[Coral-List] Reporting Co2 to the public

[Steve Mussman]

   Bruce Carlson's idea is brilliant, but as Doug has pointed out, there are
   some hurdles to overcome.
   Not the least of which is how to lobby "the powers that be" effectively
   enough to get the idea implemented.
   Perhaps some would be more receptive than others. Something tells me that
   FOX News might balk.
   And let's not forget that there will be some powerful sources of advertising
   revenue that will show force
   on all fronts.Then comes the problem Doug alluded to of educating the public
   as to the relationship
   between CO2 concentrations and the earth's temperature. James Hansen has
   used watts per square metre
   as  a  way to illustrate this forcing, but can this be comprehensively
   consumed by the general public?
   I'm a good example of a layperson that struggled through the process which
   to be honest, required some faith.
   Nevertheless this is too good of an idea to drop because of a few obstacles.
   We should all be thinking
   of ways to push this forward. And Bruce should get the intellectual property
   rights!
   Regards,
     Steve

   -----Original Message-----
   >From: Douglas Fenner
   >Sent: Sep 14, 2012 6:42 PM
   >To: Eugene Shinn , coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
   >Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Reporting Co2 to the public
   >
   > As far as I know, reporting CO2 to the public would require stating
   >what the concentration of CO2 is in the atmosphere (that's what the Keeling
   >Curve shows). It is probably normally expressed in something like parts
   >per million, which the public may not understand, so expressing it as a
   >percent  as well could serve to increase public understanding of that
   aspect.
   > Whether CO2 should be reported as a percentage of atmospheric gases
   >depends on the purpose. If the purpose is to show that CO2 does not drive
   >temperature changes, then stressing how small the concentration of CO2 is
   >in the atmosphere could be used to deceive readers into thinking that CO2
   >is not important in climate change (and thus decrease public
   >understanding). Showing how little nerve gas concentration would be needed
   >in the atmosphere to kill the entire human population could illustrate how
   >even a gas in much less concentration than CO2 could have strong effects.
   >The concentration of argon or even nitrogen could show that very high
   >concentrations of inert gases aren't necessarily toxic. What should be
   >included all depends on the purpose.
   > Showing a figure of how much additional heat energy (such as watts or
   >joules) is retained in the earth due to the increases in CO2 might
   >illustrate the connection between CO2 concentrations and changes in mean
   >global temperature. If the purpose is to protect the fossil fuel industry,
   >then maybe that shouldn't be included.
   >
   >Cheers, Doug
   >
   >On Fri, Sep 14, 2012 at 4:22 AM, Eugene Shinn wrote:
   >
   >> Good ideas to report Co2 to the public. I suggest that the graphs all
   >> of you have suggested also include graphs of global temperature
   >> change over the same period of time. Should Co2 also be reported as a
   >> percentage of atmospheric gases? The Terry Hughes video is excellent
   >> and truthful. Gene
   >> --
   >>
   >>
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   >> ------------------------------------ -----------------------------------
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   >> University of South Florida
   >> College of Marine Science Room 221A
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   >> St. Petersburg, FL 33701
   >>
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   >
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