Is global warming good?

Question

In the 20th century, Earth warmed by 0.7°C, while the global GDP increased 1800%. In the USA, life expectancy has increased from 47 years to 77 years. Literacy, medicine, leisure and even, in many respects, the environment have improved mightily over the course of the 20th century.

Even assuming the industrial revoultion is the sole cause of global warming, don't the benefits outweigh the consequences?

(See this article:
http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/op_ed/hc-goldberg0213.artfeb13,0,7543736.story?coll=hc-headlines-oped
)

Answer 1

hardly

in North Africa,India,Mexico ,millions of people are effected by land loss and desertification


in recent times thousands of people have died because of exessive heat,usually old people.in India ,Mexico and France,
deforestation causing desertification,the desert conditions causing very cold nights and scorching hot days

in china, thousands of what used to be farmers are running for their lives from the dust storms that have burried their towns and turned their lands into dessert,the globe where they were got to hot for them .
and instead of producing food they are now needing it from some where else,and they will drastically effect the world food prices when they start buying water in the form of grains ,at any cost destabalising governments, in some countries ,could be the result
(are you seeing more Chinese around interested in agricultural lands ,we do here in Mexico)

,the Sahara is growing by 7 kilometers a year
and all of the desserts we know are a results of mans actions ,and they are increasing ,not getting less ,in the dinosaurs days ,there were no desserts.

collectively this planet is drying up because of bad farming practices like,over grazing and fertilizers,

as far as the food production is concerned, Global warming or some of its effects are serious,rising seas result in landloss

each degree rise in temperature means 10%crop loss

more landloss because of desertification every year,we have less areble land to produce food ,for an extra 70 million people ,

and there is less and less water (because of deforestation),to irrigate this production ,
and there are less and less farmers to do it..
who are overpumping deep carbon aquifiers
who are plowing more and more unstable lands because they have lost so many million hectares to desertification ,
because of bad farming practises ,such as using fertilizers and heavy machinary or over grazing

RISING SEAS
The northpole is melting ,and we will know it without ice in our life times.
this does not affect the sea level because it is ice that is already in the water.but the melting ice from Green land and the south pole ,are another matter.

Global warming is in theory reversable,but it will mean global co operation between all countries ,and taking into account human nature and the world politics ,it is unlikely that this will happen,

At least not untill we are all in the middle of planetary disastres and it becomes a battle for the survival of humanity every where.

SOLUTIONS
if you want to help the planet ,plant a tree every week ,if everyone on the planet did we we would be able to reverse the destructive processes

reduce carbon emisions,and they are already working on that by alternative forms of energy and regulations on carbon producing materials,aerosol cans,burning rubbish,industrial chimneys,powerplants etc.

the capture of carbon and the production of water and assist the aquiferous manta.

the world bank pays large subsidies for reforrestation to capture carbon and the best tree for this is the Pawlonia

Waterharvesting projects ,such as millions of small dams.to redirect over ground waterflows from the rains into the ground to supply subteranian water supplies.

the protection of existing forrests.

stop building more highways,urban planning to include vegetation stop building cities encourage people to return to the land to conduct their business from there which now has become possible thanks to the internet.

education to motivate people to auto sufficiency by building more home food gardens.

education on environmental awareness
education on family planning to curb over´populaion

Agricultural education and improvements to follow the principals or sustainability and soil management.

more environmental or land ,design to prevent bush fires,such as--fire breaks

,more dams.regulations and control for public behaviour

alternative effeciant public transport to discourage the use of the internal conbustion engine

recicling wastes,limit water use

i am a Permaculture Consultant for the department of Ecology for the regional government in Guerrero Mexico
http://spaces.msn.com/byderule

Source(s) Lester E Brown is the director and founder of the global institute of Environment in the United states .he has compiled a report based on all the satalite information available from NASA,and all the information that has
come from Universities and American embassies WORLD WIDE ,
his little book--a planet under stress , Plan B has been trans lated into 50 languages and won the best book award in 2003.

