What is the truth about global warming?

Question

People say different things about it. Some say that it is a huge deal that we need to deal with immediately. Some say that everything the news tells us is a lie, global warming isn't as bad as everyone thinks. Could someone please give me the truth? If you can show proof.

Answer 1

CO2 is 30% higher than it has been for 650,000 years. Methane is 130% greater. These are two of the main pollutants humans put into the atmosphere in excess, and they are two of the primary greenhouse gases.

Look at the 'hockeystick', which shows a dramatic warming since 1950 after a fairly stable climate for 1000 years. In fact, the 10 hottest years in recorded history have all happened since 1990, with 2005 being the hottest.
(see links below)

How's that for proof of man's fault in this? There is ample proof, any real scientist will tell you that.

There has NEVER been an article doubting man's influence on global warming published in a peer-reviewed journal. A recent study of almost 1000 proved that.

Yes, the earth naturally heats and cools, but the rate and amount we are warming now is unprecedented in the recent geologic past. We are doing this, and we must stop it. This is not some political statement or rhetoric. This is science trying to educate a crass, ignorant public of the damage they are doing. The magnitude of temperature increase ALREADY is about 10x that of the 'little ice age' of the middle ages, and rate and amount are only going up.

Just to be clear, glacial and interglacial cycles are mainly controlled by astronomical fluctuations, but we have a detailed record of the last 7 cycles, and what the climate and CO2 is doing now is way different and extreme. The rate of increase is much higher than in the past AND the value itself is much higher.

HI CO2:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4467420.stm
HOCKEY STICK:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/5109188.stm
General climate stuff:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3897061.stm

Answer 2

It is indisputable that our Earth IS warming up at an alarming rate. No scientist, politician or normal citizen in the world can deny this, because temperatures are measured regularly everywhere worldwide, and these are rising year on year. Disputable is why this is happening. Your question should more correctly read " Is global warming caused by mankind, truth or fiction ?" It is a public issue because of the implications, should the planet warms up too much. Don't know what sociological imagination is, it doesn't take any imagination to understand how the Earth will be if the average temperature rises perhaps 4 or 5 °C over the next century or so. Basically you can kiss your proverbial backside goodbye. The ave. temp has risen 0,8 °C in the last 80 years and this rise seems to be accelerating, in the last ten years rising 0,22 °C, which is astronomic. If this is a natural process, as some believe, then the Earth has never warmed up so fast, over such a short period of time. It is simply unprecidented, and scary. That is why the debate is so important, no matter what one believes, either for, or against the belief in mans involvement. If you have an hour or so, check out the video link below. Man has a lot to answer for, in the name of ignorance, profit, greed and exploitation. And not a lot of time to start working together to resolve the problems we have caused. And you can give me the thumbs down all you want, I don't give a toss, but that does not change the facts. In my 56 years I have seen for myself that our planet is changing faster than it can repair itself. Having sailed for many years I witnessed the changing weather first hand. I am no socialist commie, I am not trying to control or limit your so-called "freedoms", or destroy what you believe to be your democracy. Your super-rich minority is already doing all of that.

Answer 3

During the Pliestocene the Earth experienced a (geologically) rare period of Global Cooling. The Earth's history does not have evidence of glacial ice, even at the polar region. This leads some geoscientists to classify the present time as still being in an ice age. When the Earth cooled it didn't destroy life on this planet, and there is nothing to show that if the current trend of the last 11,000 years continues, which is how long this current phase of global warming has been going on, will destroy life on this planet.

Answer 4

The truth is...nobody knows for certain. There are many hypothesis out there and many of them make sense but almost all of them can have holes poked through them. For example, there are those seeking political power (or increased tax revenue) by telling the mass population that something needs to be done. However, there are others that think there is little that humans can do. The Great Lakes (Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, superior) were formed by glaciers 10s of thousands of years ago. The glaciers haven't' been within 500 miles of the great lakes for all of recorded history. How can we blame that on human activities?

My personal opinion, yes, the earth is warming, so is Venus and Mars because the sun is swelling and getting closer to us. There is nothing any of us can do to stop it.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for conserving energy and being environmentally friendly. But lets not go overboard with this stuff.

Now they want to regulate those "evil" carbon dioxide emissions. Well guess what, the average human sitting in an office gives off 120 pounds of carbon dioxide in a years time at the office. It goes up from there, especially if you have a job that requires physical work, where your heart rate and respiration are increased. It all seems sort of crazy to me- but I'm amazed at how many people just go for all of it, hook , line, and sinker,,,

By the way, I have a book from national geographic that states 99% of the worlds species are already extinct. Most of them are fossils and were extinct before man even entered the picture. It just doesn't "feel good" that entire species as well as individuals have a life span and at the end of that time, they must die. It something we all must do.

Answer 5

Look when the polar ice cap starts to melt its getting serious and i don't give a hoot what the president says. If we don't start doing something soon this earth will not be able to sustain human life. Just look
at all the animals that have already been lost and the plants are going also. Its time to wake up and do something before its too late for everyone.

Answer 6

global warming is caused due to the green house effect .the short wave solar radiations from the sun strike the earths surface and are reflected as long wave radiations.carbon-di-oxide absorbs these radiations and re-reflects them back to the earths atmosphere creating a heat trap which leads to the green house effect.as a result the earths temperature rises resulting in the melting of the polar ice caps.in the near future it may lead to the submergence of the coastal areas because the level of the sea water is rising.the amount of carbon-di-oxide released into the atmosphere is increasing.

Answer 7

Thank you, for the insightful answer, QFL.

I am so tired of the flat-earther's denial answers.

Glacier National Park in the US has lost 70% of their glaciers. Amphibian's reproduction is dependent upon temperature to determine gender; some species have already gone extinct due to one gender populations. The threat of sea level change is making insurers pull back coverage in areas like the outer banks in NC, where many houses are less than 20 feet above high tide.

Answer 8

Global warming is just bull. It's fake. This is what happens when scientists mistake their data. There's evidence to prove this, that's why it hasn't been a big issue ever since it was though out.

HOWEVER, I do think that we should care about the environment more and take preventative measures for pollution and stop depending on oil.

Answer 9

1/ global warming or GW is a huge deal and must be under vigil observation and investigation;
2\ GW is inevitable and does not depend much on human activity, because the bulk of green house CO2 is due to exhalation of ocean caused by the very GW;
3/ we must not fight the nature and GW, but find the ways to live in changing situation, and minimize our losses.

Answer 10

Sea levels are rising....or are they falling? http://www.iceagenow.com/sea_levels_are_...
The glaciers are melting...or are they? see http://www.iceagenow.com/growing_glacier...
Human induced Global Warming... or a Cyclical Volcanic induced Ice Age? see http://www.iceagenow.com/

There is no "truth" only various theories, hypotheses, and models, many of which are at great odds with each other. Global warming may not exist at all and the climate variations we are seeing may be a part of natural cycles.