The Global Warming Resistance with Brit & Grit

Hi Brit,

In the struggle not to get screwed too bad while the True Believers tilt at the windmill of Global Warming, here’s another thing to plan ahead for:

As more and more restrictions are placed on CO2 emissions, it’s pretty safe to figure that the price of electricity delivered to your house by the local utility company is going to climb at a remarkable rate.  While that sucks in many ways, it also offers an opportunity for those who are prepared.  Over here, there are laws which require those same utility companies to purchase any electricity produced by their customers, and, as the price of a watt rises, it may well make the cost of the generating equipment well worth the investment.

Today, let’s look at solar, since that’s the most available resource for most areas.  MATH WARNING!  If numbers scare you, scroll on down until you can’t see them anymore.

Here in the Memphis, Tn area, our electric rate is $0.07 per kilowatt hour (kWh from here on,) which is nicely low as compared to other regions of the country.  A kWh is, by the way, the amount of electricity needed to run ten 100 watt light bulbs for an hour, and, since different homes use different amounts of power, I’ll do all the calculations based on 1 kWh, and you can multiply by your average usage.

OK, solar power equipment, for residential use anyway, comes in the form of solar panels, which are those blue things on the roof of the house in the above picture.  I won’t go into the technology that makes them work, but I will point out that they produce direct current (DC,) which is the same form as the chemical batteries in your flashlight, or torch, produce.  Unfortunately, this is not what comes out of the electric sockets in your home, that being alternating current (AC.)  So, besides the strange roof decorations, you also need a magic box that converts DC into AC.  You also need another bit of enclosed magic that connects your solar power generator into the electric grid.  Installing that last part requires the services of a licensed electrician, and probably half a dozen Government permits.  Keep this extra expense in mind as we get into the cost/benefit comparison.

Moving on, current prices for 1 watt of solar power production, with all the added hardware are between $7 and $9.  That figure assumes you do the instillation, so if you’re not handy with tools, it’ll be a good deal higher.  In simple terms, that means to produce 1,000 watts it will require something like $8,000 of installed equipment, which, assuming an average of 12 hours of good sun, yields 12 kWh per day, or $0.84 worth of electricity.  Since it works every day, that’s $306.60 per year, meaning that it will take 26 years to pay for the investment cost, not taking into consideration the lost interest on the capital, especially as the expected life time of the equipment is probably shorter than the time needed to break even.

Now for the good good news, while electric prices are starting to go up, the cost of solar panels is about to go down!  The increasing amount of propaganda about going “green” is driving up demand, and this is moving investment capital into the industry, and larger scale manufacturing should produce a cheaper product.  The same pressures are also causing an increase in Government funding for research in the area, and there are several improvements in the technology that should lower the cost of production and increase the efficiency of each solar panel.  Beyond that, the Government is already willing to help you make the leap with tax breaks and low interest loans.  As the “Green” movement gains momentum, Government assistance to individuals wanting to do their part to safe the world should increase dramatically!

Thus, my advice is to keep an eye on:

1.  your electric rates

2.  the cost of installed solar panels and the equipment needed to connect them to the grid

3.  the amount of Government assistance available

When the break even time drops to a period you can live with, jump in.  Oh, and in some areas it may be worth taking the boost to your social status into consideration.

In a related bit of planning, it’s also important to consider whether these things will even fit onto your home.  Our house, for instance, is surrounded by 100 year old oak and walnut trees, so I’ll have to mount the solar panels on the bar roof and/or along a fence row, which will, no doubt, be more expensive.  Along these lines, and even if you don’t go solar, you should also consider what will happen when your neighbors do.  If the recent case in California, where the person who put solar panels on his roof was able to force his neighbor to cut down several trees that cast shade on them, is any indication, then planning in this area may well be worth while.

the Grit

Hi Brit,

After considerable thought, it seems to me that the first step in avoiding the horrors of the Global Warming fight is to stockpile incandescent light bulbs.  Obviously, the first assault on individual freedom in the rush to conserve energy so we can limit our evil CO2 output is going to be stopping the manufacture of the normal light bulbs that have served us so well for so long.  Thus, everyone will be forced to switch to the “energy efficient” florescent bulbs, regardless of whether they are appropriate for a particular application or not, and regardless of the health hazard they present from potential mercury contamination.  So those who have outdoor lights, lights that are turned on and off frequently, and/or who don’t want to call a hazardous material team every time a bulb breaks, should pick up enough old fashioned bulbs to weather the storm of Government meddling until the next generation of energy efficient LED lights is ready for market.  I’d think that a five year supply is a reasonable margin, and could probably be obtained for less than the cost of equipping all your lights with $4 per bulb fluorescents.

