Why are people worried about global warming when it wont happen in our lifetimes?

Answer 1

Why do you assume it's going to happen at all?

Back in the 1970's, Global Cooling was all the rage - They even proposed a number of alterations to the environment (including melting the polar ice caps) in order to prevent the coming ice age.

Probably a good thing we didn't do that, hunh?

Check out the Heidelburg Appeal - A document signed by many climate scientists (including a large number of Nobel Prize winners) rather than the social scientists and movie stars that usually sign on with the Goracle.

You'll note that fluctuations in the sun's output and even volcanic eruptions (1 eruption puts out a much as FIVE YEARS worth of every other source of greenhouse gasses) have a MUCH greater effect on the Earth's climate than anything man can do.

Let's do a hell of a lot more research and try to actually understand the climate before we start tinkering with it. We don't even have a climate model that works to predict the weather next MONTH, much less next YEAR or next DECADE.

I've attached a link to a debunking of the nonsensical "An Inconvenient Truth" as well. Enjoy!
Orion

Answer 2

There are many reasons why people are worried. I'm sure you heard some of them on the news now. There is some reason behind the fears. All the signs are there. Some parts of the world are starting to see extremes in weather. Too much rain or too little. Ice caps are shrinking and chunks are breaking off into the sea the size of Rhode Island. Changes in climate this extreme can mean the difference between having food on the table or not. There are findings now that correlate the end of ancient world empires in China and Latin America with eras of climate change. The warming we are seeing now is strikingly similar with the last warming trend in the 900's that lasted till the 1300' s in the northern hemisphere. During this time mountains in Europe that normally had snow and glaciers were growing flowers. Carbon dioxide levels were we 're just finding out actually higher than today's levels. People enjoyed exceptionally good growing seasons and populations increased. Then the climate changed. Stormy weather in Europe was so bad that crops suffered and people faced starvation. Instead of global warming the people faced global cooling. Temperatures in the northern hemisphere dropped dramatically in a hundred years time. The Gulf stream which brings warm water and weather to northern europe was severely weakened. This became the event called by some as the "little ice age". It lasted from the 1300's to the mid 1800's but changed the direction of the world in the process. Think of all the events that happened during this age. The Black Death, the French Revolution, the Irish Potato Famine, you get the picture. Whether directly or indirectly, history and the fortunes of others changed. Now with the world going through another warming trend since the 1850's (Yes, the 1850's not the 1950's) people are worried about the aftereffects that can happen based on fairly recent history. We could have another "little ice age" because of recent findings that the glaciers and ice falling into ocean are already beginning to effect the Gulf stream. Or, we could continue warming up and have another period of warmth like the one in the 900's that could last for a few hundreds of years or longer. We could be seeing the start of major changes for the world.

Answer 3

It would be incredibly selfish not to care if it doesn't effect yourself. Do we really care only about ourself? What about coming generations, don't they matter??

And I can't believe the ignorance of some people who still say 'PLEASE' about global warming. Are they more intelligent than the 2000 scientists of all over the world who said that there's a 90 - 99% chance that human activity has contributed to it?? And (sorry, this is to Sara) it's been proved that it's happening, so stop denying the truth!!

Answer 4

It is happening and has been. The problem is not that the earth's climate is going to change and kill you in your lifetime, the problem is that the earth's climate is changing, it is changing as fast as we would expect it to change in 10,000 years in less than a decade. The change is killing off the plants that keep the atmosphere balanced so it is quickly becoming irreversible. Unless changes are made quickly, we will not be able to live on the Earth in just a few generations. There will be no plants and animals to eat. The air will be unbreathable. There won't be enough land to live on. We are worried because we need to be.

Answer 5

Because, unless you are already beyond 60 years old, chances are you will be affected. Some do have political reason to take an interrest in global warning. Also, the changes required can't be done in only one generation.

Answer 6

The fact behind it is, we're already feeling some of the effects of global warming, though they may only be mild at this point. Milder winters, the shrinking icecaps, and so on. Depending on how young you are, it may just happen in your lifetime, and it may already be happening as we speak.

Answer 7

Probably not the final consequences, but the natural disasters are already here and it comes stronger and stronger. millions of people will die if we don't star to changes our bad habits. SEE THE NEWS EVERY DAY to realize that now are happening terrible disasters that never happened before.This is the start of the end.

Answer 8

For a start, it already is happening. Snow and glaciers are already receding in various parts of the world (when these melt, it affects many things, including sea levels). Sea levels already are rising. There are islands in the Pacific, near Australia, such as Kiribati, that are being subject to water inundation like never before and some of them are planning in the long term to move everyone from their nation to nearby countries such as Australia. Because of the industrialised world consuming too many resources many more people will be displaced through flooding, on islands and in low-lying coastal areas.

We're experiencing one of the worst droughts ever in Australia with a chronic water shortage meaning most of us are no longer able to water lawns, and only occasionally water plants. Climate change affects one of the most precious commodities for life: water. The rise in temperature also affects us all. Searingly hot temperatures in Europe in recent years have lead to deaths, particularly in elderly citizens.

The prediction is for several degrees temperature rise within my lifetime at least. This means dramatic changes to the environment the world over. Worst of all, some of these processes, once commenced, cannot be stopped. For instance, if the Greenland ice sheet begins to melt because of climate change, it will be impossible to stave off its entire transformation to water. According to Wikipedia, if all of the 2.85 million km3 of ice melted, sea levels would rise 7.2 m, flooding most coastal cities and putting the islands of Tuvalu and the Maldives out of existence. We need to act now to prevent setting in motion life-threatening changes for billions of people in the world.

The world has existed for so long. What a selfish attitude to not care that 200 years of industrialised living could kill it off entirely because "it won't affect me".

Answer 9

It's an agenda. The earth goes through constant Global Climate change. Did you know they have found palm tree fossils in Antarctica!

Yes pollution is bad, but Globa Warming.. PLEASE!

Answer 10

it is happening NOW. You only have to use your eyes and read of the flooding, storms and excessive heatwaves that we are getting around the world. We will not be spared the consequences but we should think of future generations whose lives will be even harder than ours.