Global Warming -- Regardless of man's contribution to global warming, or lack thereof, would you...?

Question

...consider an earth's climate that continuously changes to be more unnatural than a climate that was always the same? What does the history of the earth show? Was the ice age and subsequent heating more unnatural than an earth in a perpetual ice age? My question does not address whether change - or man's alleged involvement - is good or bad, right or wrong. My question is whether or not we should expect change as a natural occurrence.

Answer 1

For once an intelligent question on the topic of natural climate change! Congrats.

Yes--we should expect change as a constant--we'd better, because that will happen!

But there are different types of changes. Most climate changes are very slow (by human standards)--thousands of years is a "fast" change. For the most part life (plant and animal) have all that time to adapt gradually to the changes.

But some changes (including the current human-caused global warming, as well as rare natural changes) are rapid. In those instances, species don't have time to make the changes needed to survive. Those tend to be highly destructive--and that's when you see mass extinctions/die offs and so on. And for us, that could be very destructive as well--we forget, sometimes, with all our technology, that we are very much a part of the natural world-and ultimately just as dependant on it as any other species.

Here's an analogy. If you are driving down the road and need to stop, its no problem if you make the change by touching the brakes and slowing gradually. But if you have the misfortune to stop by running into a tree, the results are disasterous--even fatel. Even though the actual change in speed in either case is exactly the same.

Answer 2

Of course the Earth has gone through many changes in climate. The key about the global warming issue is that taking into account all of those historical changes, the relative changes happening in the last 100 years or so point directly to future changes that will be orders of magnitude greater than any seen before unless we curtail the production of CO2.

Answer 3

The earth has gone through many warming/cooling cycles so it is definitely natural. Right now, the output of the sun has gone up .15% in the last 30 years and is till rising and Mars and Pluto are warming up. Should we take the blame for that or could this panic attack warming just be another natural thing?

Answer 4

You make a convincing argument. Here is my point:

This change would be natural if there was no man made cause that could be attributed to it. The Ice Age melting had, perhaps, something to do with a cause that we do not yet know. No such cosmic phenomenon is happening now, or we wouldn't miss it.

Therefore, if a change is happening on Earth now, it is not for the same reasons that the earlier change used. For this change, we are responsible.

Answer 5

yes we should. men's influence is great on climate change, but nature itself is far greater force. when we destroy this planet nature will be the first to replenish itself and to rise from the ashes of the humans stupidity

Answer 6

Natural cycles and global warming is a non sequitur. They are not the same, stop trying to argue they are, thank you.