global warming?

Question

what is global warming??

Answer 1

From a book published by Harvard Press:

"In 2001 a panel representing virtually all the world's governments and climate scientists announced that they had reached a consensus: the world was warming at a rate without precedent during at least the last ten millennia, and that warming was caused by the buildup of greenhouse gases from human activity." (http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog/WEADIS.html )

NASA says, "the general consensus among scientists is that global warming is real and its overall effects are detrimental" (http://eospso.gsfc.nasa.gov/ftp_docs/Global_Warming.pdf , page 6 )

In fact, it is so detremental that the Attorney General of California has filed suit against the 6 auto manufacturers and 5 utilities here in CA. (http://ag.ca.gov/newsalerts/cms06/06-082_0a.pdf?PHPSESSID=bcafe4e63eecea93153f25e6fe5bc9ba , http://ag.ca.gov/newsalerts/release.php?id=709&year=2004&month=7&PHPSESSID=5fa0700eb86a845983a94e26ab86a46e ) for ignoring the IPCC statements, stating in the lawsuit, "Defendants knew or should have known, and know or should know, that their emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases contribute to global warming and to the resulting injuries and threatened injuries to California, its citizens and residents, environment, and economy."

There really is very little controversy in the scientific community on this issue. There's a small handful of vocal people, many of whom have strong ties to the oil industry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Global_warming_skeptics ) who are keeping the debate alive.

Here's a documentary showing "how fossil fuel corporations have kept the global warming debate alive long after most scientists believed that global warming was real and had potentially catastrophic consequences”. (The Denial Machine: http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/denialmachine/index.html )

Answer 2

Global warming is the apparent process of the average temperature of the entire Earth slowly raising. The idea is that we humans are creating gases that are causing the Earth to retain heat, rather than release it, and to catch more radiation from the sun, rather than reflect it. Over the course of the last 100 years, the temperature has risen about 1 degree fahrenheit. That doesn't sound like much, but remember that these are AVERAGE temperatures. Also, where the glaciers are surrounded at exactly freezing temperatures, this can melt them, flooding the oceans with more water, so the argument goes.

Other arguments say that we have nothing to do with the rising temperatures, but that the existance of modern mechanics simply coincides with a temperature that was already rising, as it has since the Earth left the last Iceage. It will supposedly continue to rise until some unknown point, and then will return to falling again, and eventually return to another iceage.

Another argument is that global warming doesn't even exist. It ignores the single degree overall temperature change and holds that the Earth will be much warmer in some places at times, raising that average, and that the greenhouse gas emission is a false cause.

I reside as undecided, as there's not really enough non-circumstancial evidence to prove either way. In the mean time, I'll pretend it's real and that we are causing it and do what I can to prevent my part of the cause of global warming. There's not reason not to, even though I'm not really a believer. After all, it's stupid to waste anyway.

I hope I offered that as subjectively as I could from the three standpoints, while giving an overall objective presentation to you.

Answer 3

When the earth mean temperature is rising. The earth temperature always have fluctuated. Most of the time the earth has been cooler than this unusual warm period that started more than 10000 years ago. Most of the time the earth has been under ice ages. By the way, in the 60's scientists believed that we were heading to another ice age.
Most of the information we hear these days is that the earth is getting warmer because of green-house effect by the man made pollution. But in reality this is just a theory. There are other maybe more important factors like the amount of radiation from the sun that are difficult to calculate or changes in the distance to the sun.
It looks that we are more warmer than 20 years ago but not hotter than the decade of the 30's. Those summers had temperature records than hasn't been surpassed yet. Those are times when Oklahoma and other states were like a desert. It is what is called the "dust bowl".
Also, nobody talks about the possible benefits of the earth being warmer. Some deserts might bloom again and we could be fed by the the wheat of Siberia. Although we might loose Florida.

Answer 4

Its the warming of the earth. It is cuased by increased green house gases, specifically carbon dioxide. They are polluted into the atmosphere and eat away at the ozone layer, which protects us from UV rays. They also trap in heat from the sun so the earth gradually warms. It results in a slow rise in global temperature, which is global warming.

Answer 5

Human activity has been increasing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere (mostly carbon dioxide from combustion of coal, oil, and gas; plus a few other trace gases). There is no scientific debate on this point. Pre-industrial levels of carbon dioxide (prior to the start of the Industrial Revolution) were about 280 parts per million by volume (ppmv), and current levels are about 370 ppmv. The concentration of CO2 in our atmosphere today, has not been exceeded in the last 420,000 years, and likely not in the last 20 million years. According to the IPCC Special Report on Emission Scenarios (SRES), by the end of the 21st century, we could expect to see carbon dioxide concentrations of anywhere from 490 to 1260 ppm (75-350% above the pre-industrial concentration).

Answer 6

Global warming is (I believe) CO2 in our atmosphere creating a "greenhouse" effect that (supposedly) traps the sun's rays inside of the Earth atmosphere, causing a gradual increase in the Earth's average temperature as these rays accumulate.

