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Water vapor isn't harmless. http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/vapor_warming.html http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/vapor_warming.html

Retric 13y ago
Are you joking, rain keeps water vapor in balance but long term CO2 sticks around.
sampo 13y ago
Well, true, but the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere is determined by the balance of (i) water vapor condensing back to liquid water (e.g. rain), and (ii) water evaporating to atmosphere from oceans, lakes, soils and ecosystems. This balance is mostly determined by the temperature. So you can't really add much water to the atmosphere by only emitting water vapor by e.g. burning gas, or even boiling huge amounts of water, because the excess water vapor will just condense back to liquid water. Also if we imagine some huge industrial process that dries the air, removes water vapor from the air, this wouldn't really decrease the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere, because the drier air would just suck up the water back when it next comes into contact with a water body, damp soil or vegetation.
- DannoHung 13y ago
  > Also if we imagine some huge industrial process that dries the air, removes water vapor from the air, this wouldn't really decrease the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere, because the drier air would just suck up the water back when it next comes into contact with a water body, damp soil or vegetation. That's true on the macroest of macro scales, but in local climates, water vapor doesn't maintain a steady state. Otherwise every climate would be relatively green. In any case, if it's really so much better to capture methane and burn it for fuel than let it escape, then we should be forcing natural gas companies to figure out how to capture melting methane clathrates instead of taking them out of ground wells where they're relatively stable.

Retric 13y ago

Are you joking, rain keeps water vapor in balance but long term CO2 sticks around.

sampo 13y ago

Well, true, but the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere is determined by the balance of (i) water vapor condensing back to liquid water (e.g. rain), and (ii) water evaporating to atmosphere from oceans, lakes, soils and ecosystems. This balance is mostly determined by the temperature. So you can't really add much water to the atmosphere by only emitting water vapor by e.g. burning gas, or even boiling huge amounts of water, because the excess water vapor will just condense back to liquid water. Also if we imagine some huge industrial process that dries the air, removes water vapor from the air, this wouldn't really decrease the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere, because the drier air would just suck up the water back when it next comes into contact with a water body, damp soil or vegetation.

DannoHung 13y ago
> Also if we imagine some huge industrial process that dries the air, removes water vapor from the air, this wouldn't really decrease the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere, because the drier air would just suck up the water back when it next comes into contact with a water body, damp soil or vegetation. That's true on the macroest of macro scales, but in local climates, water vapor doesn't maintain a steady state. Otherwise every climate would be relatively green. In any case, if it's really so much better to capture methane and burn it for fuel than let it escape, then we should be forcing natural gas companies to figure out how to capture melting methane clathrates instead of taking them out of ground wells where they're relatively stable.