Debate over Global Warming?

Question

1. Have temperatures actually been rising?
2. Is it too early to be making predictions for the future?
3. Is global warming driven by people or a natural cause?
4. Could continued warming benefit some regions?

-What are both sides of these controversies and what do you believen?
-NO STUPID ANSWERS!!!!

can u please tell me BOTH sides of the for each question please!

Answer 1

1. Yes, temperatures actually have been rising - in certain places. 2. No, it isn't too early to make predictions, as long as they are based on sound, unbiased scientific findings. 3. I believe that the warming is being driven by both people and natural causes. We can do something about the former, but not the latter. To what degree (no pun intended) each one is a factor is still up in the air, I think. 4. Yes, it certainly could benefit some regions of the earth, but it would damage many populated regions tremendously. That's why we need to try to slow down the human contribution a.s.a.p.

Answer 2

1. Yes, as evidenced by worldwide records and by melting glaciers and vanishing polar icecaps. No room for debate here.

2. One can always make predictions based on recent trends. The question is, how accurate are they? Given recent climate change, certain predictions seem safe to make, such as rising sea levels and their impact on coastal regions; the question here is only the time frame. Other predictions (hurricanes, tornadoes, rainfall, desertification, animal migration etc.) involve too many variables to be made with any accuracy.

3. Looking at the correlation between CO2 in the atmosphere and the rise in global temperatures, one would be led to conclude that human activity is in part to blame. But the question is moot. Global warming is a fact, and whatever we can do to slow or arrest it will be beneficial.

4. This is one of those predictions that is difficult to make. From where I live (Maine) I tend to see only the downside. Maple syrup production is decreasing as the center of production moves north. West Nile virus and other tropical diseases are on the increase. So are destructive insects (like the Japanese beetle) whose range was never this far north. Alternate freezing and thawing of the ground is damaging to perennials. Rainfall for the year is about 10" above average, the ground is saturated, and flooding is taking place in some parts of the state. Many home garden crops did poorly in the intense heat this past year. Weather patterns are being disrupted globally. It's hard to find anything beneficial in these trends.

Answer 3

1) Temperatures have been rising for as long as we have been recording them, but in the history of the world - it hasn't been that long.

2) Because we haven't been keeping track of this data for very long, it is way too early to make any predictions on the future. Scientists that have more degrees than you hav teeth can't even agree on if this will even have an effect on us.

3) We know that since the time of the Industrial Revolution, that the exhaust gases we dispel into the atmosphere has collected in our ozone layer and has caused it to deteriorate. "Global warming", if it is even real, may be naturally occurring, but since our records don't go that far back, we don't know if this is just a normal cycle of the earth.

4) Continued warming is speculated to melt polar icecaps which would move coastlines inland. If you live in Indiana and would rather live on the Atlantic Coast, you would only need to wait - maybe a thousand years, but it will get there.

After the ice age, we have only continued to experience global warming.

George Carlin said it best when he talked about this in his bits. He said that the earth isn't bothered by us and could shake us off like a bad case of fleas. He also said that the earth only allowed us to come into existence because it couldn't figure out how to make plastic. The earth's big plan was to make us, we make plastic, then kill us. At the end it would be the earth + plastic.

Answer 4

1. Yes, it seems they have. Look at this year alone : we have had the warmest autumn in 300 years, we've had the warmest July and the warmest November day ever.
2. It is, because it is hard to predict what way nature may bounce back. But it sure does't harm to restrict our influence and decrease pollution.
3. It seems to be driven by people, but we can't be for 100% sure.
4 Yes, some colder or dryer regions may benefit because of better growing conditions. However, overall the costs outrun the benefits.

I believe we should continue to go for clean energy and for me that includes high quality nuclear energy. There have been a lot of improvements in recent years, but big countries like India, China, Brazil and Russia are still very very pollutive.

Answer 5

I can tell you one thing for sure, it's we the people who are causing Global Warming. We need to do something very quickly. Also I think some of it has to do with natural causes, too. The sea is rising because the iceburg is melting. I get scare sometimes of what the out -come will be in the future! I do hope you get some more answers to your question.
You can check out www.discoverychannel.com for more info.

Answer 6

I suggest you see Al Gore's movie "An Inconvenient Truth" and that will settle any and all debates. Ice bergs are melting in the North Pole, polar bears are drowning, hurricanes like Katrina, floods; they're all from global warming. The consequences of what we have done to the earth are not even subtle anymore. However, if we start now and everyone does their part, no matter how small, we can begin to turn things around and save our planet; but it's up to us; all of us.

Answer 7

I see ALL that responded forgot to provide any evidence to back up their claims.

It is up a toasty 0.6 degrees over the average for the last 120 years.

THE SKY IS FALLING! THE SKY IS FALLING!