On 20/01/10 17:37, in article , "Eric
Gisin" wrote:

Why are scientists still measuring temps in archaic units today?

You mean using Fahrenheit? Because the article is general and for
ans American readers.

As for the heating rate, if you have a small flame under a container
with lots of water, the rate of temperature rise will be difficult
to compute. If the container is insulated all around, the calculation
is easy. If the bottom top and sides of the container are open
then heat loss can occur. If I were a modeler of such a system
I would want to verify my model (or adjust it) by placing heat
sensors all around the container and measure what was really happening.
All models are imperfect and the only assumption about this
kind of systems that will get warmer.

The earth's climate system is more complicated although at least
we have sensors in place. For me the big problem is the inertia
os the ocean in its heat content and being very cold at lower
levels. If for some reason that was churned up and some came to the
surface we might well have global cooling until the heating
effect of the CO2 caught up.