I’m happy to use whatever term makes people listen, and it doesn’t surprise me that the terminology is more effective if people can relate to it. It’s a factually accurate description anyway – in fact you could argue that it’s more nuanced – so I don’t see it doing any harm.

tl;dr: Whatever works.

You’ve convinced me it isn’t common sense, though, since my argument is based on general scientific knowledge that a lot of people don’t spend a lot of time learning or thinking about.

Total energy under greenhouse effect goes up.  The amount entering the system stays the same but less is radiated into space so the total increases.  This increase in total energy is absolutely relevant to the rate of evaporation:
1) It increases the capacity of air to contain water vapor.
2) It increases the rate of evaporation of water — regardless of relative humidity.  If relative humidity is high then condensation and evaporation may happen at the same rate, but because of (1) we’re essentially guaranteed this isn’t the case.  There will be some increase in evaporation even if feedback suppresses it somewhat.

Any temperature can have 100% RH, with a net evaporation rate of zero.  It’s not convoluted at all. 

But is this a realistic real-world scenario?  100% RH everywhere all the time?  I think to make your argument that evaporation wouldn’t increase at all — to argue that there is 100% RH everywhere all the time, essentially, would actually require an incredibly convoluted argument.

Any temperature can have 100% RH, with a net evaporation rate of zero.  It’s not convoluted at all.  

Yes, yes, relative humidity.  But increased heat increases the capacity for air to hold water and increases the rate of evaporation.  So while you can probably come up with some convoluted reason why increased temperatures wouldn’t result in more evaporation it would need to be really convoluted.

Well, I guess I should know better than to ask a science question on Boingboing,

Usually the comments are better than this and the only problem you’d have is that someone would link you to lmgtfy for asking an easily googled question. BB commenters are pretty smart and with-it for the most part.

not everyone will die.  Those that do will mostly die of starvation or thirst or be killed as a result of looting or warfare.  But yeah, generally agree with you otherwise.

I’d use “global weirding”, but I think it’s a bit too precious. 

Wait, what was the time scale were were talking about again?

The abstract covers my concerns almost exactly:

A 90-year analysis of surface evaporation based on a standard bulk formula reveals that the following atmospheric changes act to slow down the increase in surface evaporation over ice-free oceans: surface relative humidity increases by 1.0%, surface stability, as measured by air-sea temperature difference, increases by 0.2 K, and surface wind speed decreases by 0.02 m/s. As a result of these changes, surface evaporation increases by only 2% per Kelvin of surface warming, rather than the 7%/K rate simulated for atmospheric moisture.

This is another concern I thought of, which they luckily cover as well:

owing to its thermal inertia, the ocean lags behind the atmospheric warming, and this retarding effect causes an increase in surface stability and relative humidity,

That’s essentially what wasn’t clear — relative humidity (actually the difference between RH and 100%) largely determines the evaporation rate, and RH decreases as temperature increases, unless more water is added, which is what is expected to happen, so nothing is clear at all.

End of story.

To simulate, put a lid on your boiling pot of water!  THAT’S the greenhouse gases stopping up the heat!  Note how it boils more and more violently!  It tries to push the lid off!  THAT’S whatchacall the storms at present, and the storms to come!  

Global warming is EASY TO GET once your head isn’t stopped up with lies, from dupes and dirty energy profiteers, claiming it doesn’t exist!!!!!

Enjoy the storms, and get used to them!  They’ll be growing in strength every year until the greenhouse gases we’ve filled the atmosphere with dissipates in a century!  Of course, LONG before then the methane that is being released now, and which is 20 times more powerful than CO2, might kill us all first!

Thanks for being so stupid!   

That doesn’t seem clear to me.  Is he saying there will be higher humidity, more moisture transport, or what?  I get that higher atmospheric temperature will increase airborne moisture by about 4%, but the relative humidity of the system will be about the same.