Scientists have discovered three "supermassive" black holes orbiting one another, in effect dancing in each other's gravitational fields. "What remains extraordinary to me is that these black holes, which are at the very extreme of Einstein's Theory of General Relativity, are orbiting one another at 300 times the speed of sound on Earth," said Roger Deane, of the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Not only that, but using the combined signals from radio telescopes on four continents we are able to observe this exotic system one-third of the way across the Universe. The tiny bubbles of air trapped inside the various layers can give a good portrait of how much carbon is in the air. Even when our climate was in some other phase, some different way of balancing the many subtle influences that make up the wind and weather and warmth we experience, temperature and greenhouse gases still marched in lockstep. Walker again: Through the entire [ice core] record, the highest value of CO{-2} was about 290 parts for every million parts of air. [...] when people say they are not scientists to explain their opposition to the idea of global warming, I always think, No, but there are scientists who have done the work. Why not listen to them? They almost all say that carbon in the air from the burning of fossil fuels is causing global warming, the melting of polar ice (both poles), and the subsequent rise in sea levels. While they are belittled by politicians, scientists are spending their time in terrible conditions, boring deep into the glacial ice, just so humankind can advance its knowledge of the way the universe works. It's not a controversial statement - except in states that depend on oil, coal or gas for a significant amount of their revenue. [...] the people with the deep pockets reach out to politicians, and all of a sudden the deniers have advocates in Congress.
Reported by SFGate 5 hours ago.
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