Why do people believe global warming is real?

Question

The world naturally cools and heats itself. Why should now be and different? It is just the biggest conspiracy in american histitory made up by hippies and enviormentalists. Post questions comments, and conerns.

For the fifth person to answer, here is my evidence. Once in mankind, there was three times as much co2 in the air and it was three times hotter then it is today. Also, you are the one being mislead by propaganda magazines yelling, " save the earth!" What about mars. It is constantly getting hotter and we didnt drive our cars up there! You sir, have been fooled with the threatining hippies. It is the most politically incorrect thing to say that global warming isn't real, so goverment officials are afraid to speak their mind! The reason everyone believes in global warming is because the democrats just to power. Theres your proof!

Answer 1

Liberals created this myth because they have always felt the need to scare their followers (see Bernard B's answer). They like to have their followers scared of something so they can play the hero and save the day with some grand idea, like, for instance, paying someone to offset your "carbon footprint". And they keep at it because there are enough fools that need "saving".

Answer 2

You are correct that the world naturally and periodically cools and heats itself. The cause of the heating and cooling is generally greenhouse gases such as CO2 and CH4. In fact, by taking data from ice cores, researchers are able to determine what both CO2 levels and temperature in the atmosphere were for the past several hundred thousand years.

Scientists have found that there is a very strong correlation between the amount CO2 in the atmosphere and the temperature. That does not necessary prove that one causes the other, but it SUGGEST a causal relationship.

The amount of CO2 in the air has risen dramatically over the past 200 years. The atmosphere currently has about 375ppm (parts per million) of CO2 in the atmosphere. During the past 400,000 years, the atmosphere has never had more than about 300ppm and less than 175ppm.

When we look back further, some scientists have extrapolated that the atmosphere had over 2,000ppm of CO2 about 25-60 million years ago. The causes for this, and validity of the information, is still under discussion.

So why do people believe global warming is real?
If people believe it is a problem and act against it, what's the worst that can happen? A minor economic recession of a few percent on the Dow Industrial Average, and the requirement of civilized humans to put a little exra thought into their daily actions.
If people doubt it's a problem and choose not to act, what's the worst that can happen? The extinction of the human race when rising see levels destroy coastal populations, rising temperatures allow for the acceleration of spreading diseases, animals that are necessary in the food chain start becoming extinct, etc.

Of course, we can ignore the 2500 scintists and say it's not a problem, but the human race has worked awful hard these past 4 million years at surviving to take a chance at shooting ourselves in the foot. All I'm saying is, this is a situation where the potential consequences of non-action are far worse than those of action.

Answer 3

Yes, it's feasible that AGW is truly however latched-on-to and complicated for ulterior factors. I've on no account mentioned that the truth that there was such a lot misrepresentation, exaggeration, hyperbole, ancient revisionism and outright mendacity disprove the speculation itself - I've effectively mentioned that so long as the speculation stays unproven, there's a advantage of the doubt, and that the misrepresentation, exaggeration, hyperbole, ancient revisionism and mendacity adversely impacts credibility to the level that any advantage of the doubt fairly cannot accept. I've additionally attempted to factor out that even as those strategems probably considered as "noble lies" by means of a few at the AGW aspect, scaring individuals into believing the "proper" end albeit for the "incorrect" factors, they do extra damage than well by means of growing staunch skeptics - for all people scared by means of the belief of giant sea degree upward push and "remarkable" warming, there is also 2 individuals who say that they might have saved an open brain or else however they would possibly not consider the predictions approximately the long run if they arrive from individuals who lie approximately the beyond. And this trade approximately "Exxon can pay individuals off to undermine the technological know-how" is unnecessary - - first, they as have close to all multinational businesses have donated a tiny amount of cash through the years to non-gains that study numerous disorders, which means no scientist is creating a dwelling off Exxon donations and which means additionally that such donations are not more inducements to type a given end than Mutual of Omaha's contributions to Wild Kingdom had been inducements for Marlon Perkins to research cheetahs alternatively of leopards. Second, there are countless numbers of instances extra bucks funneling into the professional-AGW, professional-enlargement-of-executive aspect - however by some means that is OK. Third, even though the diversities in investment had been reversed, how would investment "undermine the technological know-how?" It's no longer Exxon's fault that AGW stays an unproven idea. It's no longer Exxon's fault that it hasn't warmed in 9 and a part years. It's no longer Exxon's fault that earlier hot durations happened while CO2 stages had been diminish and men and women were not worried.

Answer 4

<< Why do people believe global warming is real? >>

In a nutshell - overwhelming scientific evidence. Global warming has been known about since 1896 (speculated since 1811). When it was purely a scientific matter nobody questioned it because there was no evidence to refute it despite people trying to find evidence. In the last few years it's become a political issue in the US and something that affects big business. 100 years of scientific research has been unable to find anything to refute global warming but politicians and oil companies can suddenly find evidence.

