Will someone please explain this whole global warming thing to me?

Question

OK, 80% of the Earth's surface is covered with water which, by the way is the largest producer of CO2 on our planet... by FAR! Of the remaining 20%, rain forests take up 5% and are the second largest producers of CO2. Antarctica takes up 4%, deserts another 3%, uninhabitable mountain ranges, another 3%. So only about 5% of the Earth's surface (and I got these figures from the discovery channel) is inhabitable, and of that only 1% is industrialized.

So are you really going to tell me that 1% of the Earths surface produces enough CO2 to off set the GLOBAL balance? With the seas, and the rain forests, and volcanoes producing billions if not trillions of tons of CO2 a year, that 1% adds enough to boost everything over the top... even with 5% being CO2 filtering rain forest?

How can this logically or mathematically make sense to... anybody?

I should also point out that we know, as a matter of historical record, that global temps 700 years ago were 10 degrees higher than they are now. We know this because there vinyards in northern England and grain farming in Greenland. Also, as a matter of record the majority of this recent warming trend occurred BEFORE industrialization, and that during the mid 1900, the peak of industrialization the global temps went down causing the whole "New Ice Age" scare.

OK, so I have had 3 pro global warming responses and only one has even attempted to use science or logic. This question was posed for intellectual discussion. Politically motivated, uneducated extremists, please try to exercise a little common sense.

Answer 1

It's just science. The data speaks clearly. Here's some of it for you, but you actually have to go to the links and read them. It takes work.

There is a natural "carbon cycle" that recycles CO2. But it's a delicate balance and we're messing it up.

Look at this graph.

http://scrippsco2.ucsd.edu/graphics_gallery/mauna_loa_record/mlo_record.html

The little squiggles are nature doing its' thing. CO2 falls a bit during summer when plants are active, and rises during the winter. The huge increase is us, burning fossil fuels. The natural carbon cycle buried them over a very long time. We dig them up and burn them, real fast. That upsets the system.

Volcanoes are not the problem. The data shows they emit far less greenhouse gases than man. And they also emit particulate matter which blocks the sun. The second is actually more important. Temperature decreases in the last century are linked to volcanic eruptions. Proof here:

http://www.geology.sdsu.edu/how_volcanoes_work/climate_effects.html

The data is why the vast majority of scientists accept global warming as real. Proof here:

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/306/5702/1686

The best summary and analysis of the data is here:

http://www.ipcc.ch/SPM2feb07.pdf

Among other things, it contains historical temperature data not "there used to be vinyards in northern England".

The data is why this is the bottom line:

"the question of global warming was settled years ago for all but a few holdouts in the scientific community"

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/nation/16620307.htm

Here's a good site for much more information. It's written by climate scientists and based on science and data, not vague arguments.

http://www.realclimate.org/

The science behind global warming is as solid as it gets. Will you take the time to study it, instead of dealing with glib arguments? Here's a good book.

http://www.amazon.com/Weather-Makers-Changing-Climate-Means/dp/0871139359/ref=sr_1_2/002-7020952-9746429?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1174836502&sr=8-2

Answer 2

First, can you please explain how water is the largest producer of carbon dioxide on the planet? In all my years of studying science I have never heard this theory. What is your source for this information?

Your second "fact" - that rainforests are the second largest producer of CO2.. again, where did you get this information from? The only way a rainforest will contribute to the emissions of greenhouse gases (like CO2) is if there is biomass burning - which does happen when HUMANS clear the forests. Otherwise, the trees and other abundant plant life in the rainforests actually take carbon dioxide OUT of the atmosphere and produce oxygen.

Yes - volcanoes can emit greenhouse gases, particularly when they erupt, but this has been going on since the beginning of time and would not disrupt any "balance" as you put it.

What IS contributing the global warming effect is the emission of greenhouse gases, mainly carbon dioxide (which you have mentioned) and methane. Carbon dioxide is emitted by humans into the atmosphere by the burning of fossil fuels. With factories, cars, etc. constantly burning fossil fuels, an abundance of carbon dioxide is being emitted into the air.
The primary source of methane, believe it or not, is from cows. There are so many cows on the planet to satisfy the human need for beef and dairy products, and the "emissions" from cows are creating a huge source of methane gas.
The way scientists have figured out that humans are the reason global warming is occuring is because scientists can look at soil samples and determine the past climate. There are records of global temperatures from before the industrial revolution, and it is a fact that global temperatures have risen at an alarming pace, and they coincide with the beginning of when humans started to use fossil fuels.
Of course as with any other scientific theory, global warming can be argued. Many can argue that temperature fluctuations are normal over geologic history, and that what we are experiencing now is just part of the normal ways of the Earth. However this temperature fluctuation is MORE than what has been observed in the fossil record and it has been determined that it is more than coincidence that it started with the industrial revolution.

