Are we the cause of Globel warming or is it a climate shift we could not avoid?

Question

My question, is the idea of global warming due to us? or was it going to happen either way and we just sped up the process?

The earth has already gone through climate shifts before, why couldnt there be another one?

I will not lie i dont know much on this subject but i am willing to learn if someone could help me out.

Thanx nikki

Answer 1

Hello Nikki,

It's nice to find someone honest enough to admit they don't know much about the subject. As you may have seen on this forum, many people considers themselves to be an expert on the subject but in truth know very little.

Let me give you an objective, unbiased answer based on 23 years experience...

The world is always warming or cooling of it's own accord, it's done this in the past and now is no different. Our planet experiences a number of complicated cycles that interact with each other and the current position within these cycles means that we're experiencing short term warming within a much longer periof of cooling.

The current warming started 18,000 years ago and caused the most recent retreat of the glaciers (often, incorrectly, referred to as the end of the ice age).

We know how and why the world warms up and cools down and one of the most important and influential factors is the level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. These act like a blanket, the more there are the thicker the blanket and the warmer the world becomes; that's the gist of it but there's much more to it.

Nature produces and absorbs greenhouse gases, this process is called the carbon cycle and left to it's own devices it's more or less balanced. In the last 200 years human activity have disrupted this cycle by producing large quantities of these gases, last year we emited 9 times as much as nature can handle.

All these 'surplus' greenhouse gases end up in the atmosphere instead of being absorbed by soil, plants and the oceans with the result that they trap more heat. Quite simply, the more greenhouse gases there are the more heat is trapped and the warmer the world becomes.

We're in a situation now where the world is warming up much faster than has ever before been known and these rises can't solely be attributed to natural cycles - it's much too fast for that. We're also at a point where levels of all the greenhouse gases (there's many of them) are at the highest since humans populated the planet.

Both sides of the argument are guilty of distorting the truth and in some cases lying outright. The alarmist reaction and over dramatisation of the media doesn't help either. There won't be any sudden ice age or mass extinction of humanity but what we have seen for many decades now, and will continue to see, is a gradual rising in the average global temperature.

These rises are very small and from one year to the next they'll go almost un-noticed but over time they are having, and will continue to have, a serious impact on our planet. The countries worst affected are the African and Asian nations, Europe and the US are better placed to offset the effects of global warming.

Global warming is a serious problem and it will get worse. Some people will tell you otherwise, they'll tell you that Mars is warming, that the Earth goes through natural cycles, that the sun is producing more heat. What they won't tell you is that these things are well documented, have rational explanations and have all be taken into account.

I've nothing to lose or gain by trying to convince you one way or another which is why I've provided an answer based on fact, no opinions, no distortions - just how it is.

If you'd like to know more please feel free to contact me or have a look at this short website - http://profend.com/global-warming/

Answer 2

In all honesty after all the research that has been done I think the sun has more to do with our planet then something like co2 emissions. Humans are a small minority which put co2 into our atmosphere compared to the Oceans and volcanoes.
The reason global warming is such a big deal, Politics is this driving force and missinformation.
Back in 1979 when i was young we were always warned of the next coming ice age due to the termperatures every year were dropping. 30 years later they are pulling this again global warming global cooling its a natural effect of our planet

Answer 3

There is still a lively debate going on about global warming, and those who say all scientists are in agreement about its cause (one of which is man-made pollution) are wrong. There are many scientists who dispute the existence of man-made global warming.

A number of pundits have pointed out that the planet Mars is warming up and its ice caps are melting. This would implicate the sun.

The earth has and will go through climate change. The cycle is estimated to be every 1,500 years (so we can't wait for verification!).

In my humble opinion, the earth cannot indefinitely absorb all the pollution humans create. There has to be a tipping point, even a point of no return. China's rivers are drying up, and those that still have water are so filthy that people are advised not to go near them. This is also a problem in India and other overpopulated parts of the world. And both China and India are "trying" to surpass the U. S. in the amount of pollutants they spew into the air.

I am not a scientist, but I think we should consider the fact that air pollution, including the kind(s) produced by cars' engines, is harming people. It is apparently a significant contributor to lung cancer and other respiratory-related ailments.

I am not as concerned by the fact that the earth is getting warmer (although the plight of the polar bear and other animals is very distressing) as I am by the fact that we are contributing to the destruction of our environment.

If we take a human being and a plant and expose them both to various types of pollutants (with periodic replacements of those who die), we will see that it takes a lot more of the pollution to kill the plant than it does to kill the human. This is true of radiation: If we expose our "test" subjects to the same amount of radiation, and for the same period of time, plants survive longer than humans do. This does not mean the plant is immune to radiation, only that its effects take longer to create a problem for the plant than for the human. But there is a tipping point, and when that point is reached the plant will die. That, I think ,is what is happening as a result of our pollution-causing activities.

What is of most concern to me is that man is, on the one hand, spewing a huge amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and, on the other, is destroying trees and other vegetation that absorb carbon dioxide and produce oxygen. This is equivalent to pumping water into your basement and turning off the pump that would expel it.

I think global warming is just one part of a much larger problem that is affecting all of us.

Answer 4

It's amazing only 7 people made the effort to respond to this question (at this time). Reading very old history books will tell that the planet has had unseasonal weather shifts during periods of industrail booms. But nothing like what we've been seeing and will keep seeing for awhile. Everything I've been seeing and reading tells me it's a combination of man and nature. Who triggered first--that's still up for grabs. I feel the worlds' leaders are moving way too slow in response to help in slowing it down. Well, some won't respond at all! " Not our problem" is not a response I like to hear. I'll share some advice to any who accept it--Don't blow it off, this is real and it affects evreyone.Check out the price of food or even the availibility of some foods in general. Allergies are rising,,more to dust and pollen then ever before. Sever storms, less snow, way too cold or hot(depends where you live). There is not one thing in our everyday lives that is not affected by the weather. Please, stay alert.

