Does everyone still believe we are suffering from Global Warming?

Question

I live in Indiana and the beginning of winter was extremely mild compared to what we normally have around here. I was actually starting to believe all the hype about Global Warming, until now. How can it be when now, all of a sudden states like Oklahoma and Texas that don't normally have bad snow storms got hit pretty bad. I just think Mother Nature is getting confused. Nobody knows what kind of weather anyone will have at this point.

Please don't think I'm an idiot, but I still don't quite understand it much. Some people say we need to start doing things to help prevent Global Warming, but WHAT exactly CAN we do? If it's going to happen, it will happen no matter what we do, right?

Answer 1

Your right Tick Tock. Unless we can control our Sun's solar radiation output (this is what causes temperature fluctuations in the Earth's atmosphere) there is not a whole lot we can do.
Perhaps Al Gore can 'invent' a huge space umbrella to shield the Earth.......nah, ...never happen.

Answer 2

Not everyone believes it, conservatives are still opposed to the idea because it is threatening to businesses and to our accustomed ways of life.
Global warming is based on long term measurements of temperatures in many different places. It is an overall trend, not an isolated occurrance.
The earth goes through periodic warming and cooling cycles anyway, that roughly follow the sunspot cycles. Right now we're in a warming trend, but there are mini-cycles of warming and cooling within this trend. That's why this winter has been unusually cold in some areas.
Those who warn of global warming suggest that the current warming trend may go off the curve and onto a tangent due to human activities, and so we ought to cut back while we can. They admit that they could be wrong, but we can't afford to find out the hard way.
Those who disagree, say that global warming is "junk science" based on faulty measurements or more information being available from remote areas that were formerly not industrialised and not measured. They fear that remedies taken for global warming will put unnecessary burden on heavily industrialised countries while leaving less industrialised countries "off the hook".
Global warming theory is based not on short term occurrences such as an unusually cold or warm winter in a few places, but on stabler measurements, such as those of permafrost and permanent glaciers at the polar regions.
In your comments, added later, you asked another question, what can we do about it.
Anything we as individuals can do to offset our carbon emissions can help. ALthough it may seem "a drop in a bucket" these drops add up, and also result in a shift in consciousness which can in turn lead to a shift in our reality.
Anything we as a nation can do can help even more. There are a lot of ideas in the works, if only we could get past the liberal / conservative debate and implement some of these ideas. A web search or two will turn up many such ideas, ranging from non polluting sources of power (wind, geothermal, solar, etc) to conservation measures at the consumer and producer levels.

One thing that DOESN"T help is to figure it's going to happen anyway, so there's nothing we can do. If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the pollution, as the saying goes.

Answer 3

Global warming can make winters colder. Yup, if the air over the Equaror gets warmer, it pushes more warm air further south and north which in turn pushes the Jet steams lower, bringing cold air to states like Texas.
Global warming over the long term will have different affects everywhere depending on the usual changes that normally occur.
In other words, during a warm spell, it will be warmer and during a cold spell it will be colder.

Answer 4

Nobody is suffering from it. Sea levels have not risen. Big storms are not really more common or destructive than they were 100 years ago. Sure, some glaciers are melting, but how much does that really effect our lives? The 30+ year drought that wiped out the Anasazi is much worse than any recent weather problems, and that happened long before the industrial revolution! There are just no significant effects yet.

Answer 5

no longer inevitably. although, the question is what are we as a society to do to alleviate the costs. that is a situation like conflict, or famine or huge-spreading disease, which calls for both wide preparation and avoidance or some type of collective reaction. assume for a second, that it a very clearly occuring warming or set of random close by climate alterations that befell for the period of a unmarried 3 hundred and sixty 5 days or 2, somewhat of slowly over 50-one hundred years, what might want to be performed at a private factor. even as by wonder, all the major coastal cities - no longer in basic terms one or 2 - are inundated, even as the nutrients provide and distribution gadget is noticeably disrupted - famine and poverty might want to develop into rampant tremendously right now. even as some elements may fare more effective perfect than others initially, finally maximum all help structures can should be redesigned to handle those new planetary circumstances. "Social help structures" might want to should be interior the variety of defense force protecting refugees from particular seashores or borders. electorate might want to receive ration playing cards or different mechanisms some distance more effective draconian than something dreamt of in our modern-day imaginings and the somewhat mushy time-honored of living might want to vanish...that is not tremendously. Now assume, that is thoroughly inaccurate, what's the worst - maximum strident idea on the table, carbon procuring and promoting/carbon impartial economies, and funding in stepped forward valuable technologies, the imposition of regulations upon use of fossil fuels and power till universal utilization turns right into a lot less complicated. no longer extremely draconian yet inconvenient to be confident. regularly speaking, uncontrolled gas costs will independently force many elements of this change yet would not it were a lot less complicated on the conventional citizen if there have been a touch more effective city making plans and a touch more effective funding in intense-performance stuff 10 or two decades in the past somewhat than having to do all of it in a moved straight away rush now. In all actually with one hundred-2 hundred years preparation persons can plan and act hence , that is although unlikely we may be able to have that luxury.

Answer 6

Watch Al Gore's movie - An Inconvenient Truth. Global warming doesn't just mean that temperatures will get progressively warmer every year. It means that the whole balance of weather will get thrown off (ie Mother Nature getting confused!) It contributes to more severe hurricanes and storms and could lead to the melting of polar ice caps, which would raise the ocean levels and change the coastline (not really an issue in your area since you are far from the coast, but Manhattan and CA would really be affected.)

Answer 7

suffering?? nope!
wishing for warmer weather? yep!

there is global climate change.

can we (as a race) have a significant impact (either positive or negative)? maybe, but probably not when compared to the impact of solar cycles, natural events (ie: volcanos) or animal produced gasses.

there are groups that would have you believe extremes for their own political gain: ie: liberals/conservatives who want the gov't to have more control over lifestyles or to go the other extreme are afraid of losing a competitive advantage in industry by requiring cleanner processes. they both seem to ignore the 'treaties' that allow industrialized countries to 'shift' or 'trade' their pollution with non-industrialized nations for those nations remaining 'green'. for example, germany could create an agreement w/tanzania so that tanzania agrees to not destroy x amount of forrests and germany would not have to reduce it's emissions. also the fact than many of the worst polluting countries (China & India anyone) are exempted from doing anything at all to change their practices unless on a voluntary basis.

Answer 8

It being cold in Texas does not disprove global warming.

Global warming predicts that the average temperature of the earth will increase. It says that if you take the temperature of Texas and average it with the temperatures of Alaska, Egypt, Brazil, and the rest of the world, then that average temperature will increase over time.''

Also alot of global warming models predict that its starts with more chaotic and extreme weather conditions. So a winter storm in Texas could be an indicator of global warming.

Answer 9

I know that in Germany, in the Swiss Alps, there is a ski resort that has had absolutely no snow. The people there are all worried because their economy depends on the snow. Global warming doesn't mean that there won't be any snow. It means that the warming effect is changing the pattern of weather drastically. This little town has always had snow, every year.

Answer 10

At least not the people living in my country ( Pakistan) because this time cold cities remianed more colder even the hot cities remained in minus centigrade temperature, so imagine. So the opinion is tottaly opposit here I suppose.