Another global warming question?

Question

Ok, first of all, we're in an interglacial period of an ice age, in which it warms up and glaciers recede. At the end of most interglacials, the Earth goes back into a full ice age. Glaciers cover most of the Earth's surface, and it's cold. The only other alternative is that the ice age ends completely and the Earth loses it's ice caps and warms up. These are facts. This is the cycle the Earth has followed for forever.

WHY ON EARTH WOULD WE BE WORRIED ABOUT WARMING WHEN THE ALTERNATIVE IS FREEZING???????
Is it a bit short sighted of us to be worried about a little weather change towards the warm side when we should be grateful it's not the other way????

Well, I don't suppose it would be convenient that if you disagree you might be able to give a valid argument for your disagreement? It's far easier to say "Oh, you're wrong and know nothing" based on half baked theories and vague hunches.

For everyone else, isn't this drowning going to happen anyways? I don't mean way down the road, but in the near (thousand years or so) future?

Answer 1

I actually asked my science teacher about this today, and this is what she told me:

The earth's climate is cyclical, so it has warming and cooling periods, and so today's global warming can easily be written off as just part of the cycle. The problem is, we're on an upward trend temp-wise that appears to be breaking out of the cycle and we're not returning to cooler temperatures, be that from CFCs or other greenhouse gases or whatever. Also, the Earth is heating up much more quickly than it has before, which is what's raising a lot of concern.

Also, I think someone mentioned that temperatures really aren't that hot or it's cold outside or something (which is the argument a friend gave me about why there's no global warming)- when the world heats up and the ice caps melt, that drops the temperature of the ocean and then the wind coming off the ocean is colder, leading to colder temperatures on land. (If the icecaps melt completely, I think that effect would go away though.)

Anyway, for the last part of your question, I don't know if I would rather freeze to death or burn to death. Neither sounds that appealing. In the short term, it seems as though it's going to get warmer.

Answer 2

The true issue with global warming is not the issue that it is getting hot. The worry at hand is that the loads and loads of carbon dioxide CO2 gas is destroying our atmosphere. Remember, global warming is all theory and no absolute proof. What most people do not realize is that while the glaciers in Antarctica are rapidly decreasing, there are glaciers in Iceland, yes Iceland not Greenland that are increasing in size. It doesn't hurt to help out the environment, but the problem is that the media and environmentalist moguls are forcing the issue upon us. I agree, i love the warmer weather. As a matter of fact i live in san diego and it is on average only 1 degree warmer then it was 200 years ago! Some facts..... the hottest year on record (2005) is only 4 degrees warmer than the coldest year on record. CO2 and temperature do fall hand in hand, and population and CO2 fall hand in hand, so as our population increases, our CO2 levels increase, and so does our temperature. This is not a rare transition in the earths atmosphere, however, the level at which it is occurring is rare. Global warming will not have a major impact on anyone who is alive to answer this question today, issues will fall about a thousand years from now once ALL the ice has melted if it actually happens. I am 100% positive that with all of the technology today, America and other developed nations are just not worried enough right now to try and change anything. Nor do i think they should be, it is over exaggerated completely. Bring on the warmth i say, and i will have better Saturdays at mission beach in san diego!!!!

Answer 3

Global Warming is a trojan horse for Socialism, wake up Americans. Global warming is at the fore front because politicians found how to use a new platform to get re-elected. The world leaders use it because they found ways to make money at it. This is a made up problem just like Global Cooling in the 1970's. Wake up people. I agree we need to be more efficient with our resources, and we should fine and jail companies who are dumping into our rivers maliciously. I want to stop the raiforest destruction, but to say that global warming is a serious man made issue and we need to destroy the American economy and bow down to the rest of the world certainly does not float my boat. Follow the money on this one and you will see that it is all for political gain and grant money for those scientists who profit off of the government if global warming stays at the front of the issues. Look deep into the Keoto (sp?) Treaty, first of all they took jets to a non-central resort location. Not very environmentally concious. THen in the parameters of the treaty they have a clause that makes it so you can buy or sell polution credits. This is all about shifting wealth and breaking down the United States. This is painfully obvious, just look at peoples agenda. The earth's mean temperature has risen .6 degrees C in the past 125 years. Greenland's icecaps have gotten colder in the past 10 years. The Scientists who do not gain anything on their posisition will tell you that the earth has a natural progression and this is what we are seeing. The UN report is made up of POLITICIANS not a good spread of scientists. THere are as many or more scientists who believe that man in NOT the reason and it is over hyped, but their voice is not heard in the LIberal Mainstream Media. This issue is 99% political, and an attempt to make the USA a socialist nation, and eventually communisim. WAKE UP AMERICA, IT IS TIME TO BE AMERICANS. FOR THE PEOPLE BY THE PEOPLE. STOP THE LIES

