Is this "Global Warming" problem just a popular thing to talk about, or is it really an issue?

Question

I've heard so many people say it's just a warming "trend" and that the Earth will go back to its old ways in a century or so. Then there are other people who are literally freaking out over the whole thing. What is the truth?

1. This is just a warming trend and planets such as Mars and Venus are experiencing the same things, so we as consumers and manufacturers aren't the only culprits.

2. This world is going to hell in a handbasket and we really do need to do something about it.

I welcome all opinions.

Answer 1

Well, first what I have to say is global warming is actually a big problem for us nowadays. This is not just a trend. Global warming will cause the ice at the antarctic to melt, and the water sea level will raise. Temperature will raise too, and cause animal and plans to extinct. For more information, just click on the link below. I really hope this will let you to aware that how serious the problem now. Hope this can help you.

Answer 2

There are people who will argue both sides and they both have valid points. There is a general scientific concensus in the world today that the current warming trend is, atleast in part, the result of the activities of man. That is not to say that it's a statement of fact. It's simply what the evidence that we have collected this far seems to point to. We do know for a fact that the earth does go through natural warming and cooling periods, but they do not last a century or so... they last thousands of years. The earth iteself will make it through these periods sure enough. Life in some form will make it through these periods. It has in the past and there is no reason to think that it won't this time. However will mankind survive in it's current form at it's current population if a warm period sets in and lasts for 10,000 years? Who knows. Probably, but there would be alot of changes.

Either way we should worry about it as we need to plan for a warmer earth and everything else that comes with it. IE changed eco-systems. Changed shore lines, melting ice caps. Increased energy demands. etc.
The other questtion is .. if man does have something to do with the warming trend.. what is the cost of trying to lower our greenhouse emissions vs the cost of preparing for a changed earth? If we spend the billions of dollars to cut our emissions.. will it have an impact or is it too late?

Answer 3

It is both a popular thing to talk about and really an issue too.

However, this world has been going to hell in a handbasket for a very long time, at least as long as there have been people and handbaskets. Global warming is just the newest popular problem. As in the past, the problem is both worse than and not as bad as people say, depending in which people you listen to.

Answer 4

It depends on who you ask. If you ask an oil company or a politician who has oil interests then no, global warming is no problem at all and anyone who says otherwise wants to harm western economies. If you ask a scientist they might say maybe, we can't really tell right now but with everything that is going on, something bad might happen. If you ask an eco-warrior then it would be a big yes, the greenhouse gasses caused by burning fossil fuels will cause dramatic climatic changes.
Where I live the different layers of rocks show desert, then warm tropical shallow seas, then muddy sea and finally deep valleys caused by massive glaciation and that was all before any people existed at all. The climate changed by itself.
I personally think that we need to cut down our energy habit for all sorts of reasons including global warming, just in case.

Answer 5

I'm no scientist, just an englishman living in Russia. For the last 3 years the snow has come about one week before Christmas, yet before the snow arrived the beginning of November. There aren't even any records to compare with this years mild winter's start. So I would have to say that it isn't a trend or myth but fact.
Unfortunately the situation is getting worse.....

Syntax Wizard

Answer 6

Despite what Slim Whitman says, global warming (at least based on scientific EVIDENCE) is a real occurance and as such will develope into an actual problem. Slim is correct in his assertation that the earth has experienced warming and cooling trends over the course of its history. Where he and most other "anti-global warming" people tend to falter, is the fact that these periods of change take place over thousands to tens of thousands of years. Subtle changes in atmosphere such as a volcano venting gases or a shift in plant-life to a less nitrogen consuming species can result in variences of global temperature. One needs to look at the fragility of this planet and how such minute changes can have global temperature effect spanning generations... then take a step back and observe the vast amount of atmospheric change that the human race is accountable for. How many vehicle emissions, how many production factories, and just how many people exist in general... if subtle changes in nature can have such climate altering effects such as the last ice age, then how can we NOT be affecting global climate. This fact in conjuction with all the scientific evidence concerning green house gases and volumetric quantities of additional chemical production, as well as the recent shift in global climate that has been readily recorded within the last 80 years... the melting of the poles resulting in reduced habitat for the indiginous species, the abundant amounts of tropical storms (which will only get worse and cover a larger distance as ever increasing warm fronts react with cold fronts as the tropical belt moves northward) all resulting in arid areas expanding, resulting in larger rates of famine and less nourishment production all the while the population will continue to increase. When given thousands of years to adapt to climate change, the world has time to adjust accordingly. When given a hundred years to adapt to that same level of climate shift, will the world yield the same results? My guess is that it will not, likely in my lifetime I will see the extinction of the Polar bear, penguin and arctic versions of sea lions as their hunting grounds are continually depleted at a rate to which they cannot adapt (do some research, this is already happening). We as a species need to be more consciencous of our actions and hopefully someday we will find a balance with nature. In the meantime, do not listen to party line rhetoric, from either side, and look at the facts of nature... it is happening, and its happening faster than it has in ANY recorded history. Is it coincidence to be written off by those who stand to gain? I do not believe so.

Answer 7

There is a small percentage of people who think global warming is just a hoax, but an overwhelming majority of scientists believe it is a virtual certainty. If you want more information on the subject, I would suggest watching one of 2 documentaries: HBO's "Too Hot Not to Handle" or Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth"

Answer 8

He's doing the equal dam factor Bush did. Growing Government, Funding Wars to nowhere, spend, spend, spend... The warfare is over Saddam is within the flooring victory is ours. Now ship them the invoice for offerings rendered and transfer ahead. Obama has no reply for Iran or North Korea so we can take the reactive Democrat stance. Afghanistan and Pakistan what is the plan? Sit within the hummer and ship a missile or 2 on the taliban and al-Qaida.. quite?? And what the hell is Hillary Clinton doing approximately those nations.. All speak no motion and each and every nation on the planet is aware of America is administered by means of a host of pansies now.

Answer 9

The fear mongers in the Ivory Towers and their capitalist allies promoting commercialism, want to get us worked up and scared so they can sell us more expensive cars, seize our land and generally get us scared so we work more hours and have more money to spend on this crap. 20 years ago the establishment was trying to scare us with "global cooling" or a "new ice age". Consider even the movie "The Day After Tomorrow." It is about "global warming" yet climaxes with a massive snow storm... looks like they are covering ALL their bases, eh? Also, in response to the first answer, Antartica is a continent; it is earth not ice. It will be there long after we're all gone.

Answer 10

Anarctica won't be here when my grandchildren are born. We are losing the glaciers in Alaska and the North Pole. The temperature is rising. The ozone layer is no longer as protective as it used to be. We are creating more garbage than the earth can break down. Read Al Gore's an Inconvenient Truth, that will bring you up to speed.