The warmest places on Earth are deserts. Most plants dry up in deserts.
2. Why the CO2 from people breathing doesn't "count" towards global warming
When people breath, they are just putting back the CO2 that plants took out when they made our food.
3. Why a relatively cold day, month, or even year doesn't necessarily mean that global warming isn't happening or has stopped
Global warming happens slowly. The weather for a day, month or even a year is effected by many factors. The fact that it gets colder from July to January is because of the seasons, not because of global warming not happening.
4. How CO2 could be good for plants directly, but bad for them indirectly
The fluoride you get from the dentist is just enough to stop cavities. A lot of fluoride is a poison.
5. How CO2 can cause big changes in how much heat the air holds, even though it's a very tiny fraction of the air
I could put a few drops of vegetable color in the bath tub.
6. How it's possible that the sun isn't responsible for the warming, even though the sun is the source of (essentially) all the heat on Earth
Even though the Sun is responsible for almost all of the heat on Earth, the Sun isn't causing the warming because it has been cooling.
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Regarding Mike's response, I would tell a high school dropout who *insists* that he's right and the world's climate scientists are wrong to go watch Scooby Doo.
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I don't think that a six year old is a good proxy for a denialists. How many six year olds come back with the same lame claims after you explain something to them?
I have tried to explain it so a 6 year old could understand, but here goes again. Even 6 year olds might learn something.
1. How global warming can harm plants even though plants usually grow more in the summer. Having grown up in South Dakota, I have witnessed when early frost decimates trees. I have seen animals starving because it was too cold.
2. Why the CO2 from people breathing doesn't "count" towards global warming. I haven't heard that one except maybe as joke.
3. Why a relatively cold day, month, or even year doesn't necessarily mean that global warming isn't happening or has stopped.
How about 15 years?
4. How CO2 could be good for plants directly, but bad for them indirectly.
Why do alarmists insist on seeing the glass half empty? CO2 is generally good for plants. Why is that a controversial concept? The reason is because it is needed to demonize CO2. Isn't that obvious?
5. How CO2 can cause big changes in how much heat the air holds, even though it's a very tiny fraction of the air.
Some people think a degree is a big change and others don't. Some people think it is harmful to go from 34 degrees F to 35 and some don't. Some believe we don't have enough evidence to know that it wouldn't have been 35 Deg F anyway.
6 That darned sun. It just isn't cooperating with your cause.
Compared to what we people have been used to for a long long time, global warming will make bad weather worse, stronger storms, heavier floods, longer droughts, and make it happen more often. Most of the time the weather will still be okay, but the bad weather situations will get worse over time. When you are grown up it will be worse than now when you are a child. Scientists have studied this for a long time. Sometimes people who don't understand the science say things about it that aren't true. Like they might say that global warming is not mostly caused by our burning oil and coal. But it is. Scientists figured that out a long time ago.
I wouldn't bother. A six year old has no need to know about such things- they'd just blow it out of proportion in their little minds like when someone says "everyone dies" they think that means they will die tomorrow.
Same for the adult population you're aiming at. Their little minds could understand the topic if they so desired, but they don't want to understand it and there's no use forcing it on them.
Yeah. I would tell a 6 year old that if the proponents of AGW got everything they wanted to stop global warming in the Copenhagen summit deal then s/he probably would have never been born because population control under the guise of UN agenda 21 style proposals would be very strict.
Well your acting like a six year old child, CO2 is good for plants (they eat it) CO2 is good for plants it doesn't cause droughts or heat waves (show me proof it does) Jim Z is right 15yrs shows that global warming has stopped and didn't even start.
Tiny amounts of CO2 can cause warming, but after that it is fully saturated and can cause no more warming.
Yes I can, but why would I want to go into so much detail to someone with little attention span? I'd instead say Go watch Scooby Doo.
A six year old?
First I would get a copy of Hans Christian Anderson's "Emperor's New Clothes" and then make sure that she understood it.
Why would you want to propagandize your child like this, that's child abuse.
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There are a few misconceptions that skeptics and denialists keep coming up with. Perhaps if some key concepts were explained as you would explain them to a tolerably bright kindergartener, something might sink in.
So, can you explain any or all of the following as you would if you were talking to a 6-year-old?
1. How global warming can harm plants even though plants usually grow more in the summer
2. Why the CO2 from people breathing doesn't "count" towards global warming
3. Why a relatively cold day, month, or even year doesn't necessarily mean that global warming isn't happening or has stopped
4. How CO2 could be good for plants directly, but bad for them indirectly
5. How CO2 can cause big changes in how much heat the air holds, even though it's a very tiny fraction of the air
