." One dictionary defines this as "a present,day man who has acquired profound knowledge or proficiency in more than one field." Asimov's books ranged over nearly every field of science, literature, history, humor, commentary, mathematics, and more. While he will be remembered best for his prodigious works of science fiction - a genre for which he set the standards dividing the good from the bad, the gold from the dross - his 466 books qualify him to be called a "one-man Renaissance."

      It is remarkable, then, that in all the encomiums, all the tributes and praise, not one mention was made of Isaac Asimov's presidency of the American Humanist Association. Even his humanism went largely unmentioned, and none referred to his atheism on matters theological - and yet, he was outspoken on his "unbelief." He also referred frequently to his position as president of the AHA, and he acted on these commitments in significant ways. It is time to set the record straight, for even one humanist magazine neglected to credit his eight years as AHA president after he died in that office at the age of 72.
      In what may be his last book, Asimov Laughs Again, he answers a rhetorical question on why, as an atheist, he so enjoys telling jokes . . .

      Born: 2 January 1920
      Birthplace: Petrovichi, U.S.S.R.
      Died: 6 April 1992 (AIDS)
      Best Known As: Writer of popular science and author of I, Robot
      Isaac Asimov was born in the former Soviet Union, but grew up in Brooklyn, New York. He taught biochemistry at Boston University until he retired in 1958 to become a full-time writer. Asimov had been publishing short stories since the late 1930s, and in 1952 published his first novel. The author of the classic I, Robot series and The Foundation Trilogy, Asimov wrote more than 400 books and won every major science fiction award. He also wrote popular books and essays on science and technology, earning him the nickname "The Great Explainer."

      According to the Isaac Asimov FAQ, the author died of "heart and kidney failure, which were complications of the HIV infection he contracted from a transfusion of tainted blood during his December 1983 triple-bypass operation." HIV was not revealed as the cause of his death until 2002, when his widow Janet published the memoir It's Been a Good Life.

      Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/isaac-asimov#ixzz1AGQaniOu

    • 2 years ago
  • oldgerman
    • 0
      oldgerman  

    • If you also remember: this man was a sience fiction autor.
      This type of person normally just has visions what could be in the future.
      Most of what he or some others wrote is normal now a days.

    • 2 years ago
  • coxian_armada
  • remanns
    • +1
      remanns  
    • oldgerman:

      As far as GOOD Science Fiction authors are concerned, you are correct.

      Asimov was top of his class. +^d

      ( I dont know why anyone would vote this down....explanations ? )

    • 2 years ago
  • ayipis
  • CalgarC
  • ayipis
  • CalgarC
  • BrushwithDeathToothpaste
  • ayipis
  • CalgarC
  • fun_size
  • ayipis
  • CalgarC
  • BrushwithDeathToothpaste
  • ayipis
  • CalgarC
  • ayipis
  • CalgarC
  • ayipis
    • -7
      ayipis  

    • this 1989 guy was expecting the ENTIRE WORLD to be a hot desert..well..

      i sit here in los angeles....and I am freezing my ass..

      just the dead birds and fish..scientists can only bring in THEORIES..if often enough is wrong..

      nice side burns though

    • 2 years ago
  • CalgarC
  • navider
  • Vierotchka
  • Vierotchka
  • MrMxyzptlk
  • Vierotchka
    • 0
      Vierotchka  
    • MrMxyzptlk:

      He certainly has a millionfold more credibility and more qualifications than you could ever dream to have. He was well versed - far more than you or IceKatt - in all the necessary disciplines to be able to accurately pronounce himself on this subject. Go back to bed.

    • 2 years ago
  • Vierotchka
  • remanns
  • remanns
  • remanns
    • +2
      remanns  
    • Vierotchka:

      It also seems to me,....that because we CAN NOT really have FULL war,,....it has become a "no holds barred" CORPORATE, cultural, economic, guerilla war free for all. These corporations have become our Hectors and Achilles,....and "TROY",...in this metaphor,.... is the world's economic "winner take all- there can BE only one" ultimate objective.

    • 2 years ago
  • Itsbatman_Durr
more from Green:
from the community

top videos