<< The world naturally cools and heats itself. Why should now be and different? >>

The difference now is that the world is warming much faster than has ever before been known. Historically the sort of temperature changes were currently witnessing on an average annual basis would have taken decades or centuries.

<< It is just the biggest conspiracy in american histitory made up by hippies and enviormentalists. >>

Hippies and environmentalists didn't exist when global warming was first proven. For over 100 years scientists have been accumulating massive amounts of data and evidence. Global warming isn't an American issue - it's a global issue. The primary difference between the US and the rest of the world is that in the US it's largely a political issue and almost one person in six disputes global warming - fare more than anywhere else.

<< Once in mankind, there was three times as much co2 in the air and it was three times hotter then it is today. >>

Atmosphereic CO2 levels have been many times higher than they are today but that was millions of years before humans. Temperatures were about 20 degrees C higher than they are today. CO2 levels are higher now than at any time during the history of mankind and temperatures are the highest for 130,000 years.

<< Also, you are the one being mislead by propaganda magazines yelling, " save the earth!" >>

The Propoganda is from those who seek to dispute global warming. As mentioned, there was never any disputing the facts of global warming until it became a political issue and the US is the only country in the world where there's such a level of dispute. In fact, there's so little evidence to disprove global warming that ExxonMobil are openly offering awards of $10,000 to anyone who comes up with any evidence to disprove it - total payout they've made so far is $0.

<< What about mars. It is constantly getting hotter and we didnt drive our cars up there! >>

Mars MAY be getting hotter in SOME parts, it may also be getting cooler in others. There's not enough data to say for certain just what's happening. In any event, there's 5 planets and moons in the solar system which MAY be warming, there's 167 others on which no warming has been measured, if warming was the result of solar variation then all planets and moons would be warming.

<< You sir, have been fooled with the threatining hippies. >>

I'm not threatening anyone and I'm not a hippy. I do have 23 years experience of climatology and over 1000 published articles. What convinced me of global warming was my own research - research which set about to disprove global warming as much as it did to prove it.

<< It is the most politically incorrect thing to say that global warming isn't real, so goverment officials are afraid to speak their mind! >>

Governments are elected to serve the people. The vast majority of people are concerned about global warming (84% in the US, 94% outside the US). To ignore it would be to ignore the wishes of the electorate. In any case, there are many officials who do speak out against global warming.

<< The reason everyone believes in global warming is because the democrats just to power. >>

America was just about the last country in the world to wake up to global warming. Prior to the democrats hundreds of governments and political parties around the world had already recognised the issue.

<< Theres your proof! >>

The proof requires nothing more technical than a thermometer. If you'd been taking temperature readings yourself for a couple of decades or more (like many people have) you'd have your own evidence there in front of you.

Answer 5

Well, I can PROVE global warming is happening, both with math and logic. What the real question is, is man causing global warming and if so to what extent?

If you want the answer to the post and edit and let me know.

EDIT

First chill.

No I don’t believe global warming is happening because the democrats are in power. I’m not fooled by hippies. I’m not PC. But I also said I can PROVE it so here we go.

Logic

Remember Otzi? You know the 5,477-year-old Stone Age man found mummified in a melting glacier high in the Italian Tyrolean Alps. Well, the reason he was found with all his possessions intact was that he was in a depression in the ground and the glacier flowed over him and his possessions. Because of the depression in the ground and because we found his possessions with him we know his body hasn’t moved from the time he died. How did we discover his body? The glacier retreated and his body was discovered. Glaciers grow when the snow from the previous doesn’t melt before the next winter and new snow falls. This accumulation also caused the glacier to “flow” like a river, albeit slowly. Glaciers shrink when all the snow melts along with ice and snow from previous years also melts, as the earth gets cooler glaciers grow as the earth get warmer glaciers shrink. We are seeing most,of the glaciers shrinking (the exception is Antarctica) , thus the earth is warming.

Do you really want me to go into the math, I can and it’s really, really boring. But the best math (I didn’t do the math myself, but I did check the math out) I can find is that man is responsible for .25% (point two five percent) of the total warming of the earth, now if you take the extreme prediction of a 10 degree rise in temperature, man at best (or worst) would be responsible for .0025 degree of temperature change. ASSUMING of course you blame the entire temperature rise the added CO2 only.

That fact that with earth is warming or cooling in nothing new, in fact it would be of far more interest to me and others if the earth WASN’T heating up or cooling down. The sun’s output isn’t constant, the amount of “greenhouse” gas isn’t constant, so of course the earth warms and cools, you or anyone else who thinks the earth’s temperature is constant is a fool at best and at worst well I won’t go there.

Like I said in my post, the only question is how much warming, or cooling for that matter is the responsibility of man? The research I’ve seen so far said not much, and certainly not enough to justify the BILLIONS of dollars being spent. How much better would that money have been spent on things that really MATTER?

Now that said, I believe we should become energy independent and conserve energy, not because it would reduce greenhouse gasses, but I don’t like being dependent on counties that at best just want our money or worse want our destruction, but that a different discussion for a different day.

