Do you think that Global Warming is caused by our actions or a natural change in the weather pattern?

Question

I wonder because the earth has been both colder and hotter in the past eons.

Answer 1

everybody is so preocupied that co2 ,or polution is the only reason of climate change
many people forget about desertification
desserts are like a fire they gobble up the edges with the heat and so grow.

forrests regulate the climate ,they absorb heat during the day and release it at night ,that is why desserts are freezing at night and cooking during the day

Forrests produce water ,and regulate the atmosphere we breathe (they absorb carbon )as well as protecting the earth from the sun

if forrest are being exchanged for ashalt,concrete and desserts
what is gonna keep this planet habitable for us

Global warming is a very complex collection of many effects

this text is limited to effects of people in the country,industrial effects on the environment and the internal combustion engine as well as the over all effects of cities and the ozone part of global warming,is another story,

climate change is caused partly by desertification ,and most desertification is caused by man
the thinner ozone layer helps to speed this up.and this is caused mainly by air polution ,also as a result of mans actions

there are natural cycles in the planets life
but a lot is influenced by mans existance ,and this is increasing with overpopulation,putting strains on Natural resources and increasing contaminations as well as destructions of essential componants the ensure living conditions for all life forms

in North Africa,India,Mexico ,millions of people are effected by land loss and desertification and some have died as a result

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 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,

each degree rise in temperature means 10%crop loss

and there is less and less water (because of deforestation),to irrigate this production ,
and there are less and less farmers to do it..
and there are 70 million more peole every year that have to eat and drink and wash

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.

Source(s):

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 many languages and won the best book award in 2003

i am a Permaculture Consultant for the department of Ecology for the regional government in Guerrero Mexico

Answer 2

If you ask me, which i suppose you are in a way, Global warming is no natural change(apart from the natural small rise and fall of world weather). The people of the planet are chopping down our oxygen giving(co2 eating) trees like never before and churnung out a hell of a lot of carbon dioxide and other chemicals which destroy ozone. Once uopn a time there was balance and so the weather pattern changes were small and relatively unoticed, put down to natural phenomenon. Now however, we see forest areas the size of wales cut down in days. No wonder were choking and roasting to death one minute, freeezing the next, there's not enough trees to soak up all the crap we throw into the atmosphere- the same stuff that messes with the worlds weather. Its only trying to rearrange itself and balance things out again. To me the answer is simple: Create balance as is the natural way of things and the earth will look after us and more importantly, itself. This planet is very beautiful and wonderful. I find it completely astonishing that we are all so stupid (me included) and continue to rape the very place that gives us life. Native Americans and other tribal peoples always put back a little of what they took so that balance would be maintained and there would be future harvests, food, clothing etc available. It is no coincidence they had a gentle life of plenty(albeit hard work at times) and yet we live a life with a blistering pace, have everything we could want and still yearn for more more more. We need to start learning from our blindingly obvious mistakes ! Of course our politicians would have you believe that everything is more or less rosy. Do not be fooled by these idiots. You only work for one thing - Money. They do too. Everything is connected. You would be wise to think carefully about this condcept.
best wishes

Answer 3

The current observed evidence suggests global warming is caused by our actions on top of slight natural warming. See FIGURE SPM-4 in:

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

The natural cycles are simplified like this (see my last answer for a bit more detail). For the past 650,000 years (if not longer) the earth has had many ice ages and warmer periods, related to the orbit around the sun and greenhouse gas concentrations acting in feedback mechanisms. The CO2 concentrations involved in this change are between 150-250ppm in the atmosphere - 150ppm relates to an ice age and 250ppm to a warm period. The changes in greenhouse gas concentrations and solar cycle variations occur over thousands of years. We have increased the atmospheric concentration from about 250ppm to 376ppm in 200 years. This is having an effect and will only become more pronounced.

On top of the natural climate change we are adding additional warming by adding hundreds of thousands of tonnes of CO2 (and other greenhouse gases) per year.
If the earth was a football the atmosphere would be a layer 1mm thick. Not a lot of room to go chucking so much reactive gases into and expecting nothing to react?

Five/ten years ago, those who wished to question global warming refused to acknowledge an increase in global temperature might be becoming apparent, now the same bunch are saying there is a rise in temp but it's not due to humans, or suggest that because things like sea level rise aren't accurately predicted then the whole thing is wrong.
One has to question the motives of those who change the argument so frequently.

In previous times (millions of years ago) the earth was on a different climate regime, and the CO2 (and other GHG) concentrations were thought to be very high (this can't be measured like ice bubble gas can, the cores don't go back that far). Clearly it is possible for this to happen and life to survive, but the rate of change in the gas concentration and therefore temperature was much slower than today’s ramming 1000s of years of warming into 200 years.