Second on the things-you-may-not-be-able-to-buy-later list is bottled water.  While I’m not all that big on drinking water, I do like to keep several gallons on hand for emergencies, and some people seem to have a bottle in hand 24/7.  Unfortunately, the energy cost of producing all that evil plastic is on the target list of the Global Warming Fanatics, and this simple product will probably not be on the market much longer.  So, if you have a need for it, grab it while you can.

Third, those marvelous plastic bags stores give you as a bonus for buying their products.  Regardless of their multitude of secondary uses, these will be gone like the wind when the Eco-freaks come to power, and everyone will be forced to purchase their own reusable shopping bags that you’ll have to carry to the store where they’ll take up space in your shopping cart, and which will make the checkout process slow enough to put “shopping rage” right up there with “road rage.”  Thus, my advice is to save them while they’re free, because it won’t be that way for long.

the Grit

Hi Brit,

It’s becoming increasingly obvious with each passing day that the fight against the myth of Global Warming is a lost cause.  Al Gore is blanketing our air waves with his own personal ad campaign on the subject, and all three of our viable Presidential Candidates claim to be true believers.  So, despite all the flaws in the science, and the monetary interests of the people behind the scam, I no longer see any reason to fight.  Thus, I’m starting to think ahead to the inevitable, and costly, new requirements the Government is going to hit us with, and how to reduce said costs as much as possible.  Heck, it should even be possible to make a profit from the coming mess just like Gore is getting ready to do.  With that in mind, as I research the possibilities, I’ll use this space to share my findings.

the Grit

Hi Brit,

As much as I hate to say it, this may well be our last post on the subject of Global Warming.  From now on, we may well be advocating that more CO2 and other greenhouse gasses be pumped into the atmosphere as rapidly as possible, while keeping our fingers crossed that Al Gore and the IPCC were right in thinking man can make the planet warmer.  I say this because the data from the major temperature watchdog groups is out for 2007, and it looks like we’re going into another ice age.  The following charts are from Watts Up With That, although they originated with various agencies often quoted by the IPCC:

While the originals are easier to read, these are sufficient to show that, last year, we experienced a drastic, dramatic, or even devastating drop in global average temperature!  (some more interesting facts are available here)  Remember that the increase in global average temperature, as claimed by Al Gore and the IPCC, which has the Global Warming Alarmists up in arms and wanting to take over the world is only +0.3 degrees Centigrade over the last century.  As you can see from the above, or the quoted article, we experienced a global decrease in average temperature of 0.6405°C, in one year!  Thus, in one fell and foul swoop, we have been saved from the impending doom of Global Warming, only to be plunged into the shadow of a potential icy fate.

With this sound scientific evidence in mind, I have a few suggestions.  First, imprison Al Gore on charges of global terrorism for his efforts to cool the planet which, as it looks now, may well kill hundreds of millions.  Second, the same goes for the members of the IPCC.  Third, build more coal fired power plants as fast as possible.  Forth, keep the current Global Warming insanity in mind when the next science spouting alarmist cult crops up.

the Grit

Hi Brit,

Even as Al Gore makes $6,000 per minute to give a speech before jetting over to pick up his Nobel Prize, there’s another new bit of research that shows the Global Warming Alarmist Computer Models are wrong and any climate fluctuations are just part of normal cycles.  Of course, that won’t stop the 10,000+ delegates, activists, con artists, and actors from jetting to Bali for one more conference on how to stop Global Warming, ruin the world economy, and allow the elite to become Feudal Lords.  It’s obvious from the wanton waste of resources these people are ignoring in their own travel arrangements to get a few days on the beach at the public’s expense, that they don’t really believe the Alarmist claims, or care at all about CO2 emissions, considering that the group output for this junket is estimated at 100,000 tons of the evil gas.

