Nothing says “you should take the Cult of Climastrology seriously!!!!” like an unhinged, apoplectic bit of fear-mongering
Trump’s climate policy could turn Earth into hothouse Venus
Stephen Hawking has hit out at US President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accords, saying the move could turn the Earth into a Venus-like hothouse planet.
The astrophysicist made the dire prediction during an interview with the BBC ahead of his 75th birthday.
“We are close to the tipping point where global warming becomes irreversible. Trump’s action could push the Earth over the brink, to become like Venus, with a temperature of two hundred and fifty degrees, and raining sulphuric acid,†Hawking told BBC News.
Sad.
Any astrophysicist worth his salt knows we would have to lose our moon for that to happen.
Has Hawking become liberally addled from too much time hanging out with The Big Bang Theory cast? The atmosphere of Venus is hot because of it’s very high molecular density, not because of it’s chemical composition, and certainly not because of CO2. Likewise, Earth’s atmospheric temperature follows the real gas law, and it’s temperature follows the same laws of physics. So no, our planet will not change more than a degree or two, will certainly not reach a temperature of 250 degrees, and will not magically start raining sulfuric acid.
JGlanton: The atmosphere of Venus is hot because of it’s very high molecular density, not because of it’s chemical composition, and certainly not because of CO2.
That is incorrect. The planetary equilibrium temperature of Venus is -46°C (due to its high albedo), but its surface temperature is +466°C (due to the greenhouse effect). By contrast, the Earth’s equilibrium temperature is -18°C, but it’s surface temperature is +15°C.
However, Hawking is almost certainly wrong. While increasing CO2 will result in a warmer surface, the warming is limited by various feedbacks.