Is the sun heating up, or is this an excuse for global warming?

Answer 1

Currently there is little doubt (in the scientific community, at least) that the Earth is heating up. It is also generally agreed that this is due in large part to human activities on this planet such as the burning of fossil fuels.

Now, that said, Earth's global temperature is affected by the sun's variations over time. In the late 1600's there was a period known as a "Maunder Minimum", when the Sun showed very few signs of activity. It still shone as always, but the standard 11-year cycle of sunspots appeared to have been disrupted. During this time, Earth experienced what some people call a "Little Ice Age" - global temperatures dropped by a few degrees, growing seasons were shorter, and there was a good deal of famine as a result. It seems likely that the Sun's lack of activity during this period was connected to Earth's brief cooling.

Answer 2

The Earth has all kinds of different Elements that act in different ways.
The Sun is a Star , which to say is just a huge ball of flame. Flamable gases that continuously burn and explode.
Earth's distance from the sun gives us the temperature that we have.
Too close and it would be constantly hot. Too far and pretty cold.
Some of the Elements in the Air around Earth. Absorb some of the Energy we receive from the Sun. But over time this protection is breaking down allowing more energy to pass through. Thus Earth becomes a little warmer.
At the same time the Sun is burning out and when something that big grasps for more to burn there is an implossion like you wouldn't believe.
Everbody on Earth gets a new Postal Code. This will all happen Tomorow.
P.S. Tomorow = 10,000,000 years.

Answer 3

I have not heard that the sun itself it hotter, but that is the effect of more sunlight reaching the earth as the ozone layer is damaged. I have not heard what the scientists say, but I think it will probably heal itself eventually, if we stop messing around with the sort of pollutants that caused the problem in the first place. But in the meantime, the globe is indeed a very little bit warmer than it has been in a long time. And even very small changes can have rather dramatic effects on weather patterns, which can have some dramatic effects on drainage and erosion, etc., etc., etc.

The scientists and the mystics agree on one thing: all is connected. "All is one, my child," as Steve used to put it. OK, we need to work in the details, not the big philosophical truths. But we must not, at our peril we MUST not, forget the underlying truths. What affects any part of the planet earth, any aspect of how it functions, directly or indirectly affects the whole planet.

We, having civilized the globe to a significant degree, have changed a lot of variables. We are part of the planet, and so part of the "ecosystem," that lovely buzz word that really does mean something important. Just as a human body is an organism, and is host to a great many other organisms (e. coli, our friends and allies; various not so friendly tiny things), and is involved with a great many more as food or for other reasons -- just so is the earth, Mother Earth, an organism with a complex structure that is host to a great many other organisms (ourselves, for example) which may be either benign or malignant.

I choose to be benign. I want to be part of the saving, not the hurting, of Mother Earth. But I will do it more effectively by using my intelligence to make decisions for myself about just how to be a positive force in this world, than to be forced into any mold.

That's why I'm a Libertarian, not a Green.

Answer 4

It could be because of the greenhouse effect. Venus is farther from the sun than Mercury, but it is hotter because of naturally caused gases in the atmosphere which causes heat to be trapped as in a greenhouse. The same thing could be happening to the earth with man made gases such as fluorocarbons trapping the sun's heat and keeping it from dissipating. I doubt if the sun is heating up, but who really knows. The problem with global warming is that it is hard to pick the cause, and there are probably many. The earth over billions of years has undergone heating and cooling periods. The jury is still out as to whether global warming is caused by man, but it is a possibility. One that we could do something about.

Answer 5

Yes, it is. As the sun ages, it heats up. Eventually (multiple millions of years according to astronomers) it will be so hot earth will no longer be inhabitable. Global warming, however, is a separate phenomenon. It is related to the amount of greenhouse gases such as carbon monoxide and dioxide in the atmosphere and a number of other complex causes. Scientists disagree quite a bit about what causes it and how much man is responsible. That the earth goes through periodic warming and cooling periods is a certainty.

Answer 6

The Sun is not heating up, it's just that greenhouse gases are stopping the Sun's heat from escaping our atmosphere. Consequently the Earth's global temperature increases but the Sun is the same temperature.

Answer 7

According to most solar models the sun is heating up and will continue to as it ages. In about 1.5 billion years the sun will heat up enough to make the average temperature on the Earth 30 degress faranheit warmer, on average, then it is right now--all life will be destroyed by this since this will cause the oceans to evaporate. However there are also many short term ups and downs that occure for reasons that are not understood and these definately contribute the Earth temperature variations.

Answer 8

The sun has always been hot. Global warming is happening because of greenhouse gases affecting the atmosphere. The weather is more severe because of this. They keep saying this over and over again on the news but some say it's because of the cows.

Answer 9

A million years is a snap of the fingers in the life of the sun. What it does over 10 years or 100 years makes no difference at all.

Answer 10

Excuse for global warming.....