Global Warming - What do you think??

Question

Are humans really making a difference, or does the wold not go in cycles??

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

The history of the Earth shows a cycle of ice ages and warmer periods in between. Barring any interference, this cyclical pattern should occur indefinitely. Of course, this is true for many processes.

No one really knows how or if this cycle could be disrupted; but, we look at Venus and see a possibility that is not at all appealing.

We, as humans, clearly do make a difference. We create greenhouse gases that would otherwise not appear in our atmosphere. The amount of impact we have, though, is at the heart of any global warming debate.

Almost every reputable scientist, however, has by now jumped aboard the global warming bandwagon. In other words, they pretty much unanimously believe that we are, if not directly causing, at least rapidly accelerating global warming.

The bottom line, then, is no different: we have to cut back on greenhouse emissions in order to prederve an environment that will sustain us. If not, we are aiding in our own destruction.

(A couple of interseting side-notes: first, the Earth will go on regardless- it's just people who'll be gone. Second, despite the talk of warming, we are still in an ice-age- the definition is whether we still have perma-frost. This doesn't mean that we shouldn't be concerned about the issue, though!)

Answer 3

Humans have contributed in a very small way, but British government scientists are 'over egging the pudding'
Did you know that when mount Heller erupted in 1986, it released more carbon dioxide than people have in recorded history.
As for earth cycles the earth is supposed to have a mini ice age every 10,000 years, so since the last one was 10,000 years ago we are due for another.
The earth climate is never constant, for instance when the Romans ruled England and wales in The 4th century They recorded that they had vine yards in what is now derbyshire. It must have been warmer than today.
But Carbon dioxide isn't the only factor to consider, The sun is an obvious factor, it is also ever changing did you know that the sun has increased it's activity for the last 30 years?
Don't you think that maybe could warm the atmosphere?
Not to mention that the earth does shift in its distance from the sun during its orbits.
The magnetic field of the earth also varies. According to the boffins the earth's magnetic field is weak at the moment.
Which allows certain types of the sun's radiation to penetrate closer to the earths surface.
In short I think we aren't doing much to help the warming trend, But were not causing it either!
But it is a handy excuse to burden us all the more taxes.

Answer 4

Global warming over the past 200 years or so is an observable fact. We can also deduce from historical records and other evidence that:

The Earth went through an extended cooling period starting in about 1200 C.E.

Prior to this period of global cooling, temperatures in Europe were slightly warmer than they are now.

At times in the distant past, temperatures on the Earth have been much warmer than they are now. At other times they have been much cooler.

The CO2 levels in the atmosphere vary considerably over these same time periods.

We have no good explaination for the cause of either the temperature or atmospheric CO2 cycles. We have no idea if we are currently warming at a faster rate than in past warming trends because we have no temperature data for the last warming trend.

The cause of the current warming trend is not known and we cannot estimate how long it will last or how warm things will get.

There is no conclusive evidence that it is man made or even accelerated by human activities because we have no control reference to compare.

Finally, there is nothing we can do to stop it. It is going to happen so we need to learn to live with it. It is not the end of the world, just change.

Answer 5

Of course the world "goes in cycles" ie evolves thats why us humans exist, ice age etc.
There is significant proof that we are contributing significantly to global warming. Many important specialists have agreed on this point, most famously Sir David Attenborough.
Furthermore, humans are the only species on the planet that have the mental capacity to form plans and take action to prevent global warming from causing further damage. It's so important that each of us do our very best to assist in reducing the emissions that cause global warming because if we don't we are jeprodising the futures of generations and possibly our own lives now(depending on location and circumstance).
What you can do;
-don't buy spray deodorants
-buy energy saving lightbulbs/fridges
-recycle/re use carrier bags
-car share or better still walk/cycle
-have a compost heap
-buy food from local farms not big supermarkets(fuels in importing and delivering foods), and buy food from the UK that is in season.

So yes us humans really are making a difference, we are the worst thing that happened to his planet! Its our job to make good what we have wrecked! Think of the polar bears!

