global warming. true or false?

Question

last year i was researching about global warming and i found a graph showing the worlds temperatures for hundreds of years. It showed that the temperature of the world went up and down (down being an ice age). It shows that we are in a hot period at the moment and its not all due to pollution

Answer 1

I could go into lots of explanation about CO2, water in the air, orbital forcing, the precession of the planet in orbit, solar activity, etc. Instead, I'll just say the following:

1. Climate change is complicated.
2. The scientists, who have studied it very much longer than you've spent looking at your graph are largely convinced that global warming is real and is primarily due to human activity since the beginning of the industrial revolution.

I just watched some video clips from a 60-minute focus on global warming that you might frind helpful. Here's the URL: http://60minutes.yahoo.com/segment/26/global_warming

In the words of Dr Robert Correll (in the video), "The science is unassailable."

He says, "The planet is out of balance. ... We now have really unchallenged science ... the preponderance of evidence across the board among all the disciplines that the warming we're seeing today is substantially coming from human effect." And he saying we have a real, serious problem and that, even though much of what we've done is irreversible over the span of the next hundreds of years, that's no reason to not start putting on the brakes.

So who is this guy? He was the Assistant Director for Geosciences at the National Science Foundation (NSF) from 1987-1999 and the Chair for the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment study completed in 2004, where he coordinated an international team of over 300 scientists, experts and Arctic region natives. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_W._Corell). Here's the text of his Senate testimony back in April of 2006 -- http://commerce.senate.gov/pdf/corell-042606.pdf

These scientists are not getting rich. And I'm sorry, you couldn't pay me enough to spend years on the Arctic ice cap. They could make much more on the oil company payroll in the comfort of their own home trying to convince idiots that there's no problem.

There is a difference between consensus and unanimity. Are you suggesting that we wait until every scientist on the planet agrees? Even the one's with strong ties to oil money?

So here's the video clip that I got the quotes from: http://60minutes.yahoo.com/segment/26/global_warming Have a look; you can also vote or just check out the result on a GW poll.

And if you really want to get into the techincal details of your temperature graph and what it all means, post the URL and I'll go into it with you.

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

The natural variations all take a very long period - usually centuries. Change now is faster than at any time in history.

What happened in the past doesn't really matter. What matters is that we are contributing to the warming (theoretical models predict that, and experimental data match the model), and the warming will have disastrous consequences for the world's low-lying regions which will soon flood, an Africa where the Sahara is spreading, the polar regions where ice sheets are melting that have lasted millennia... and Britain, if those models which predict the cutting off of the Gulf Stream are correct.

Answer 3

I Lived in New Zealand. Our Prime Minister Helen Clark have just came back from Antarctica She saw a lot of icebergs melting down, and splashing to the sea. It is terrifying.

CO2 is such an effectively green house gas that there is little doubt that it raises the atmospheric temperature.

Human being used the fossil fuel so much that it is going to exhaust shortly and the temp will be raised to a level that it will cause disaster, like melting the polar ice, raising the sea level which eat a lot of land and submerge some inland countries completely,

It is urgent for us to do something immediately.

I have to blame those countries not willing to take action
Especially US, the largest fuel consuming country. As well I have to blame those politicians, who know clearly what will happen but unwilling to take actions in fear of losing ballot paper.

We are driving our children to the sea , introducing disasters like weird weather and typhoons, while we enjoy the economic growth by extensively burning the fossil fuel, and therefore exploiting the well being and ever existence of our descendants.

Answer 4

The earth has gone through periods of warming. However in this current stage, the warming is directly related to man's impact on the environment. The earth will balance out as it normally does, and in the process there is a very good chance that many life forms will cease to exist.
One such thing on the basic level is plankton and shellfish. The acidity of the ocean has changed that it literally dissolves their shells - and so they don't multiply as readily as before. Which then, in turn higher animals will suffer eventually and on up the chain to us.
Whether or not we can remedy this situation is under debate or whether we do anything at all and let mama earth fix herself.

Answer 5

Just about everyone in the sciences now agree that there is global warming. Even Bush has been forced to admit it is a fact. The temperature of the planet has warmed significantly in the last few decades. I do not think that we are going to solve the problem before it is too late; lets pray I'm wrong or buy shore front property in Arizona.

Answer 6

Richard,

I think you're on the right track. There are cycles in all things. Global temperature is one of them. I have no doubt that it is getting warmer, but I just can't believe WE are the cause of it.

I was flying over the western US a few weeks ago at about 35,000 ft. It's hard to see buildings, let alone cars or people. How could something so small have such a BIG impact on something as large as the entire earth. Even grouped together, it's still a small impact.

Compare that to the sun. I forget the actual number but you could put millions of "Earths" inside the sun. Dont' you think the Sun would have much more influence over the planet than us?

Just a thought.

Answer 7

No it isn't all due to pollution, but we are off the charts as far as warming goes, way higher than we've ever been and that isn't normal!!! So I say yes, global warming is true and if you all don't start believing it is soon, it's going to be to late to do anything about it!!! This is going to take us as a nation saying that the pollution problem is more important than corporations making money!!! It's going to take all of us as a nation, working separatly on a personal level to make this change!!!

Answer 8

IDK but I'm afraid in 50 years from now we are gonna burn alive! I've said this before in another answer already but its worth repeating

The critical issue is not what the temperature is, or may be, or will be. The critical issue is how fast it is moving. Rapid climate change is the prime suspect in most mass extinction events, including the Great Dying (extinction-the largest mass extinction of life on Earth in all history) some 250 million years ago, in which 90% of all life went extinct.

What we know about ecosystems, and what geologic history demonstrates, is that dramatic climate changes -- up or down or sideways -- are a tremendous shock to the biosphere and cause mass extinction events. That, all in all, is not likely to be a good thing.

Source(s):

You will find this interesting.. and disturbing: http://www.think.cz/issue/20/wrongwsunuk...

Answer 9

Every 15,000 years the world goes through this cycle it is nothing unusual.
Global warming is the name we give it and its wrong, its a simple global cycle, the pollution may affect it but to a tiny percentage only.
under some of the ice there is land which was once forests and shrubs and then went to ice surely there was some pollution then what with methane and decomposing vegitation but this was natural pollution.
its going to happen,look at researched maps of the world that scientists say it used to look like. these show vast amounts of changes to coastlines which is what they propose now for this latest cycle.
its going to happen whatever we do, it's normal so just go with it.
mind you this culture of concern and panic is what politicians strive to achieve so you will vote for their policies to make changes which you believe will make a difference.all the concern sells books too.
look at america,when they have an election due they create a danger a war or whatever to sway the voters to their side.
we need to get on with life and enjoy it and ignore these worry mongers.

Answer 10

If you watch Al Gore's movie "An Inconvenient Truth" it shows a graph of the CO2 in the atmosphere I think and it shows how the levels correlated with those ups and downs that you talked about, and then it shows the levels now and they are increasing and the trend is much worse now than ever in all of history, implying that our temperatures will continue to grow. I don't know how much truth there is to his video, but it's certainly an interesting source to learn about and raise up questions.