The Mars Paradox

Let's say we had two men. One had a million dollars and the other had only $385 dollars. Both had spending habits at a rate of $40,000 a year. The guy with a million dollars could live for 25 years at that rate. The guy will only $385 could only live a little over 3 days.

The reason for this example is to put into perspective the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) that we have here on earth. As part of our overall atmosphere, carbon dioxide is only 385 parts-per-million (ppm) or, about four-one hundredths of one percent of our atmosphere. The bulk of our atmosphere is nitrogen at 78%. Oxygen makes up about 21% of our total atmosphere. (See Full Story)

Clearly, carbon dioxide, that supposed greenhouse gas, is a very minute gas here on Earth. In fact, it is only called a "trace" gas. According to the dictionary, the term "trace" is defined as: "a barely discernible indication or evidence of some quantity, quality, characteristic, or expression." Now, granted, it has risen from 215 ppm to today's 385 ppm in the last 100 years; but, it still remains a minutely insignificant part of our atmosphere. Isn't it a little hard to believe that such a small element of our atmosphere is capable of warming this planet to the possible extinction of mankind?

On Mars, CO2 is the majority gas in that atmosphere. Mars is 95 percent carbon dioxide (See Full Story). Yet, the temps on that planet dip down to a frigid -200 degrees Fahrenheit. That's pretty damn cold. In fact, the highest ever "observed" temperature on Mars is what could easily be considered a Martian skinny-dipping temperature of 65 degrees. In comparison, here on earth, the coldest temps in Antarctica dip to a balmy (relative to Mars) temperature of -130 degrees.

So, here's the paradox. With so much CO2 in Mars' atmosphere, why "isn't" Mars burning up with Global Warming? After all, a greenhouse gas is a greenhouse gas; whether it be on Mars or here on Earth. Further, as much as we can tell, there are no humans running around on that planet in SUV's; no flat screen TV's being run by coal-fired power plants; and, there are no Martian cows whose tailpipes are expelling significant amounts of CO2 (and other gases). Yet, Mars, like us, is going through a warming period (See Full Story). A climatologist might explain away Mars' cold temps by saying it is due to its proximity to our sun and its very thin atmosphere. OK? But, why is there warming without mankind?

Just maybe, it might NOT be CO2 that's responsible for warming climate conditions here on earth or on Mars. Ya think? Could Mars' current warming and ours be based on something that our Sun is doing? Na. What fun would that be? I guess I'll stick with the Gore hypothesis and just stop breathing to save our planet!