Answer 4

you know nothing. yes, the earth goes through a cycle. but there is too much prove that global warming is real! how about this-humans emit 24 billion tons of CO2 every year. this will have an impact because of the greenhouse effect. 70% of the suns energy that hits earth is absorbed by the earth. eventually, that energy radiates back out. some gets back into space, but the rest is trapped in earth's atmosphere by greenhouse gases. that is a good thing because it keeps the planet warm enough for life. but, with so much CO2 put into the air every year, the greenhouse gases are keeping in much more energy(heat) than they should be. this results ina n unatural warming of the planet. this warming causes the ice to melt, the seas to rise, the oceans to warm-which result in other things. the ice melting means less habitat for animals like polar bears. the seas rising means most coastle areas will flood, making the world dangerously overcrowded. the oceans warming, even by just one degree, has already caused coral reefs to die, which means the species dependent on the reefs die as well. do you understand anything now, or will u stick to the false idea that humans couldn't have an impact on earth, no matter how hard they tried?

Answer 5

Yes, there is some cyclic pattern of glacial recession but ice-core samples taken in arctic and antarctic ice fields are showing higher carbon dioxide levels than in past centuries. The point is that our industrialization is party reasponsible for that increase.

Even if the pattern is inevitable, the impact to human life will be very great. Coastal communities would be uprooted on a tremendous scale causing many social problems, much more frequent and severe storm patterns, and crop failures could cause widespread starvation.

The United States and other countries have done much in recent years to reduce CO2 emissions while others like China (who is firing up a new coal-fired powerplant every 2 weeks) are running counter to those efforts. At the same time, other countries are clearing forests at a tremendous pace for cattle farming. These forests exchange carbon dioxide into oxygen which helps to reduce the global impact of greenhouse gas. There is still much we can do on a personal level to help but I seriously doubt we will until the problem directly affects us all...and by then it may be too late.

Answer 6

326,000,000 cubic miles of water on Earth X (5280ft/mi X12in/ft X 2.54cm/in)^3 X 1calorie/ccH2O/degC / 10^15 calories/MegaTon of TNT

That is the formula for how much energy a one degree rise in the ocean equals, in terms of 1 MegaTon atomic bombs. That one deg rise has already happened and is expected to reach 3-5 degrees in the next 20-50 years. That energy becomes bad weather. That is where storms come from.

Do the math and you will see that EACH 1 degC change has the same energy as 1.3 billion, YES BILLION, atomic bombs.

That is the scariest thing I can thing of happening, a real "end of the world, doomsday device scenario". I am not willing to ignore it and say it doesn't exist. I AM doing something about it.

Answer 7

Well it is a fact that the earth follows a routine warming and cooling over time but the reason everyone is so worried is the earth is warming up at a faster rate than it should. This will inevitably cause problems. If the glaciers melt almost 1/2 the US will drown.

Answer 8

Your point is well taken. A significant issue is the time scale; there are various dire consequences predicted if greenhouse gases increase, but how quickly these will occur (if at all) is the subject of speculation, not science. The major problem is that the costs of global warming are future, and indefinite; while the costs of trying to do something about it are large, and now. The UN has proposed a program to deal with it; the cost is pegged at $557,000,000,000,000 -- far more than the total value of every asset on this planet.

Answer 9

It's better to be freezing, because that's what jackets are for. You can use heating systems, etc. And later the world will go back to normal. Global warming, on the other hand, is PERMANENT. Also, its cause is the ozone layer is thinning or holes, causeing harmful UV rays to come through. We have good reason to be afraid of the earth heating up, also. The ocean is going to rise and some islands are going to be underwater because of the sea levels rising. Also, the ocean can become too warm for some fish and sea life to live. Many species dependant on those organisms and the organisms themselves could/would become either endangered or extinct. That's no good, and pretty darn scary if you ask me.

Answer 10

Only a fool thinks he can control nature. Our presence on this planet is inconsequential compared to the billions of years of change this planet has endured. The climate is not static nor has it ever been. It changes therefore we must adapt just as every living creature.