Re: Chernobyl " population will continue to slide toward extinction "

[Bernard L Cohen <blc+@PITT.EDU>]

On Tue, 24 Apr 2001 RuthWeiner@AOL.COM wrote:



> Clearly all heat converted on the earth initially came from the sun, abnd 

> certainly there is direct re-radiation of solar radiation.  However, it is 

> very well understood that local climate change often depends heavily (thought 

> maybe not 100%) on dissipated heat from some sort of energy conversion.  

> Example:  the Florida everglades (where there are essentially no motorized 

> vehicles or human habitation) cool off sufficiently at night to produce weak 

> temperature inversions and are noticeably cooler than South Miami, which is 

> at the same latitude, gets the same amount of solar irradiation, and even has 

> a slightly better cooling mechanism with easterlies off the ocean. (These are 

> direct observations:  I lived there for four years.)  

> 

> There is clearly no singe identifiable "cause" for the heat that is trapped 

> by CO2, but I disagree strongly with a position that dismisses the very large 

> amount of dissipated heat generated by energy conversion.   



	Cities are warmer than surroundings because bricks, cement,

asphalt, etc hold heat better than greenery. But on a global basis, the

heat generated by man's energy conversion is trivial compared to the

energy received from the Sun. The Sun sends us about 10 to the 17 watts,

while mankind's energy conversion generates something like 10 to the 13

watts.



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