Re: [asa] Rush Limbaugh Science Lesson

My response is interspersed below.

On 5/27/08, *j burg* <hossradbourne@gmail.com> wrote:

On 5/27/2008 I heard Rush Limbaugh give a science lesson on global warming.

From my notes, here is the gist of the lesson, which, in his usual bombastic
way, full of sighs, he managed to condense into only 15 minutes of his
program.

The Mars venture last week was a great success. Here is what it teaches us:

1. The vehicle landed at about the north pole, where the temperature
is minus 100 F
2. 95 percent of the Mars' atmosphere is CO2
3. That compares with earth's atmosphere which is only 0.038 percent.
4. Or -- not quite four percent (yes, he actually said this)
5. The air pressure on Mars is the equivalent of earth at 100,000 feet.
6. There is, therefore, less air on Mars than on earth
7. Yet -- there is 90 times as much CO2 there as there is on earth
8. Therefore, if CO2 leads to higher temperatures, Mars should be boiling!
9. Since it is not (it is -100 F), CO2 clearly does NOT lead to global
warming
10. Therefore, global warming is disproven. All the scientists who support
it are either incompetent or are lying to serve their masters."

Lynn responding: I notice you said in your post today that you were driving
when you were listening to Rush on the radio. You no doubt had to
re-construct what he said from memory since I assume you weren't taking the
notes while driving.

I decided to do a google search on the subject and from what I found, it
appears as if he may have gotten his facts from a web site like this one:

*Earth vs Mars: http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/mars_tape_030819.html

Air*

*Earth:* Quite a bit. About *76 percent of it is nitrogen, with about 21
percent oxygen.* Next most common,* in order but in very small amounts*:
Argon, *carbon* *dioxide*, neon.

*Mars: *Not much. *Less than 1 percent the density of Earth's air at the
surface*, and mostly *carbon* *dioxide* (95.3 percent). Trace of oxygen
(0.15%).

This sounds pretty much like what you wrote in your notes, so why do you
think he is misleading people?

Your notes also included these comments:

11. He also predicted that the environmentalists would cite Jupiter's
observed global warming as evidence that this phenomenon (global warming) is
also happening on earth and that humans are responsible for both.

12 He had a lot of fun with that one. Even he knows Jupiter is too far away
to be influenced by anything humans do. Apparently he does not think the
"environmental wackos" know this.

How many innocent children do you think will be home schooled in this rotgut
tomorrow?

Makes the ICR/AIG arguments look almost rational!" - Burgy

Lynn responds: I did further research and found that Rush was quoting this
article:

*ScienceDaily (May 23, 2008)
Jupiter: Turbulent Storms May Be Sign Of Global Climate Change
*http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080522121036.htm

"According to Philip S. Marcus, a professor of fluid dynamics at UC
Berkeley, analysis of the Hubble and Keck images may support his 2004
conjecture that Jupiter is in the midst of global climate change that will
alter temperatures by as much as 10 degrees Celsius, getting warmer near the
equator and cooler near the south pole. He predicted that large changes
would start in the southern hemisphere around 2006, causing the jet streams
to become unstable and spawn new vortices." [read complete article at
link]

Today, you also wrote this:

"I only hear Rush once a week as I drive to the food pantry where I
volunteer. ..He has a website where his pearls of wisdom are exposed.
Someday I may visit it. - Burgy

At your convenience: http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/today.guest.html

BTW - You could have saved yourself the trouble of taking notes - you could
have gotten the exact transcript at the web site. Click on:
*Global Warming, Mars and the Sun
May 27, 2008

Lynn*

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Received on Wed, 28 May 2008 12:18:58 -0400