No, what they really care about is making sure that all of them get their cut in the Global Scam before the truth is learned by the general public.  Thus, as you must have noticed, the Alarmists have changed their tune from Global Warming being a threat 50 years from now, to 20 years from now, to 10 years from now, to TOMORROW MORNING if you don’t send more money to the Government and Green Activist Groups.  Since most of our news media is in bed with these fear mongers, it’s difficult for stories that point out such things as the record extent of the Antarctic ice sheet this year, instead of only reporting the pro-Global Warming stories of the 30 year record low ice sheet extent at the opposite pole. 

The reason for this is, of course, money, and a huge liberal bias.  Bad news sells, and to the feeble minds of the press, what could be worse than Global Warming?  As to how others expect to reap extra profit from the Alarmist sensation, let us think on this.  The UN, hoping to be in charge of the global battle, expects to see a massive increase in its financing, a significant portion of which, as usual, will find its way into the pockets of its staff and the delegates.  Big Business expects that “Green” products and services will sell well and at a premium far over the actual cost to a large group of consumers wanting to avoid the “shame” of not doing their part to save the planet, and, once Government legislates that the “green” sticker has to be on all products and services, they’ll have a license to print money for all intents and purposes.  Oh, and there’s also the possibility of Government’s insistence that all non-green products must be scrapped, making demand, and thus price, even higher.  There are also the investors in Carbon Credit schemes to consider, who will put Google and Microsoft to shame once carbon offsets are mandated.  Last, but never least, the various Governments around the world stand to make hefty gains both in tax flow into their coffers and in expanding their power over their citizens.  For instance, there are some in Australia already calling for a tax on having children in the name of fighting Global Warming.  If you doubt this, ask Al Gore, if you have $6,000 for a minute of his time.

the Grit

Hi Brit,

While I’ve been remiss in mentioning it, the news lately has been full of interesting Global Warming bits.  While it’s most often reported that Global Warming is real and may be causing everything from the Iranian nuclear crisis to increased slime production from African catfish, none of that concerns the scientific foundation for the IPCC - Al Gore driven theory, or even takes note that the scientific consensus consists mostly of Al Gore and James Hansen.  Still, there are some actual facts here and there that need to be repeated.

For instance, Cirrus Disappearance: Warming Might Thin Heat-trapping Clouds, shows us that Doctors Roy Spencer, John R. Christy, W. Danny Braswell, and Justin Hnilo, don’t seem to be part of the consensus that the science is settled.  As Dr. Spencer puts it:

“I know some climate modelers will say that these results are interesting but that they probably don’t apply to long-term global warming,” he said. “But this represents a fundamental natural cooling process in the atmosphere. Let’s see if climate models can get this part right before we rely on their long term projections.”

 Speaking of Dr. Christy, who, by the way, is one of the Big Names in the area of climate science, had some interesting things to say in a recent article:

The media also treat the IPCC as impartial scientists, but Reiter and Christy, who were members of the IPCC, say it is not what the public thinks it is. Many of the people involved in writing its report “are not scientists at all,” Reiter says. “They were essentially activists.” Members of groups like Greenpeace were involved. Skeptics were often ignored.Christy says, “We were not asked to look at a particular statement and sign our names to it.”Adds Reiter, “I resigned.” But the IPCC still listed him as part of the so-called consensus of scientists. He says he had to threaten to sue to get his name removed from the report, although the IPCC denies that.

From it we learn that yes, it is true the ice at the North Pole has been diminished to a record minimum. No surprise there: Who can watch the news for a week without viewing at least one Bermuda-size chunk of Arctic ice shearing off a towering ‘berg and plunging dramatically into the sea?Scary stuff. Except that it isn’t, because according to Christy, the extent of Antarctic ice — which accounts for a full 90% of the earth’s ice ( i.e. the Arctic contains a mere 10%) — has just reached its all-time maximum. Thickening ice may not be an ambitious journalist’s money shot, but it’s still — or should be — environmental news the public deserves to know about.
 His comment on sharing a Nobel Prize with Al Gore is even better:“I always thought that — I may sound like the Grinch that stole Christmas here — prizes were given for performance, and not for promotional activities”

 Beyond that, we also have, James Lovelock: Reducing emissions could speed global warming, where we find yet another area where the science is not settled.  In this case, Prof. Lovelock thinks that the global cooling effects of industrial soot and ash are not being properly considered by Al Gore and the IPCC.  This means that if we just stop spewing the stuff into the atmosphere in the process of cutting out our CO2 emissions, we could actually warm up more than from the Greenhouse Effect. 

