Idiots armed with computer models: Without AGW, we'd be in an ice age right now

Prof. Vavrus presented data from computer simulations done with Prof. Ruddiman. "As computers improve, we can make more sophisticated models that incorporate more and more of the feedback effects together."

The warming effect from ancient man has prevented an ice age from occurring right now, they say. "If humans hadn't intervened, it would be two degrees Celsius colder" on the planet over all, Prof. Ruddiman says. "There should be permanent ice sheets covering much of Canada and Eurasia."

He adds that it doesn't mean global warming is beneficial: "When my initial paper was published, the climate-change skeptics jumped all over it and said, 'See, greenhouse gases are our friend,' " he says. "But then they realized that if they accepted my hypothesis, it means the climate system is as sensitive as mainstream scientists say it is."

Idiots armed with computer models: Carbon dioxide hurts ethanol production

"The world depends on U.S corn production for a variety of uses," Diffenbaugh said. "Ethanol production and a growing world population are increasing demand for corn. Expansion of the pests' ranges could have substantial impacts through decreased yields and increased costs for seed and pest management."
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The team used a high-resolution climate model, believed to have the greatest detail currently available for the United States, to project daily temperatures for specific regions.
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The simulations were carried out using computational facilities in Purdue's Rosen Center for Advanced Computing, which is supported and administered by Information Technology at Purdue.

The National Science Foundation and National Aeronautics and Space Administration partially funded this research.