Climate change hits Mars!!, What? No humans on mars! How can this be? Options

[Cpt. Snot Rocket]

What is the coincidence that both Mars and the earth are showing an increase in surface temperature at the same time? Maybe it has something to do with nature, or solar waves from the sun? Maybe more research is needed here afterall?

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1720024.ece



Or maybe there is a Martian invasion fleet taking off for earth right now!

[Midnight Rambler]

Here is a link from an astronomer's web site that debunks the "other planets are warming up crap.

http://www.badastronomy.com/bablog/2007/04...-solar-induced/


There's a meme going around the internets and in the MSM that Earth is not alone in global warming: other planets, according to this story, are experiencing it too.

The usual crowd, along with many others, are taking this idea and running with it, saying that if other planets are warming up, obviously the warming on Earth is not man-made. But there's a small problem with this: it's wrong (for a more detailed analysis of this, see my blog post at Bad Astronomy).

The idea is that evidence shows that Mars, Jupiter, Neptune's moon Triton, and even tiny, distant Pluto are warming up. The only thing these objects have in common is the Sun-- so therefore the Sun must be the culprit, and we -- the polluting, self-absorbed humans -- are off the hook.

However, as an astronomer and a skeptic, I did something most ditto-heads don't do: I actually did some research. What I found is that first of all, the evidence that Mars is warming up is tentative; basically, the southern ice cap appears to be shrinking, and along with other evidence this indicates that there is some sort of climate change going on. However, the change may very well be local, confined to the southern region. Plus, we already know that other factors, like the shape of the orbit of Mars, contribute to climate change there. Looking to the Sun as the source of this is unwarranted.

The claim about Jupiter warming is simply wrong. There are localized places where gas from deep in the atmosphere (where it's warmer) is bubbling up, but this is again a localized effect, and not an indication of global change. Jupiter's atmosphere is a very weird, turbulent place, and honestly we don't understand it all that well. Calling this jovian global warming is premature at best.

Triton is entering its summer season, and due to the peculiar orbit it has, this summer will be a particularly extreme one. If it's warming there, it's a seasonal change, and expected.

And as for far, wee Pluto, it's so far out that if any warming there were from the Sun warming up, the Earth, which is much closer to the Sun, would be roasted. Since the effects of GW here on Earth are subtle, it's safe to ignore Pluto.