The notion of carbon dioxide turning the atmosphere into a sweltering greenhouse seems simple enough.
Problem is, carbon dioxide is only one of many players in the global-warming game.
Researchers like Tim Bates are traveling the globe to figure them out. Working from a scaffold more than 30 feet above the 274-foot ship's deck, he sampled a fair amount of sea spray as well. It's not a very pleasant place to be. But the research ship's air samples, once analyzed, should help researchers create better models of how different man-made gases and particles are not only warming but also cooling the Earth. Identifying which chemicals and particles are doing what in the atmosphere could have a major impact in the debate over global warming, particularly as industrial nations attempt to reduce the production of greenhouse gases under an agreement struck two years ago in Kyoto, Japan.