Are we, in fact, doing anything?
Yahoo staff note: This is the real Brendon B
2006-10-11 10:38:18 · 18 answers · asked by Brendon B 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Weather
In a word no, not as a planet.
The problem really is three fold. Firstly the US refuses to accept that humans are causing global warming, they are the biggest source of greenhouse gases so without them doing something what's the point.
Second - Countries like China,India,Brazil etc are just becoming industrialised - they are going to want to burn oil and coal, some how we have to convince them not to.
Three - People just don't want to pay for it. It's insanely stupid I know and in th long term they will pay more when their home is under water.
As a nation the UK isn't doing to badly. We need to invest more in renewable such as Wind, wave and tidal. Solar isn't really an option at the moment. I also think that we DO need to make a big push for fission as a stop gap until we have fusion online - which will solve most of our energy problems long term.
However we waste about 30% of our domestic energy. Does that shop really need all it's lights on an night? Do we really need our roads lit at night - I seem to remember there being a switch on my car that says "lights". So do you need your TV on standby when you out?
We also need to promote sustainable fuels such as ethanol and bio diesel. I would just LOVE to run my Landrover (which I use as a landrover not a school bus) on Bio diesel but the nearest stockiest is 40 miles away.
Sorry I diverge
The answer is No we don't do enough but with some changes we could do.
I would like at this time to make a political suggestion that will make a lot of people unhappy. If we trade with a country that hasn't signed the Kyoto treaty or is not meeting it's Kyoto treaty obligations we should place a tariff on its goods that meets the costs of removing the greenhouse emission associated with it's manufacture. It's the polluter pays policy
2006-10-11 21:22:17 · answer #1 · answered by Mark G 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Quite clearly not....as almost every month we live through now is on record for something...be it the hottest July since records began, the dryest Aug, the mildest Oct etc......nothing is ever normal anymore and that has to be a great sign of trouble ahead...
I guess your question really depends on whether we as individuals care about the consequences of our actions as the human race on those people who will follow us....the real effects of GW are likely to be felt in hundreds or even thousands of years time....should this be a real consideration therefore in how we live our lives today?
I suspect in reality the answer is no...especially if changing things would require Governments to make unpopular political decisions now....and risk themselves losing MPs or even being in power at all......it is interesting how morally right things become morally wrong in terms of politics!
2006-10-12 05:00:00 · answer #2 · answered by Robbo31 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In a word - NO. Continental europe leads the way even the usa grows more biofuels than uk.
Britain really ought to be the leader in this, we are wasting our oppurtunity to fight global warming and to move into new markets for the benefit of our economy.
2006-10-11 17:49:56 · answer #3 · answered by wave 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
To be honest, I doubt it very much, no snowball feels responsible for an avalanche, and I guess its up to each one of us to do our BEST. In England we are setting up recycle plants and having new systems set up with waste disposal, some working well, some are not, but yes I think we are beginning to get at least one foot off the floor!
I recycle as much as possible, and yet, when visiting USA this year, I was horrified to see how much trash goes out and is NOT recycled at all, which rather cancels out all my efforts in comparison. So come on guys, its your problem too!?
2006-10-12 17:57:48 · answer #4 · answered by SUPER-GLITCH 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Invent a time machine and change the past. Actually Its too late now. Rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic comes to mind.
2006-10-11 17:57:29 · answer #5 · answered by powerball 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No , not enough by a long way, as long as the car is king along with the black **** it runs on , then earth has a very big and seriuos problem.
2006-10-12 07:06:37 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
of course not, but theres really a lot we can do, and its basically simple stuff like not polluting or not throwing trash out car windows or not dumping sewage into oceans, etc. lots of other stuff too, but your not going to get everyone in the world to agree to stop polluting the earth, its a natural thing that everyone seems to do.
2006-10-11 19:12:44 · answer #7 · answered by Kristin B 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There's nothing we can do, because there's nothing we're doing to cause it. The Earth's temperature goes in cycles. Studies show that this is the hottest the Earth has been in 500 years... What caused the temperature to go up 500 years ago? Global warming is a total hoax!
2006-10-11 17:40:56 · answer #8 · answered by Chris C 3 · 0⤊ 3⤋
we are hardly doing anything!!!when people stop flying in planes...
when people stop driving everywhere...
when factories close down...
when we stop throwing sewage in the sea...
when we stop using plastic products..
when we stop doing nuclear test...
i could go on and on!!!
are you prepared to stop doing all these things so that global warming will end???i don't think so!!so we'll just go on until we blow the earth up then we won't have to worry about it!!!!!
2006-10-11 17:55:31 · answer #9 · answered by ....FED UP............ 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You should not do anyting to fight global warming. It is like fighting a hurrican. Earth cools, then warms, then cools, then warms.
Research "the year without a summer". Can you then say there was global warming after that? Were we burning oil then?
2006-10-11 17:41:24 · answer #10 · answered by Dr. J. 6 · 0⤊ 3⤋