Agree or disagree -- Global Warming still unproven?

Question

The facts aren't all in yet, and besides, it goes against the American way of life, so obviously the entire scientific community is trying to pull a fast one. But we're too smart to be fooled, aren't we?

When I asked this question, I truly had no idea who's right. I still have no idea. So let's vote.

Answer 1

Apparently you are not.

That the Earth is heating up is established fact.

That the heating is caused by increases in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is established fact.

That humans are primarily responsible for the increases in carbon dioxide is established fact.

That the burning of fossil fuels is the primary source of human released carbon dioxide is established fact.

That it "goes against the American way of life" is both debatable and irrelevant.

That you don't believe it is merely a reflection of your ignorance and gullibility.

Your claim that the scientific community is trying to pull a fast one is beyond silly. What do you think the scientific community has to gain by this "conspiracy"?

The one group that does have a great deal to gain in this debate is the Oil Industry. Doesn't it seem likely that they might be attempting to fool you with false claims about the science? How much did Exxon make in profits last year? $36,000,000,000. That is just one oil company.

I think we are too smart to be fooled by the Oil Companies aren't we?

Answer 2

Lets re-arrange the deck chairs on the Titanic, shall we?

Certainly, we have good information on the actual air temperature
at a representative number of locations throughout the planet.

And indeed, the temperature is warming.

The real question is: How long is this trend? If it is a multi-millenia
trend that we have no control over, do we just kiss Florida goodbye
and get on with our lives?

Is there anything we can do to slow the temperature increase or
stop it? If CO2, etc, isn't the fundamental cause, we'd better figure out
what the cause is, or at least see if it is likely to continue for years,
decades or what. If its decades, we are toast.

The American way of life may or may not be the cause of it.
Changing the American way of life may or may not actually do any good.

At this point, has anybody put forth any OTHER suggestions giving us
something we can do about it other than putting our houses on floats?

So far, its the best theory we have to explain the meteorlogical
evidence.

Yes, it is certainly warming. Frankly, I hope they are right and we can
do something about it.

Answer 3

Not so very well proven. The scientific community itself has no reason to pull a fast one, but "charitable" ecological organizations who fund the grants do. We know that we're coming off of an ice age, but have absolutely no way of knowing if the process is accelerating past normal or not. We'll just have to watch and see. It's not that we'll be fooled, so much as we are often tempted to jump to conclusions. Maybe the sky isn't actually falling. Even if it's happening, are we certain it's a problem? If this is cyclical, then won't it naturally peak at some point? We don't know yet, and since we're talking about time on a scale of millenia here, I think there's plenty of time before we need to panic.

Answer 4

the fact that temperatures are rising can be, and has been proven already.
The real question is how much, and what is it caused by?

It could just be that we are in the midst of a naturally occurring warming trend.

Some data says our temperatures will rise catastrophically in the next hundred year - the majority, however, show that temperatures will rise around 1 - 2 degrees fareinheit.

Basically, despite it being widely accepted as scientific fact (which has happened many times in our history, only to be proven false), global warming - or, more pointedly, the greenhouse effect, is, as yet, unproven.

Answer 5

Scientific evidence has proven global warming already. Higher temperatures recorded, floating ice in the Artic Ocean has decreased , global sea levels have increased by a few inches, there are less rainfalls and quick evaporation of water like in the the Amazon owing to the warming, burning forests from intense heat, and satellite pictures show the loss of part of the ozone layer.

Answer 6

When you want to see who's lying or telling the truth, look at the sources and what their motives might be. Our congressonal representatives, for instance, and many of the heads of governmental agencies, are recipients of money from big oil companies and others that benefit from us believing that global warming doesn't exist.

Look at it with an open mind, and read up on it. Don't just believe the politicians, ministers, talk-show hosts, or your brother-in-law--or a poll of Yahoo Answers.

Also think about how we might benefit from more environmentally-friendly behavior, whether the earth is warming or not. Energy's expensive, pollution's harmful to our health, and some of the same things that will slow down global warming, if it exists (the studies seem to support that view), will help to alleviate those problems, too.

Answer 7

Nature waits for no one. It doesn't make any difference if global warming is definitively proven or not. There's plenty of evidence to suggest that it is.

Wouldn't it make more sense to take positive actions based on reasonable evidence than wait until our ignorance catches up with the facts and then it's too late? If you think you're developing heart disease, you stop smoking, even if it isn't proven that you have it.

I think it's the opposite. Scientists are sharing their evidence, while politicians, who have have friends in the oil companies, etc. are pulling a fast one. They can keep denying and debating the research to keep making the profits.

Answer 8

Global warming is a fact, since we are still warming up from the last ice age. What isn't proven is Man's contribution to the problem. Do a google search on the Emian Period, which was the last warm interglacial period just prior to our current one. You will see that it was even warmer than today's world, with both icecaps completely melted, and Mankind had NOTHING to do with that warming spell.

Answer 9

Proven. While I do think it's a serious problem, I think there may be some politically motivated scare tactics in use to get the public's attention.

If we all just did something small now to help, I feel it would make a big difference. Then we won't have to drastistically alter our lives in 10, 20, etc years.

Answer 10

right right the entire science community is fooling you, and the politicians are your best friends. They just love you so much. Lets all ban science and live in caves. So I suppose all the toxic fumes coming out of cars and factories are healthy smokes of love from the rich industrailists who would give up their fortune just to appease a poor sap like you. Oh man those fumes are so healthy, maybe we should pay the oil industries for unleashing it on us. Those rich guys are real saints arent they.