Wednesday, November 02, 2011

A more in-depth climate science video - addressing climate physics, sensitivity, etc in 90 min

This post covers who should watch the (deeper than usual) video "Climate Change: What We Know and How We Know It" by (Republican) geochemist Barry Bickmore, and what the talk addresses.
Climate videos aimed at the general public tend not to be satisfying to people who want to understand how the physics applies; but for these physics seekers, this video might fit the bill. Starting with some discussion of a "radiant energy bathtub" metaphor, Bickmore spends the first half hour going over climate physics, then goes on to cover estimating "the holy grail", climate sensitivity, & addressing possible natural & human causes of climate change.

Though informal, it is a lecture & not entertainment; but he covers a lot of ground in an hour & a half, and for those who want physics in their big picture, this video's likely to be ideal.

(In a comment there, I've noted which topic gets covered when, so if you just want to hear about, say, climate sensitivity, you can just navigate to that particular segment.)

If you like this one and want more, Richard Alley's 2009 AGU lecture "The Biggest Control Knob: Carbon Dioxide in Earth’s Climate History" is excellent; and David Archer's University of Chicago climate class lectures (recommended by others; I haven't watched) are available online too.

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