now that exxon has been exposed for paying off "scientists" to oppose global warming ....?

Question

can we assume only scumbags will defend them?

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20060920/ap_on_sc/britain_scientists_exxon_2

Answer 1

I think it's a good idea to challenge many of the misconceptions about global warming. Here are a few I came up with...

CAN (or should) HUMANS STOP THE NATURAL CYCLE OF GLOBAL WARMING/COOLING?

First, consider that the current episode of Global Warming started about 12,000 years ago. It is actually the end of a Global Cooling period. It is a cyclic, natural process that occurs whether humans exist or not. This raises the question - is it our duty to try and interfere with nature's cycles for our own convenience? Can we stop a process that is driven by fluctuating solar output, atmospheric moisture and other monumental natural influences without really screwing up the planet?

It seems a certainty that if all human pollution were to cease immediately, the Earth would continue in its own natural warming cycle that began before humans were numerous enough to contribute.

Here are a couple of examples of scientific facts I have encountered that shed real light on the engine of global warming:

1) Carbon Dioxide levels rise naturally as a response to global warming, starting about 800 years after the warming cycle begins

http://www.co2science.org/scripts/CO2ScienceB2C/articles/V8/N48/EDIT.jsp

"Clearly, therefore, it is temperature that is the robust leader in this tightly-coupled relationship, while CO2 is but the humble follower, providing only a fraction (which could well be miniscule) - of the total glacial-to-interglacial temperature change."

2) Solar heat output has been rising

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/topstory/2003/0313irradiance.html

"Historical records of solar activity indicate that solar radiation has been increasing since the late 19th century [as far back as we can measure?]. If a trend, comparable to the one found in this study, persisted throughout the 20th century, it would have provided a significant component of the global warming the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports to have occurred over the past 100 years,"

3) The Greenhouse Effect turns the Earth into a... lush greenhouse

Plants use sunlight, carbon dioxide and water to grow. When there is more sustenance, they grow more as do the herbivores that feed on them and the carnivores that feed on the herbivores. In past millennia, when the Earth's CO2 levels were many times higher, the Earth was a lush greenhouse supporting mega-flora and mega-fauna. The Ice Ages killed off much of that lush plant and animal life and left the Earth far poorer in biodiversity than it had been. Today, the atmosphere lacks the CO2, moisture and heat to support the massive biosphere that once flourished.

4) Biodiversity increases with global warming - and is reduced by habitat destruction

http://news.mongabay.com/2006/0330-stri.html

Warmer climate, increasing tropical areas, allows much greater diversity of plant and animal life. A cooling climate or reduction of tropical forests reduces biodiversity.

Answer 2

Mars Is Warming, NASA Scientists Report

Data coincide with increasing solar output

The planet Mars is undergoing significant global warming, new data from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) show, lending support to many climatologists' claims that the Earth's modest warming during the past century is due primarily to a recent upsurge in solar energy.


Martian Ice Shrinking Dramatically

According to a September 20 NASA news release, "for three Mars summers in a row, deposits of frozen carbon dioxide near Mars' south pole have shrunk from the previous year's size, suggesting a climate change in progress." Because a Martian year is approximately twice as long as an Earth year, the shrinking of the Martian polar ice cap has been ongoing for at least six Earth years.

The shrinking is substantial. According to Michael Malin, principal investigator for the Mars Orbiter Camera, the polar ice cap is shrinking at "a prodigious rate."

"The images, documenting changes from 1999 to 2005, suggest the climate on Mars is presently warmer, and perhaps getting warmer still, than it was several decades or centuries ago," reported Yahoo News on September 20.


Solar Link Possible

Scientists are not sure whether the Martian warming is entirely due to Mars-specific forces or may be the result of other forces, such as increasing solar output, which would explain much of the recent asserted warming of the Earth as well.

Sallie Baliunas, chair of the Science Advisory Board at the George C. Marshall Institute, said, "Pluto, like Mars, is also undergoing warming." However, Baliunas speculated it is "likely not the sun but long-term processes on Mars and Pluto" causing the warming. However, until more information is gathered, Baliunas said, it is difficult to know for sure.

Answer 3

funny how conservatives call any truth...any proof...that goes against what they want a conspiracy theory, and always misrepresent or lie about every single thing that they say!

scorebore said that "we don't have control over global warming" and linked a NASA website as proof.

What the website says is:
"If we can understand how the Earth's climate responds to such volcanic forcing, it may help us predict how climate will change in response to other forcings, such as increasing greenhouse gases."

and is talking about volcanic ash...not pollution in it's acertation of what happens when a volcano erupts!

Answer 4

Boycott products of Exxon.

Answer 5

If scumbags = the repuglican party then yes.

Answer 6

Of course!

Answer 7

Since we don't have any control over global warming...


http://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/briefs/hansen_02/

Answer 8

just said accusations sounds more like conspiracy theories and al invented global warming