Thus, it sounds like the science behind the Global Warming Alarmists is about as settled as fruit in a blender set on puree.

the Grit

Hi Brit,

I started to call this post, “Global Warming burns California,” after I read this news article, where we find that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is blaming the current fires in California on Global Warming.  Then, after a moment of thought, I remembered that without Al Gore there would be no Global Warming, which, after all, is only a myth perpetuated by propaganda efforts from The Great Cult Leader and his minions, the IPCC and the liberal press, making that title not quite correct.

On the other hand, even though Global Warming is a lie, so it couldn’t actually be responsible for anything, the ideology and political movement that is pushing the “theory” have had a direct influence on the current tragedy in California.  In this case, it’s the radical environmental movement, which is the base of support for Al Gore and the insanity of Global Warming activism, that has manufactured the perfect storm conditions that have allowed so much social disruption and destruction of property in the Malibu area.

The active agent is, in dry years, a large amount of dead brush in the area.  For years I’ve wondered why the left coast people don’t bother to cut this stuff and move it away from populated areas before it catches fire.  Today, I heard the answer on the news.  Every attempt to do this has been blocked in the courts by a consortium of environmental activist groups who value the lives of the spotted owl more than the lives of the population of California.  In other words, the same people who are supporting Al Gore in his quest for a global fascists state in the name of Global Warming, are directly responsible for the flaming destruction in the Golden State .  Since Big Al is the big name in the movement, obviously he gets the big blame.

On a less serious note, it’s also interesting to know that many of the outrageously expensive homes consumed by the flames were domiciles of the evil rich liberal Hollywood crowd, who are big financial and propaganda effort supporters of the same Global Warming Gore who, through his political efforts, is responsible for their loss.  Ah, isn’t it nice to know that the universe has a sense of humor?

the Grit

Hi Brit,

As you know, there is a small group of people, as compared to the world population, that is using Global Warming to further their political goals.  I’ve just discovered the identity of one of them, Dr. Michael Oppenheimer.  This man is currently a member of the IPCC, and a Professor of Geosciences and International Affairs in the Woodrow Wilson School and the Department of Geosciences at Princeton University.  Now, while this sounds impressive, a bit of further investigation reveals that his degrees are an S.B. in chemistry from M.I.T., a Ph.D. in chemical physics from the University of Chicago, and pursued post-doctoral research at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.  His first job was related to astronomy.  Then he fell in with a bad bunch, and became a science adviser to a radical environmental group called Environmental Defense, which was his pass into the higher ranks of the political movement pushing Global Warming as a reason to force us all into being “Green” slaves.  Obviously, anything this man says or writes, is only political propaganda from an unqualified source.  Not that the liberal press will ever bother to point out these things, or that our politicians would care.  Alfred E. Newman could be a lead author for the IPCC and it would never be mentioned or taken into consideration.  Still, I do like the concept of using Al Gore’s creation against him.

In that spirit, I’ve also discovered a plan being pushed by the Mad Doctor to save us from Global Warming.  No doubt, he has received massive amounts of Government grant money to compile this list of sacrifices we have to make.  You can find it here, although I’ll list the highlights below.  One important thing to notice is that this is also being pushed on teachers as propaganda their students should be exposed to.  It’s nice to know that the Evil Doctor at least knows some history, such as how effective the Nazi child indoctrination efforts were.

On to the “wedges” plan to stop Global Warming.  Doctor Insaneo has concocted 15 simple steps to save us from ourselves.  Kindly ignore the facts that implementing them will ruin the world economy, force us to adopt a world government which will not be any form of democracy, and will necessitate a large reduction in world population.  Heck, judge for yourself:

1. double fuel efficiency of 2 billion cars from 30 MPG to 60 MPG

2, decrease number of car miles traveled by half

3. use best efficiency practices in all commercial and residential buildings

4. produce coal based electricity with twice today’s efficiency

5. replace 1400 coal based electric plants with natural gas plants

6. capture AND store emissions from 800 coal based plants

7. produce hydrogen from coal at six times today’s rate AND store the emissions

8. capture carbon from 180 synfuel plants AND store the CO2

9. double the current global nuclear capacity to replace coal plants

10. increase wind electricity capacity by 50 times relative to today, for a total of 2 million large windmills

11. install 700 times the current capacity of solar electricity

12. use 40,000 square kilometers of solar panels (or 4 million windmills) to produce hydrogen for fuel cell powered cars

13. increase ethanol production 50 times by creating biomass plantations with area equal to one sixth of world cropland

14. eliminate tropical deforestation AND double the rate of new forest planting

15. adopt conservation tillage in all agricultural soils world wide

My impressions:

1.  not very likely since even the hybrids only run in the 30-40 MPG range, and they only just qualify as cars

2.  an obvious ploy to expand Government power by implementing travel restrictions.  Damn communist.