Answer 5

Check out the latest research by the Danish National Space Center connecting solar activity, cosmic rays and climate change. The linkage relates to cloud formation. Clouds reflect about 30% of the sun's energy so impact global temperatures significantly.The Danes have demonstrated that cosmic rays are "seeds" for cloud formation. The sun's magnet field reduces the cosmic rays that arrive at planet earth. The sun's magnetic field is higher when it is more active. More solar activity means less cosmic rays so less clouds and a warmer planet. Historical data shows a very close correlation.

Answer 6

A couple of quotes to start, with references:

1. "The warming of about 0.3 _C in recent years has prompted suggestions about anthropogenic influence on the earth’s climate due to increasing human activity worldwide. However, a close examination of the earth’s temperature change suggests that the recent warming may be primarily due to urbanization and land-use change impact and not due to increased levels of CO2 and other greenhouse gases."

2. "Inspection of the global atmospheric temperature changes during the last 1,000 years (Fig. 11) shows that the global average temperature dropped about 2_C over the last millennium. This means that we live in the cooling geologic epoch (which comprises most of the Holocene), and the global warming observed during the latest 150 years is just a short episode in the geologic history. The current global warming is most likely a combined effect of increased solar and tectonic activities and cannot be attributed to the increased anthropogenic impact on the atmosphere. Humans may be responsible for less than 0.01_C (of approximately 0.56_C (1_F) total average atmospheric heating during the last century."


These are two examples of papers that directly cast doubt upon man-made global warming. More and more of these papers are showing up in the peer reviewed literature.

It is premature to say that man is the cause of current warming. Climate modeling was ridiculously crappy in 1992 when the Rio Meetings occured. It was still that poor in 1997 when the Kyoto round of meetings resulted in the Kyoto Protocol. They remain poor now. They cannot account for cloud cover, AT ALL. They cannot account for the effects of magnetic field fluctuations of the sun, they cannot account for effects of galactic position, they cannot account for the effects cosmic ray flux, etc. The models are too simplistic to be of any real predictive value. Most of them cannot even accurately reproduce the climate changes we have seen in the last 100 years. Poor modeling of complex systems is not the thing that a bold statement of cause and effect should be built upon.

In the end, the complexities of modelling, the continued publication of papers that flat out deny human causes, and the level of anger amongst the true believers leads me to think that humans are NOT the cause of global warming.

Answer 7

BOTH, but humans have a larger impact on this topic than climate change.
If everone would recycle, compost, use less energy, buy ONLY what you need, and keep our cars running, rather than up dating on the latest model....We would'nt have such bad results.
My husband & I have made several changes in our lifestyle...We have replaced all incadescent light bulbs with cfl's, started composting our kitchen scraps, quit using store bought cleaning supplies & started making our own out of vinegar, lemon juice, baking soda, borax, peroxide & water. We barrel all of our water, whether its rain water or dish & shower water(we water the plants with this rather than use the water hose.) We stopped using store bags & started taking our own reusable shopping bags, we stopped using a/c & installed several ceiling fans & floor fans, we planted trees to shade our home instead of dependig on the a/c.We even stopped using paper napkins & I made reusable cloth napkins, and we also hung a clothes line so we don't have to use the dryer in spring to fall.
There are so many things we can do to help prevent further global warming. We even started walking to places instead of using the vehicles as much. If everyone pitched in & did their part, we would'nt be damaging our earth as bad. The earth is like our body we only have one & it's gone. We just take for granted the things that science has created & think it could'nt be bad or they wouldn't have made it. That's not true. It's all about the money. Scientists ddon't care if the earth will be here after their gone, they just want to succeed while they;'re here....
Not eveyone can go to the extreme that my husband and I have....I am a house wife & this is what I do to help out with ills, & the earth. If you can make a point to do 3 or more of the things I have listed above & get more & more people to do the same then we all can make a big difference in what is taking place. We can't mend what has already happened, but we can slow it down & not cause anymore UNNECISSARY pollution. I am no environmental guru, but I believe we need to take care of what GOD gave us...

Answer 8

Global warming is going to happen anyway after some thousand's of years. But, human activity since from the last decade is intensifying the change. The evidence is the fossil fuels we are burning, the sudden and steady increase of temperature year over year. The spring like winters, the winter like spring season. The warm europe, alps wiothout snow on their caps and global warming is like a chain reaction. It's triggering in one place and is spreading it's repurcussions everywhere.

Answer 9

We are partly cause of global warming. Car exhausts to a normal household item such as aerosol cans emit dangerous gases into the air. This depletes the o-zone layer, letting harmful UV rays through. That's only the beginning. If the problem gets worse, we could pssibly experience an ice age, but much earlier than normal. The hot, then cold, then hot again weather pattern is the affects of global warming. It is affecting us now. Just check out The Day After Tomorrow (movie). That'll eventually happen if we don't stop this continuous pollution.

Answer 10

I think we are causing the global warming and have so for decades without ever thinking much about it. Yes there are climate shifts and there always have been, but not so severe and not so fast. Over the last 150 years the worlds population has exploded and we all want and need and so we are putting out more CO2 and all the other pollutants and if we don't change our behaviours soon, I fear it will just get worth with the extreme weather conditions.