Finally, I am convinced that our actions are causing a rise in mean global temperature. I just hope I can convince you.

Answer 4

The earth has been hotter and colder in the past. But do you really think the scientists who study this ignore the natural changes in earth temperate?

Indeed, we seem to be warming at a rate not seen as far back as the proxy data goes -- on the order of 100k years.

Also, the climate models are consistent with man made global warming.

Now, just because virtually all climatologists not working for Exxon agree that climate change is man made, it does not mean we are 100% sure the scientists are right. But usually when there is a scientific consensus it is correct.

Indeed, most people cannot come up with a case where that was not the case. (There are examples, just that most people do not know any and they come up with an example where the scientific consensus was right.)

Answer 5

Mostly by our actions. There have been natural climate change. But the data shows clearly that this one isn't natural.

Nature recycles CO2 with the "carbon cycle". But it's a delicate balance. We're messing up the balance by digging up carbon the natural cycle buried thousands of years and burning it real fast.

The data here shows it clearly. The tiny teeth are the natural cycle, with plants absorbing it during summer, and a variety of natural sources increasing it in winter. The big curve up is us, burning fossil fuels.

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

The data also shows clearly it isn't the sun. Solar increase is 0.12 watts per meter squared, man's warming is 1.6 watts per meter squared, more than ten times as much. Page 4 of this report.

http://www.ipcc.ch/spm2feb07.pdf

You can't rely on logical arguments to understand global warming. You need to actually look at numerical data. Climate scientists do that, and the vast majority of them believe global warming is real. Data about that is here:

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

Science is all about the data, not about who can argue words best.

The youtube video recommended above is just silly:

http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/climate_change/article2355956.ece

" A Channel 4 documentary claimed that climate change was a conspiratorial lie. But an analysis of the evidence it used shows the film was riddled with distortions and errors."

Answer 6

Global Warming/Climate Change is not as big a problem as some would have you to believe. A recent article in the New York Times has even asked Al Gore to stop all the hype: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/13/science/13gore.html?_r=1&oref=slogin That same article talks about Al Gore's claim that the oceans could rise 20 feet is exaggerated by 18.08 FEET! The latest UN study on the subject says the seas could rise a MAXIMUM of 23 inches. Al was only 18.08 FEET off. That, my freind IS hype...

If you look up any global temperature chart on the net, you'll find the earth's temperature has only increased by about 6/10 of one degree (C) - that's 1.1 degree (F), in the last 125 years. So yes, the globe is warming up, but it's not overheating like some would have you to believe. http://data.giss.nasa.gov:80/gistemp/2005/2005cal_fig1.gif

The latest research shows that the methane from cows and pigs is a major factor in the increase of "heat trapping gas". It's actually 23 times more potent as a heat trapping gas than is carbon dioxide. http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/climate-change/science/other_gases According to the newest UN report on Global Warming, "Livestock are responsible for 18 per cent of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming, more than cars, planes and all other forms of transport put together." http://news.independent.co.uk:80/environment/article2062484.ece

So if Al Gore and all the alarmists really want to do something about climate change, they MUST become vegetarians and shut down cow and pig farms. I mean seriously, if they truly believe that global warming is as disastrous as they are preaching then they need to stop eating meat, period! I doubt that will happen. If not, then they are the hypocrites that some of us already suspect they are.

Also Al Gore preaches to you to conserve, but he does not practice it himself. He uses 20 times more energy in his Nashville mansion than the national average. http://www.tennesseepolicy.org/main/article.php?article_id=367
One thing he has not learned is that you MUST practice what you preach... at some point you will get caught as he has.

Answer 7

It's a natural change the Earth has experienced Ice Ages way before humans existed.

The Gaia world model describes it perfectly.

Answer 8

please read this :

the greenhouse effect is what is apperantly causing "global warming" but as i saw on a programe yesterday if the 'green house' effect waas true snd the atmosphere is getting hotter, the upper atmosphea would get hotter befor the lower atmosphea did BUT the upper is not and is much cooler so their must be a differant cause to temperatre changes *cough* radiation from the earth *cough*
dont belive everything the goverment tells you becase they know that fuel is going to run out in the near future so they scare everyone into beliving that if we keep on using our cars ect.. then we will destory the world

Answer 9

No look at history when the dinosaurs were around the earth was a lot warmer Antarctica was a rain frost earth is still trying to repair itself from the last ice age

Answer 10

I think man(and woman) has had impact on the environment but mostly I think it is a natural occurrence. However the felling of the rainforests is the most serious threat I think. But these things will pale into insignificance when that super volcano in Yellowstone park lights up.