The greenhouse effect

When I was a kid, I would read books about sports and science including those about the nine planets.

I thought I noticed an error in that the high and low temperature on Venus was the same. I pointed that to my teacher and she did not know why. At least she did not answer the question by stating it was a decision made by a supreme being.

(A book on evolution I read when I was 7 stated life began on earth millions of years ago and I asked a priest about the conflict between that and the Bible. His reply, "Faith." The next time I looked for the book in the St. Augustine school library was told it is no longer available. )

The answer to my Venus question was provided by Carl Sagan in the Cosmos episode titled The Greenhouse Effect. He explained though the planet is farther from the Sun than Mercury, it is hotter and not just the side that faces the Sun as it rotates aund the Sun in less time than it spons around itself once.

The massive amount of hydrocarbons spewed by volcanoes trap the heat from the Sun and even when facing away from the Sun, heat doesn't escape. That is why the whole planet is hotter than Mercury.

When there is a clear night on earth, heat radiates away from the planet a whole lot easier which is most noticable in winter.

Without any hydrocarbons in the atmosphere, the planet would get too cold at night but with too much, it does not get cold enough.

Weather is generally not a correcting situation. Heat produces more heat, rain produces more rain, etc. As more hydrocarbons get released, things are slowly getting warmer a little at a time. Enough years of this will make it more difficult for those on the planet to produce enough food.

This is the situation. We are making things more difficult especially when production and profit overcome responsibilities.

It will get extremely cold in the Chicago area the upcoming week. Weather happens. Right now in Australia it is so hot power grids are failing.

No matter what please do NOT state:

Where the hell is global warming?

You are likely smarter than the president of the United States and a person so stupid that she married me.