How long will it take for global warming to actually affect us?

Answer 1

It depends on you point of view, but the best estimates that we have is that the big stuff will pick up in about 20-30 years. From then, the going will be very difficult and changes need to be made now, not later, because once the ball of climate change gets going, it will be very hard to stop it. There is no doubt that this is real, and we arent going to be able to stop the change completely, but we can make the change less drastic, for example, instead of 5 foot flooding, maybe we could make it more like 2-3 foot. But whats interesting is that we have just entered a 50 year period of severe hurricanes and we all remember last year's season. This season was supposed to be much the same, but we didnt take into account that El-nino would be back. And I think that there is a definitive connection between climate change and El-nino. Another thing that we need to consider is something that "The Day after Tomorrow" brought up: desalinization of the ocean currents. If this stops from all the ice that will melt, we will be in some deep crap. Granted, it wont be exactly like on the movie or on the time scale, but parts of it would be true, like extreme weather popping up where it shouldnt. Given all of this information, the timeline will be very long, something that wont be on our timescale. Also, the solutions arent going to be instantaneous either. In today's day and age with lightning fast internet and movies contributing to instant gratification, we need to remember that these things arent going to happen on our terms or timescale. The tech and the science are here, and ready to get us out of this. What it all depends on is whether we can learn from our mistakes and accept responsibility for our mistakes. If we can do this, we can make a difference and change our future.

Answer 2

It already is. There have been several news reports recently about how the Arctic strait is still open right now, when it should be solid ice. There are tribes in Northern Ontario, Canada that are having problems getting supplies to them, because they rely on the ice to be solid to get tankers and other large trucks there. The news report I read says they have lost an entire month of trucking because the ice is not forming quickly enough.

Answer 3

ahh it affects us now....sort of
look at all the kids with asthma...people with preventable cancers from pollutants in the air
and what does the government do? they put deadlines on any 'plans' decades down the road so that they don't have to be responsible for the outcomes but they can say they 'tried'

Answer 4

Some say it already has started, some say it never will. it all depends on your point of few, and your knowledge of the Earth. I would try to make as little impact on the planet as possible. Try to recycle as much as you can, and use as little unrenewable resources as possible

Answer 5

its already started to affect us. in the eastern states of australia, one week there are raging bushfires and the next week they get snow like the middle of winter!

and look at new zealand - iceburgs?? its meant to be summer!

Answer 6

10 years ago these 'experts' were telling us that we were heading for an ice age.