Global Warming?

Question

I know almost nothing about global warming other than that it is "bad."

I'm not the type of person who will so easily be against something just on someone elses word.

What are the arguments that global warming exists vs. those that it does not? If possible, try to present in the most fair and balanced method.

Answer 1

well, the overall idea is that the world, over the course of time, is getting warmer. this is a natural process, but due to all the pollution we cause, we're making it worse. if you check to see what weather was like even 10 years ago, things have changed quite a bit. seasons dont start at the same time they used to, and temperatures keep hitting new records. practically every summer theres a new record set for how hot it gets. and winters arent getting any better either. its one of those things that you cant really ignore. its happening, theres not any disputing it. now, if we all just tried to put a minor effort into making sure its not getting worse, we can help solve the problem over the next few decades. and it wouldnt take much if we really ALL tried to do something. but there are those that feel that its a personal attack for some reason. probably because they were aware of it before and they know that they're polluting a lot, and dont have it within them to take an extra minute to try and help.

Answer 2

Global warming's not a problem. We probably are headed for an ice age, given histroy, but it will take thousands, maybe millions of years before it becomes a problem. People are concerned about global warming becuase industries are producing chemicals that harm the o-zone layer, causing more sun rays to hit the earth. Though the science behind this may be true, there is no cause for concern becuase the human effects on the ozone are insignificant. One volcano eruption probably causes more damage to the atmosphere than all cars in America over the span of a year. Besides, scientists say the o-zone is the healthiest it's been in a long time... and this is the industrial age!

Why are people afraid? Media hype caused by enviornmentalists. The theory is that the increased temperature will cause the ice caps to melt, causing the ocean to rise, and dramatically effecting the earth's land by flooding it. the o-zone's been in horrible shape long ago in history and this never happened, so why are people afraid now?

Answer 3

Denial is a big problem when it comes to global warming.

When the oil and gas prices are so high, alternate energy sources, such as Solar will become a reality. Unfortunately, only Solar energy sources can slow down global warming.

If anything is BURNED to make energy, it's bad, since carbon dioxide is created in the process.

Solar energy can generate usable energy through these methods:

- Wind power
- Hydroelectric power
- Tidal energy

When solar power is used to make electricity, we would then want to convert that to a transportable energy source. That means Hydrogen. When we can bottle and ship hydrogen, cheaper than high voltage transmission lines, we've got it!

So, while you are not in favor of higher Gas prices, that's how we would get there. People simply won't buy a more expensive fuel, just to save the planet.

Answer 4

I think there is a fair amount of evidence indicating that global warming is occurring. To me, the issue is one of causation. Scientists said a few weeks ago that they were very confident that the earth is warmer today that it was 400 years ago and fairly confident that it was warmer today than it was 2000 years ago. But what caused the warming temperatures 400 and 2000 years ago? At that point, human Co2 emissions could not have been the cause. So why is everyone so certain that humans are the cause now?

Answer 5

Global warming is the observed increase in the average temperature of the Earth's atmosphere and oceans in recent decades.The increased amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases (GHGs) are the primary causes of the human-induced component of warming. They are released by the burning of fossil fuels, land clearing and agriculture, etc. and lead to an increase in the greenhouse effect.

The term 'global warming' is a specific case of the more general term 'climate change' (which can also refer to 'global cooling', such as occurs during ice ages). In principle, 'global warming' is neutral as to the causes, but in common usage, 'global warming' generally implies a human influence. However, the UNFCCC uses 'climate change' for human-caused change, and 'climate variability' for other changes [4]. Some organizations use the term 'anthropogenic climate change' for human-induced changes.

The detailed causes of this change remain an active field of research, but the scientific consensus identifies greenhouse gases as the primary cause of the recent warming. This conclusion can be controversial, especially outside the scientific community.

Answer 6

The first link to the wikipedia article on global warming is a good place to start. I also highly recommend "An Inconvient Truth", the movie by Al Gore. He has packaged a very complex subject in an easy to understand and digest format while remaining true to the facts and the science.

I have also included a number of recent news articles that touch on different aspects of global warming. It is a very complex subject. You will undoubtedly get responses from naysayers claiming global warming is either not real, real but natural, or real but not a problem. Every single one of the arguments that they will offer have been debunked by scientists (see the last link below). On to the evidence:

1) That Global temperatures are rising very rapidly is an established fact (see first link). The rise has been seen over the past 100 years or so. The rate of rise has increased in more recent years. The rise in temperatures is having impacts on sea surface temperatures resulting in stronger storms - Katrina is an example, and is causing glaciers to melt world wide. The North Polar Ice cap is melting. The Greenland Ice Cap is melting. Temperatures at both poles are rising faster than equatorial temperatures. Most of the hottest 10 years on record have occurred in the last 10 years.

2) Carbon Dioxide levels in the atmosphere have been rising ever since humans started burning fossil fuels. Humans have been releasing more CO2 into the atmosphere than all other natural sources combined for about 100 years now. Our current rate of release is around 50 to 100 times greater than natural sources. Certain feedback mechanisms may be contributing to additional CO2 releases such as calibrate melting in the arctic permafrost.

3) Consequences: Changes in weather patterns, increases in weather variations, increases in storm strength, ice melting, heating of oceans, increase in sea level, ecosystem disruptions, extinctions, possible ice age in Europe,

Of these one of the most threatening is disruption of the marine ecosystem. There are several different impacts that are very scary:

Increased water temperature appears to be starting to kill coral reefs world wide. Corals cannot live above a certain water temperature and that temperature limit is rapidly being reached in many areas. Corals form the basis of significant fishing grounds in most tropical areas.

Carbon Dioxide is being absorbed by the oceans, which is in turn increasing the PH or acid level in the ocean. That is starting to affect ocean life that uses calcium carbonate to make shells and skeletons. The increased acid levels makes calcium carbonate and related shell compounds unstable. That may threaten plankton, which is the basis of the ocean food chain.

Changes in weather patterns and ocean currents are starting to change the seasonal timing of current upwelling that many organisms rely on for food, especially during breading periods. This is causing breading failures in a few areas and may well spread.

Radical alterations of the ocean food chain would clearly have a devastating impact on the world fishery industry and that is the primary source of protein for humans in many parts of the world.

Answer 7

I'll make it simple do you think that the politicians would pass laws on emission controls if auto's didn't increase global warming. Auto makers fought it for years.Plus just look at the steady difference in the weather temperatures

Answer 8

1. global warming is occuring

2. global warming is 100% a natural phenomenon, no sound science to the contrary exists

Answer 9

Go see the movie--it's actually good. (Inconvenient Truth)

(To answer Brian, it's because the variations in temperature have always tracked CO2 levels, and human activity has now pumped more of it into the atmosphere than there has ever been for the last 600,000 years.)

Answer 10

There is a good explanation of what may well be involved (including more science than I can readily churn out but it is fairly digestible) at http://yosemite.epa.gov/OAR/globalwarming.nsf/webprintview/ClimateScienceFAQFundamentals.html
I have to say that denial is very convenient when there are difficulties in facing up to a problem.