Reply #12: here's a handy reference site

[treepig]

http://physics.syr.edu/courses/modules/ENERGY/ENERGY_POLICY/tables.html

from which, if i read it correctly, the usa alone uses 10,000 more power than you postulate (i.e., 10e13 watts).

however, incoming solar power is yet another 10,000 greater (i.e., 10e17 watts).


so, based on your reasoning (if i'm following at all correctly) there should already have been plenty of energy reaching the earth to melt it many times over (the incident solar energy dwarfs any man-made uses).

the key, of course, is how much heat irradiates back into space - and hence the "greenhouse" gases become important. therefore, the amount of energy used here on earth is largely irrelevant to considerations of the "extreme global warming" issues you're raising (once again, if i at all understand your point).