Answer 7

a theory maeup by al gore that's tot bs and to scare the people into what he wants and Obama uses it to sictrat from fighting isis

Answer 8

A careful look at global warming, as a topic, shows that there is a great deal of disagreement about the facts and substance of climate change. Those who blame man for climate change often disagree about what facts lead them to that conclusion. Those who hold man totally innocent of it often ignore established facts. Experience and research leads us to believe that warming is, in fact, occurring; however, there is little to no objective evidence that man is the cause, nor that the effects will be catastrophic. The idea of earth “wearing out” is an apt analogy. This entire world has been continually decaying since the fall.

Global warming “facts” are notoriously hard to come by. One of the few facts universally agreed upon is that the current average temperature of Earth is indeed rising at this time. According to most estimates, this increase in temperature amounts to about 0.4-0.8 °C (0.72-1.44 °F) over the last 100 years. Data regarding times before that is not only highly theoretical but very difficult to obtain with any accuracy. The very methods used to obtain historical temperature records are controversial, even among the most ardent supporters of the theory of human-caused climate change. The facts leading one to believe that humans are not responsible for the current change in temperature are as follows:

• Global temperature changes from past millennia, according to available data, were often severe and rapid, long before man supposedly had any impact at all. That is, the current climate change is not as unusual as some alarmists would like to believe.

• Recent recorded history mentions times of noticeable global warming and cooling, long before man had any ability to produce industrial emissions.

• Water vapor, not CO2, is the most influential greenhouse gas. It is difficult to determine what effect, if any, mankind has on worldwide water vapor levels.

• Given the small percentage of human-produced CO2, as compared to other greenhouse gases, human impact on global temperature may be as little as 1%.

• Global temperatures are known to be influenced by other, non-human-controlled factors, such as sunspot activity, orbital movement, volcanic activity, solar system effects, and so forth. CO2 emission is not the only plausible explanation for global warming.

• Ice Age temperature studies, although rough, frequently show temperatures changing before CO2 levels, not after. This calls into question the relationship between warming and carbon dioxide; in some cases, the data could easily be interpreted to indicate that warming caused an increase in carbon dioxide, rather than the reverse!

• Computer simulations used to “predict” or “demonstrate” global warming require the assumption of human causation, and even then are not typically repeatable or reliable. Current computer weather simulations are neither predictive nor repeatable.

• Most of the global temperature increase of the last 100 years occurred before most of the man-made CO2 was produced.

• In the 1970s, global temperatures had actually been dropping since 1945, and a “global cooling” concern became prominent, despite what is now dismissed as a lack of scientific support.

• The “consensus” claimed by most global warming theorists is not scientific proof; rather, it is a statement of majority opinion. Scientific majorities have been wrongly influenced by politics and other factors in the past. Such agreement is not to be taken lightly, but it is not the same thing as hard proof.

• This “consensus,” as with many other scientific theories, can be partially explained by growing hostility to those with differing viewpoints, making it less likely that a person without preconceived notions would take on the subject for research. The financial and political ramifications of the global warming debate are too serious to be ignored, though they should not be central to any discussion.

• The data being used to support anthropogenic (man-caused) global warming is typically based on small data sets, single samples, or measurements taken in completely different regions. This creates an uncertainty in the results that rarely gets the attention that alarmist conclusions do.

While the above list is not exhaustive, it does include several of the major points that raise doubts about mankind’s actual effect on global temperatures. While no one can deny that warming is occurring, “overwhelming evidence” of any objective type does not exist to support the idea that global warming is significantly influenced by human actions. There is plenty of vague, short-sighted, and misunderstood data that can be seen as proving “anthropogenic” global-warming theory. All too often, data used to blame humans for global warming is far less reliable than data used for other areas of study. It is a valid point of contention that the data used in these studies is frequently flawed, easily misinterpreted, and subject to preconception.

In regards to issues such as this, skepticism is not the same as disbelief. There are fragments of evidence to support both sides, and logical reasons to choose one interpretation over another. The question of anthropogenic global warming should not divide Christian believers from each other (Luke 11:17). Environmental issues are important, but they are not the most important questions facing mankind. Christians ought to treat our world with respect and good stewardship, but we should not allow politically driven hysteria to dominate our view of the environment. Our relationship with God is not dependent on our belief in human-caused global warming.

For further research on global warming, we recommend the following articles:
http://www.icr.org/article/3233/
http://www.junkscience.com/Greenhouse/ http://www.clearlight.com/~mhieb/WVFossils/ice_ages.html
http://www.xtronics.com/reference/globalwarming.htm
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2002/5/14/161152.shtml
http://www.whrc.org/carbon/images/GlobalCarbonCycleLG.gif
http://www.grida.no/climate/ipcc_tar/wg1/fig3-1.htm

Read more: http://www.gotquestions.org/global-warming.html#ixzz3IgkPqYcx

Answer 9

It's a distraction to keep you busy thinking about stuff instead if real issues.