At http://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/weathering-of-rocks… …. we are told that during the Ordovician period the amount of co2 in the atmosphere was eight times greater than in the modern world. Why then did climate not develop into runaway global warming? The Ordovician period is normally associated with glaciation.
Well, the co2 is awful brigade have come up with an explanation in Nature Communications and they must be really dreadfully desperate they now feel compelled to say mosses on rock surfaces were enough to create a cooling affect – that overode the co2 warming effect (that is so awful it is quite alarming). One wonders how you can make a case when so little is really known about the Ordovician, even the amount of co2. Obviously, they offer this explanation to counter sceptics using the Ordovician as an example of high co2 and low temperatures. The idea is to shut up the opposition and provide activists with a quote they can throw back at critics taking the Michael out of them. The activists will use the meme without thinking much about the contradiction – and it will become a shouty match with no winners. That is all they need to do – shaddup the debate. However, we may also think positively as it is somewhat good that articles such as this are published in major science journals as it allows the great unwashed to have a laugh without necessarily fully grasping the science (or lack of science) involved. It means that the co2 people are shown up for what they are and you don't need a science degree to take away a negative view from the idea mosses on rocks can cause global cooling on a magnificent scale. It could even guarantee new recruits to the sceptic side – or the dark side of the climate issue (the bad guys that are extraordinarily unfazed by the emotional junk constantly battering against their heads).