The results to last fortnight's poll were as follows:
The French want to allow 'refugees' seeking asylum in the UK to lodge their claim while still in France.
Good idea (we can reject them out of hand and they remain France's problem) - 73%
Bad idea - 27%
That is of course on the assumption that their claims are processed by British officials, and not simply rubber stamped by French officials keen to get rid of them.
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So China and the USA signed up to this Paris Agreement on restricting CO2 emissions last week.
Which made me think, unless they are just doing this for presentational reasons, maybe I'm wrong and there is something in this global warming stuff.
So I re-read a standard explanation, all just about plausible until this bit:
Without this natural greenhouse effect, primarily owing to water vapor and carbon dioxide, Earth’s mean surface temperature would be a freezing -1°F, instead of the habitable 59°F we currently enjoy. Despite their small amounts, then, the greenhouse gases strongly affect Earth’s temperature. Increasing their concentration augments the natural greenhouse effect.
That is, I am afraid, complete bollocks and if that's all they've got as evidence then I am still not buying it.
The real reason why the surface is approx. 30C warmer than it 'should' be, bearing in mind distance from the sun and albedo is because of Boyle's Law. The atmosphere works like a giant heat pump - the upper atmosphere is colder than it should be and the lower atmosphere is warmer than it should be. The actual temperature half way up by volume i.e. 5.6 km is approx. 30C cooler than the surface and is in fact exactly what you would predict, bearing in mind distance from the sun.
So that's this week's Fun Online Poll.
Vote here or use the widget in the sidebar.
Debate Magazine
