No rise of atmospheric carbon dioxide fraction in past 160 years, new research finds

I would love to have this explained to me in accessible, non-condescending terms that my small brain can digest.  It looks like this is saying that the earth’s ability to absorb the same percentage of produced Co2 has remained unchanged over the past century and a half.  Is this a meaningful number if total Co2 produced has risen significantly?  That is, if oceans and plants are consuming 55% of the carbon dioxide produced, and have been for at least the past century and a half,  then that either means that the total amount produced is rising due to human activity and though the percentage absorbed is constant, the rising volume means rising total levels.  Is this then going to produce anomalies in the models used to predict climate change – anomalies tending toward overstating warming?  Looking forward to your comments!

No rise of atmospheric carbon dioxide fraction in past 160 years, new research finds

Technorati Tags: global warming,greenhouse gases,science daily,climate studies

Daniel Henninger: Climategate: Science Is Dying - WSJ.com

Interesting commentary by Daniel Henninger in the WSJ.  The shabby aspects of ‘climategate’ seem to deal more in attempts to block dissidents from publication and tricking numbers to manipulate them into being ‘right’ – that is, to reflect what the scientist in question assumed they would.   The shoddy behavior of a few scientists does not change the facts.  Whether the planet is warming, and whether the cause is human activity or not is not changed by a small group of ‘scholars’ attempting to trick the numbers or keep others who disagree from publishing.  Henninger refers to Gallileo, and it doesn’t seem that much of a stretch to see global warming driven by human activity as an article of faith which must be served if one wishes to prosper in scientific endeavors.  Scientists are called to a higher discourse and regard for free exchange of information and ideas.  Though it does not change whether the earth is warming due to our activities or not, the behavior of our scientific community does bear on not only this question but the whole of scientific discourse.  IMO.

Daniel Henninger: Climategate: Science Is Dying - WSJ.com

Technorati Tags: Science,Climate change,Climategate,Global Warming