Answer 6

I agree with The Fixer's first comment; "It amazes me how ignorant people are.."

There is an awful lot of scaremongering going on about this subject, and with words like "catastrophe" and "tipping point" being used regularly is it any wonder that the gullible general public are falling for it lock, stock and barrel.

How many people who say that they believe global warming is man made and a big problem have actually *read* anything on the subject?

The truth is that there is little evidence that the current warming trend is caused by mankind, and the evidence that does exists is disputed by many scientists.

I think it would be a waste of time taking any action until we reach a consensus on what is causing global warming. We don’t want to risk making things worse, do we?

Answer 7

Right now, the humans have already created a big enough hole in the ozone layer towarm up the earth quite a bit, in Antartica, ice has started to rise, and Antartica contains 97% of the worlds freshwater, and all this melting is evidently causing sea levels to rise dramastically. By the time that humans actually start thinking about the ozone layer and biking to work instead of taking the car, or when factories start using solar energy to produce items, the state of the ozone layer will be in to bad of a conditon. In a way, the earth does go in cycles, as a matter of fact an ice age is predicted in the next 10 thousand years, due to the cold melting water of Antartica blocking(with its cold current) out the North Atlantic ocean that is providing Europe with warm water, but this cycle is different to the other previous cycles that the earth has been through, due to advancement in technology leading to pollution, and eventually ghlobal warming. The gaps in the ozone layer can't be repaired, but scientists are planning a huge project within the next couple of hundred years, it is still unofficial but anyway, they are planning to transport materials from the moon and use it to make a man-made shild around the earths atmosphere, however, the price would be quite a large sum of money and it is uncertain if it will work but we shall soon find out, if not us our grandchildren.

Answer 8

The last ice age ended about 15,000 years ago and scientists can't explain why or why it started. There is also physical evidence that at one time, Alaska was a tropical region. At another period, the great Inland Sea covered most of what is now the central USA.
The people that keep yelling global warming never attempt to explain these naturally occurring earth cycles.
Also realize that some 'greenies' want to limit the use of fuels to inhibit 'green house gases' - this means that coal and petroleum will not be allowed. Yet they don't propose any alternatives. Nearly all the electrical energy produced in this country is generated by coal and fossil fuels. Heaven help you if you suggest building a new hydro-electric plant.
The current plans of the extreme environmentalist will destroy the economy and liveable conditions in this country. Yet, there is no attempt to make China and India reduce carbon emissions, just the current industrialized nations, especially the USA. China and India are two of the greatest polluters.
Is the climate changing, yes, do we know why? Probably not, because ever time a true scientist presents research that the greenies disagree with or it doesn't fit their agenda, attempts are made to discredit the scientist and his research.
Al Gore claims to be an expert but never presents factual scientific evidence to support his claims.

Answer 9

Yes, there are cycles, but human activities are altering the balance of nature without us fully recognising (or caring about) the consequences of our actions. Too much time and effort is being spent arguing the toss over whether human activities are causing global warming instead of looking at ways of dealing with climate change. Overpopulation, poverty, habitat destruction and war are also major problems on our planet (to list just a few things humans are directly responsible for) but we are not doing anything positive about these either. Maybe global warming is nature's way of telling us to get real or become extinct!

Answer 10

I am going to start off by saying i am in no way a hippy, they should get a job, i have a good job, i drive and i drink and am not a model citizen.

But are half the people who answered this thick as a plank of wood. Yes the Earth goes through natural cycles of hot and cold, caused naturally. What is happening now is caused by all the CO2 in the atmosphere that we produce, not natural.

All the species that will become extinct are not my primary concern, picture all of your grand kids, sun tan lotion because it's hotter and inhalers, which they'll need because they are breathing in sh#t that our atmosphere is becoming.

Wake up and get with the issues, and get your ittle f@g backsides to admit your only trying to make excuses because your to lazy and ignorant to change, i've never really had concern for the future by i'm starting to now, you should as wel.

Oh sorry maybe i got it wrong, they did have cars and planes before the last ice age.

P.S don't report me, you wanna have a go e mail me