Answer 2

nope!
Effects of Global Warming: Seasons and Ecosystems
Less abrupt changes would occur around the world as average temperatures increased. In temperate areas with four seasons, the growing season would be longer with more precipitation. This could be beneficial in many ways for these areas. However, less temperate parts of the world would likely see an increase in temperature and a sharp decrease in precipitation, causing long droughts and potentially creating deserts.
The most devastating effects, and also the hardest to predict, would be the effects on the world's living ecosystems. Many ecosystems are very delicate, and the slightest change can kill off several species as well as any other species that depend on them. Most ecosystems are interconnected, so the chain reaction of effects could be immeasurable. The results could be something like a forest gradually dying off and turning to grassland or entire coral reefs dying. Many species of plants and animals would adapt or move to deal with the shift in climate, but many would become extinct.

The human cost of global warming is hard to quantify. Thousands of lives per year could be lost as the elderly or ill suffer from heat stroke and other heat-related trauma. Poor people and underdeveloped nations would suffer the worst effects, since they would not have the financial resources to deal with the problems that come with an increase in temperature. Huge numbers of people could die from starvation if a decrease in precipitation limits crop growth and from disease if coastal flooding leads to widespread water-borne illness.

Answer 3

If you wish to receive grant money for climate research, do you think that you'll get a cheque if you say," I need the grant, as I think that I can prove that the figures that the current paradigm is based upon are wrong" ? The great environmentalist, David Bellamy, has been silenced, and refused airtime. There is still no proven causative link between the amount of Co2 in the atmosphere, and an increase in global temperatures. The WWWF photographs of the polar bears swimming were taken in the Arctic summer; when the ice cap partially melts, as they couldn't get up to photograph in the winter. The ice was too thick! The East-Anglian uni research figures. "Oh! The figures don't match our expectations. Oh well. Keep quiet. Because we know that we are right." When the belief, and the faith is more important than squarely facing the legitimate doubts of a lot of non grant-supported scientists, science has been superceded by religious zealots. As Oliver Cromwell colourfully said." I pray thee, in the bowels of Christ, consider that thou mayest be wrong."

Answer 4

You can't really say if if Global warming is good or bad. It just is.
The earths temperature fluctuates, and we as humans don't have much control over it. The solar activity that has been going on for the last decade has come to an end and the cooler temperatures and extra moisture in the air has cooled things down considerably. The summers are becoming milder and the winters colder. You can worry about it or not. It's happens regardless of what we do.

Answer 5

The thing is, the release of large amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere over a short period of time (only a few hundred years) is a vast, uncontrolled experiment in planetary atmospheres. If all the available fossil fuel is burned, then the CO2 levels in the atmosphere will approach or exceed all-time historical high levels. Past epochs when these high levels occured had, for example, a shallow sea covering Kansas.

If we stop burning fossil fuels, it is likely that we will not see climate variations more extreme than those in the past few million years. If we don't stop, we really don't know what will happen.

Answer 6

I would like it so scientists have something else to work on. The same family made your medical miracles. now some work on global warming. somebody thinks its a problem so they work on what they deem necessary.

how can you quote enviroment as mightily better? how many pollution problems were there 500 years ago?

trees are filters. yet somebody has a plan to level them all. more industry less trees. at some point there has to be some give.

Answer 7

It might be a hoax, maybe not.

It might be a natural cycle we can do nothing about. OR, we might be causing something so rapid we'll destroy most of life.

We need to curb co2 generation so just in case it's us, we can do something before it's too late.

Personally, I'm putting up solar panels for electricity, and to save $500 a month. Fossil fuel is not limitless, nuclear has issues.

Answer 8

Well.. Yes, and no. Because it doesn't exsist. Google it, and look at the conservitave side. We have as much if not more proof against it as they have proof FOR it. The climate changes natrually, like the ice-age and stuff. And .7 of a degree.... Sorry, not too worried. But look at from both sides. But, yes, I think global warming, if it IS happening, would be bad. But it would have to get past .7 of a degree every decade for me to get concerned.

Answer 9

I have something to add to your question...what about the coming "Little Ice Age?" Is there a possibility that they could cancel each other out?