3.  which ignores the cost effectiveness of the “best efficiency” practices, and will not only slow our economy by adding an extra burden to those trying to start new businesses, but will prevent millions of low income people from ever owning their own home.  How kind.

4. considering the massive efforts energy companies have put forth for years to squeeze an extra cent or two from burning a ton of coal, any Government program intended to force better efficiency is most likely to have the reverse effect.  More communist crap.

5. which begs the question of how those people who now rely on natural gas for home heating are going to stay warm in the winter?  Oh, I forgot that with Global Warming they won’t need to heat their homes.  Of course, if this ambitious program works, then a lot of people are going to freeze.  Not to mention that, until Dr. Red achieves his communist utopia, someone has to pay for the conversion, and that someone will be, as always, the consumer.  While the Coven at the IPCC are most likely members of the Evil Rich liberal elite and can easily afford the increase in utility rates, not everyone is so fortunate as to be suckling at the Government tit.  How many poor people are you willing to kill Doctor Doom?

6. how?  Oh, and why only 800?  China is building almost one a day, so your proposal is not really worth the effort.

7. why?  Twit.  What a waste of tax dollars.

8. ?

9. good luck.  Oh, and have you bothered to consider the Global Warming implications will be when terrorists get hold of nuclear weapons made from the plutonium coming out of these extra nuclear plants?  Wait, nuclear winter comes to mind, so I suspect you have factored the death of millions into your calculations.  You bastard.

10. as most people say, not in my back yard.  Of course, that attitude can’t be allowed, meaning that we need a totalitarian world government to enforce the program.  Slick.

11. where?  Who’s homes and businesses are you going to bulldoze to erect your solar plants?  It has to be on already developed land, or you’re going to face some serious opposition from your eco-freak friends.

12. appropriately enough, this is putting the cart before the horse, since fuel cell technology is not anywhere close to that level of development, nor is there a distribution network, and, as you should know, there are tremendous safety concerns associated with shipping that much explosive material all over the place.  Cool if it works, but that’s hardly a given.

13. and here we get to the crux of the matter.  In case the Doctor Evil hasn’t noticed, and I would bet he has, that much arable land which is not in use does not exist.  Actually, assuming that we refrain from chopping down any more forests, as the Doctor of Death in #14, there is almost no extra farm land available to grow biomass for ethanol production, as is demonstrated by food shortages in Mexico due to the US drive to shift corn production from food to fuel production.  Thus, given how many people are starving today, moving more land away from food production can only result in more starvation, which, in light of the emphasis on lowering the number of transport miles the Deadly Doctor is advocating, will be greatly magnified.  Of course, since any reasonably rational person intuitively knows, the real problem these environmental fanatics are fighting is the over abundance of humanity, it shouldn’t be a surprise that they are proposing changes that will kill billions.  After all, it’s not their children that will suffer, just some useless dark skinned people on the edge of a holy jungle somewhere.

14. more fun with quietly killing off large sections of the world’s population. 

15. and, as should be expected by now, we end on another reason for the establishment of a totalitarian world government.  What really chaps my ass is that these “smart” people are so stupid as to believe that such a government would allow them the privilege of continued existence.  Really, if you take advantage of the freedoms offered by one Government to over throw it, it should be most obvious that you need to make sure that its replacement allows even more guaranties of liberty, else you and your friends and family are certainly going up against the wall.

How stupid can we get?

the Grit

Hi Brit,

While we’ve been pretty successful at pointing out all the flaws with the Global Warming Theory and the IPCC reports, we can’t ignore the real reasons behind the Climate Change Alarmism.  This story, Climate change past tipping point: Flannery, nicely illustrates one of them, environmental activists.  Here the Climate Scientist claims:

‘We’ve had growing economies everywhere. We’re still basing that economic activity on fossil fuels. You know, the metabolism of that economy is now on a collision course, clearly, with the metabolism of our planet,” said Flannery. 