Your argument is that only 1% of the Earth is industrialized, and I don't know how accurate that number is - do you have a source ? But even if it was accurate, it is not like these pollutants stay where they are produced. The Earth is constantly in flux, and when greenhouses gases and other pollutants are emitted into the atmosphere, they can move all over the Earth, trapping in the sun's heat and warming the global temperatures.

If you would like numbers, I can provide those for you, but hopefully my explanation has answered your question. Let me know.

Answer 3

First of all, you would need to explain how water produces CO2. And assuming all those figures are correct, yes, it would still affect the balance because this 1% of the earth area is producing hundreds or thousands of times more CO2 than before industrialisation. And that seems to have upset the ecology. The rain forests did not increase in the last two hundred years, they got diminished because of increased human habitation and the increasing deforestation for wood, paper etc.

So, unless you have decided not to believe what you see, yes, global warming is a fact atleast in the short term statistics. May be Mother Earth has a few cards up her sleeve, which we scientists don't know.

Answer 4

First misconception: neither oceans nor rainforests "produce" carbon dioxide. Both oceans and forests are net CO2 sinks, meaning that overall they absorb more CO2 from the atmosphere than they emit.

Second misconception: volcanoes do not produce climatologically significant amounts of CO2. The total amount of volcanic CO2 produced averages about 0.3 billion tons per year. The total anthropogenic CO2 production is currently about 25 billion tons per year. In other words, volcanoes produce about 1% of the CO2 that human beings do.

Third misconception: anthropogenic CO2 is not produced by earth's surface area. It is produced by human beings burning fossil fuel. This burning can (and does) occur anywhere on or above the earth's surface.

To answer your question: am I really going to tell you that 1% of the earth's surface can produce a global imbalance? No, but I am going to tell you that 6.5 billion human beings can. Prior to 1800 AD, CO2 had been stable for centuries at about 280 ppmv. Currently it is 383 ppmv and rising exponentially with no end in sight. Are you going to tell me that this rise is not man made?

Answer 5

Even if these figures were real, human activity on the "1%" is independent of the size of the area. This kind of thinking does nobody any good. Human activity is an addition to the given processes of nature. This addition puts things out of whack.

But there are always deniers fudging figures. What does it matter? There is global warming. Human activity is the principal cause. Nobody will do anything about it. Seas will rise. Storms will increase in number and power. Droughts and floods will get worse. People will die - from famine and thirst, from wars over water and food, from disease, from floods, from storms, from disruption of the ecology. When enough people die, their activities will abate, the earth will get back into its natural rhythm....

Answer 6

Global warming, as you have ascertained, is a MYTH! The global environment constantly cycles through a series of warm and cold spells, creating the cycles of jungle and ice age. The "hole in the ozone" is a myth as well - geologists have shown that the "hole" has always been there, and contrary to dogmatic science, it is not growing. Ozone and CFCs used on the ground do NOT harm the ozone layer, which is CONSTANTLY being renewed. Please pick up the most excellent book "Rockets, Redheads and Revolutions" by James P Hogan,where he provides strong evidence to support this. Obviously, there is a LOT of money to be made in the suppression of ozone and CFCs, as well as in creating a hysterical environment around the "global warming" theory, so anyone who tries to seriously debunk it is shouted over.

The reason it makes sense to most people is that they don't bother to learn anything for themselves, preferring to sheep-like follow after whomever yells the loudest for them to follow. I commend you for seeing through the lies.

Answer 7

This is so simple.

It is about votes and your cash.

Vote for this person and then give him all you cash he will save you form the evil corporations and Republicans. Please do not think we know your to stupid to so just do as we say. Stay in your small box and watch the box called a TV.

Your saying Al Gore not doing it why he is an elite person and your just a lower class. Now go back in your box.

Answer 8

It does not make sense. Do not attempt to talk science or proof with the liberal environmental freaks, they don't understand it or embrace it unless it supports their latest stupid idea. Global Warming is a FARCE, your already seeing that, good.

Answer 9

doesnt the ocean absorb carbon dioxide too? i thought it produced the oxygen that eventually becomes the ozone layer...

one fact coral bleaching usually happens during higher temperature, and corals are bleaching. when corals die
a lot of fish lose their homes and die. when fish die...well many will go hungry...

maybe its political maybe it isnt, but i believe we should respond to the problems that are real... and hunger is a reality...if climate change threatens to make us hungrier we should respond to it.