Let this sink in for a moment,,,
Maybe I should be asking WTH happened to critical thinking?
“I don’t see you as being one of the enemies. I know you’ve got a very tough job to do. As you sit there in your chair with your data, we sit up here in ours with our data and the constituents and stuff behind us. I don’t want to get into the debate about climate change, but >>>I will simply point out that I think in academia, we all agree that the temperature on Mars is exactly as it is here. Nobody will dispute that. Yet there are no coal mines on Mars. There’s no factories on Mars that I’m aware of. So I think what we’re looking at is something much greater than what we’re gonna do.”Seriously, "[n]obody will dispute that." You sure about that Mr. Smith?
A very simple, and I do mean simple enough a five year old could do it, search of this question, "What is the Temperature of Mars" gives us this lovely answer:
Mars's atmosphere is about 100 times thinner than Earth's. Without a "thermal blanket," Mars can't retain any heat energy. On average, the temperature on Mars is about minus 80 degrees F (minus 60 degrees C). In winter, near the poles temperatures can get down to minus 195 degrees F (minus 125 degrees C). A summer day on Mars may get up to 70 degrees F (20 degrees C) near the equator, but at night the temperature can plummet to about minus 100 degrees F (minus 73 C). Frost forms on the rocks at night, but as dawn approaches and the air gets warmer, the frost turns to vapor, and there is 100 percent humidity until it evaporates.And before y'all jump on the "thermal blanket" and the Mars atmosphere being made up of carbon dioxide, consider this from Phil Plait
Ironically, if Mars ever did have the same temperature as Earth, it would be due to global warming from the greenhouse effect. The atmosphere of the Red Planet is less than 1 percent as thick as Earth’s, but it’s mostly carbon dioxide. That gas raises the planet’s temperature a few degrees. On Earth, given our distance from the Sun and other factors, the average temperature should hover around freezing. Thanks to greenhouse gases like CO2, it’s far more clement … but since we’re adding huge amounts of carbon dioxide to our air, it won’t stay that way for much longer.",,, [B]ut since we’re adding huge amounts of carbon dioxide to our air, it won’t stay that way for much longer." What Phil is referring to, by my best guestimation, is long term trends; not the change from year to year or even decade to decade. (Here's two more sciencey explanations that look at the dynamics of wind patterns and ocean surface temperature.
Just to close out this horrid example of human stupidity, a big thanks to Joe Sonka over at Leo Weekly for this gem of a video clip,,,
Sen. Brandon Smith goes to Mars - YouTube
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