There has been an inner circle of the radical environmental movement for years which holds the belief that people really shouldn’t be here, nature without man is perfect, and that kind of lunatic crap.  They are, by the way, the same people who killed nuclear power in the US, turned our fun to drive cars into toys, and killed hundreds of millions of people by getting DDT banned.  My sense is that, because a lot of them are very privileged types, they’ve developed an enormous guilt complex due to the general worthlessness of their unearned rich lives.  So, instead of committing suicide like decent people would do, they try to make themselves feel good by hurting others.  With the “discovery” of Global Warming, they’ve finally found a political tool to leverage their cause into a serious threat to all humanity.  Progress, evil progress, must be stopped at all costs, and it looks like Al Gore and James Hansen have given them the tool to do it.

Speaking of Al Gore, you might enjoy this bit of news from your side of the Pond, 

Judge rules Gore climate film requires guidance notes, where we find that, not only are there still some people in England (besides yourself) capable of rational thought, but that it’s become pretty common knowledge that the award winning film, An Inconvenient Truth, is really a very convenient propaganda movie.

Oh, and if you’d like a little more insight into Hansen’s political motivations and blind support from liberals take a peak at, The Incredible James Hansen.  It’s quite clear that every tiny bit of his work is nothing but biased political activism and, further, that he really should be the director of his very own padded room in a mental institution.

One other news item that has mostly missed the major news media gives some interesting insight into the concept of “scientific consensus” and the political bias inherent in the scientific community, Nethaway: From saturated fat to global warming, where we find that the war against eating fat was either bad science or a conspiracy by the behind-the-scenes people who are trying to control our lives through the terror of Climate Change.  Personally, I suspect this sort of thing is exactly why the Second Amendment was added to our Constitution, which also explains why liberals are so consistently opposed to the right of individuals to keep and bear arms.

Of course, in the general spirit of our liberal press, I blame all of these problems on Global Warming.

the Grit

Hi Brit,

As I’m sure you remember, any mention of the fear mongering back in the 70s over the Ice Age coming because of human activity is always dismissed by today’s Global Warming Alarmists as never having been based on scientific papers.  That, as it turns out, is a lie.  There was an article claiming that the burning of fossil fuels was going to bring on a new ice age.  It appeared in Science magazine, and was written by S.I. Rasool, who worked for NASA and Columbia at the time.  This was written about by the Washington Post on July 9, 1971, which article was found by Investors.com.

In it, Rasool says:

“the next 50 years” fine dust that humans discharge into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuel will screen out so much of the sun’s rays that the Earth’s average temperature could fall by six degrees.

Sustained emissions over five to 10 years, Rasool claimed, “could be sufficient to trigger an ice age.”

While this theory was obviously incomplete or completely wrong, another interesting bit of information is given, Rasool was assisted by one Dr. James Hansen who was a research associate at Columbia University at that time.  That help was the creation of computer models to back up the theory.  Oh my, no wonder the Head Mad Scientist tends to go berserk anytime a flaw is found in his latest predictions of doom and gloom.  Really, keeping a secret like that for all these years, knowing that its discovery could, given an unbiased press, could ruin his career and reveal him as nothing more than a political operative who should immediately be removed from his position.

Here, by the way is the abstract for the article mentioned:

Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide and Aerosols: Effects of Large Increases on Global Climate

S. I. Rasool ¹ and S. H. Schneider ¹

¹ Institute for Space Studies, Goddard Space Flight Center, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, New York 10025

Effects on the global temperature of large increases in carbon dioxide and aerosol densities in the atmosphere of Earth have been computed. It is found that, although the addition of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere does increase the surface temperature, the rate of temperature increase diminishes with increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. For aerosols, however, the net effect of increase in density is to reduce the surface temperature of Earth. Because of the exponential dependence of the backscattering, the rate of temperature decrease is augmented with increasing aerosol content. An increase by only a factor of 4 in global aerosol background concentration may be sufficient to reduce the surface temperature by as much as 3.5 ° K. If sustained over a period of several years, such a temperature decrease over the whole globe is believed to be sufficient to trigger an ice age.

Isn’t that interesting?  Now we know where Hansen learned his Prophet of Doom craft. 

the Grit