Post back if you really want to see the math.

Answer 6

True, the planet does occasionally go through cooling and warming phases. But you've forgotten two very important things. One, each and every one of those cooling or warming phases had a cause, we're the cause of this one. Two, no known cooling or warming phase has ever been even remotely as rapid as this one, which is of particular concern to scientists since we don't know how well living organisms can adapt to it.

And global warming is most certainly *not* a vast liberal conspiracy. I think they very idea is egregiously inane. It is a scientific theory and has undergone the exact same rigorous testing and scrutiny as any other scientific theory.
And of course, anthropogenic climate change theory has been around for more than a century longer than hippies or environmentalists, making the idea impossible in the first place.

If you feel that you have some evidence which disproves the theory I would simply love to see it. Although bear in mind I will try and refute it if it's just more contrarian rubbish.

Edit: And to Jam, who gave a link to the Great Global Warming Swindle, I should point out that the whole thing has been discredited and refuted by scientists so many times now people should be embarrassed for even mentioning it. In fact, one of the scientists involved in the film (Carl Wunsch) is now demanding that he be removed from the show entirely, saying that he was mislead and deceived into thinking the show would be a scientific, unbiased look at the theory. Further saying that had he been informed as to the true nature and content of the film, would never have agreed to appear in it at all, calling a piece of 'outright propaganda'.

You can read Mr. Wunsch's letter to Channel 4 here:

http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2007/03/swindled-carl-wunsch-responds/

and a short article debunking the whole film here:

http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2007/03/swindled/

RealClimate is a Blog run by fifteen highly qualified climate scientists actively researching in the field. So you can lay any fears you may have about credibility to rest.

Jake, the fact that times during Earth's history when concentrations of atmospheric CO2 were high saw the warmest climates is exactly my point. Humans have been releasing a great deal of CO2 into the atmosphere over the past century. And what happens when concentrations of CO2 rise? That's right, temperatures follow.

Your claims about Mars warming are equally ill informed. There has been no observed global trend on Mars whatsoever. Some slight melting was observed near the southern ice cap due to a decrease in Martian dust storm activity over the past few years, but the change was certainly not global. Here are several articles explaining the observed warming on the Red Planet far better than I could:

http://www.realclimate.org/index.php?p=192

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/04/070404-mars-warming.html

Now, if you feel that you have any more arguments against the theory, or are unsatisfied with my responses to the arguments given, please let me know. But I do ask that you do so without going into any sort of hippie brainwashing conspiracies, since they only serve to weaken your position. Since I have, in point of fact, not got one single piece of information on anthropogenic climate change from hippies, as the few sources I listed will attest.

Answer 7

Morey said it best. I couldn't have written a clearer and more effective response if I stayed up all night trying.

You're right, the earth DOES naturally heat and cool itself. The evidence is STILL there that we're having an even BIGGER impact on the environment though, causing this naturally-occurring cycle to be out of whack. And again, even if it weren't true, you should still be conscious of what you give and take to the planet. Plus it saves you money. What hardcore science-skeptical Republican wouldn't buy into that?

Answer 8

Please can we have no more references from those looking for a new religion about the congregation of 2,500 righteous scientists who made the 'leap of faith' (or several)?

These are the same sort of people who were teaching in the 1970's that a global famine would occur in 1975, that copper would run out by 1984, and that oil would run out sometime after 1990. And that we were due for a sudden ice-age, resulting from a hypothetical ability of the gulf stream to suddenly stop flowing (another discredited theory). There was a little ice age in the 17th century, and there was a medieval warm period much hotter than the present one. Greenland was once farmed in areas where there is now permafrost. Atmospheric gas levels are not changed by aeroplanes they are changed by vast and complicated combinations of everything from solar activity to volcanic events.
You cannot SUGGEST a causality, and then act as if you had found one, on the basis of a correlation.

People who have done so in the past make strange bedfellows - like the racial freaks who do a study of school grades and ethnic backgrounds, and conclude that people of one colour cannot do as well in school as those of another colour. There is always another possibility - another correlation ( In this example, people from high earning backgrounds live in places with better schools than people living in low income areas).

The 'Global Warming' fad will pass, just like the 'iceman cometh' fad, - in the meantime it will be used as a cloak to cover all sorts of devious actions.

Answer 9

You only present circumstantial evidence. The hard evidence is that CO2 traps in heat. Humans produce lots of CO2 through emissions. Sure the earth goes through cycles, but we are making the hot cycles hotter through our CO2 emissions. Case closed.

Answer 10

yes I believe you are right.Scientist have nothing else to do so now they have invented a problem,I see nothing wrong with conserving in all aspects of our lives that should have always been a given and its not.Climate change is what it is and so what?the north can be 1* warmer in winter and the south will be one * cooler I don't really see that as a hardship all it will take is one tremendous volcanicic action or a super volcan eruption and we have the worse scenario there is and we can't stop that.