Do you believe global warming has been enhanced by human activity or is it just a natural process?

Question

Just out of curiosity...some say its happening because of human envolvement, while others say its happening all along.

Answer 1

Both the points you make are correct, I'll explain, but first a very short answer...

The current warming trend is partly natural and largely the result of human activity.


EXPLANATION

Our planet has been around a long time (4.567 billion years) and has always been either warming or cooling. Using various techniques we can determine what the climate has been like for the last 542 million years and during that time there have been four occasions when the world was considerably hotter than it is now and there was no ice anywhere; there have been four occasions when it's been considerably colder and much of the planet was covered in ice.

These comings and goings of the ice ages happened without any human involvement and were brought about due to the natural cycles that the Sun and Earth go through. These cycles are still happening, they're complicated because there's lots of them and they interact with each other.

These natural cycles occur over long periods of time, the shortest cycle the Earth goes through lasts 23,000 years. The Sun goes through some much shorter cycles but the differences these short cycles have on our climate is very small.

What's causing so much concern at the moment is the fact that the Earth is warming up much faster than can be attributed to natural cycles alone.

This isn't surprising. We know how the greenhouse effect works and we know that any amount of greenhouse gas emissions will add to the greenhouse effect and so cause the planet to warm up.

There is a natural carbon cycle which, when left to it's own devices, keeps carbon levels in check. The carbon cycle also has a 'surplus capacity' and can cope with small increases in levels of carbon dioxide. Last year we 'overloaded' the natural cycle almost 10 times over (the carbon cycle has the ability to handle an excess of 3 billion tons of CO2 a year, last year we emitted 29 billion tons).

To put it into context - 18,000 years ago the world started warming of it's own accord and this brought about the last glacial retreat (sometimes, incorrectly, referred to as the end of the last ice age). Although the rate at which temperatures rose was incredible (7 degrees Celsius over 7,500 years), it's nothing compared to the rate that temperatures have been rising in recent decades (17 times as fast).

All things taken into account, the very most that nature could be responsible for in the current warming trend is 20% of the warming, the real figure is probably less than 10%.

Answer 2

In the 70s there were fears we were headed towards an ice age. Listen here -- the earth's temperature has been rising and cooling since there has been an earth. Earth's temperatures have been rising for 120 years (a little before industrialization wouldn't you say?) with the exception of a decrease for a couple of decades (which lead all the paranoid losers to say "ice age"). Vikings used to farm the land on Greenland and somehow humans and countless other species survived.

I think it is easy for people to use the current temperatures as a way to point the finger at capitalism and everyone's favorite target President George Dubya Bush. Did you know that the concept of "global warming" was really created by a Swedish scientist who proposed a way to combat decreasing temperatures during this ice age scare? Put it this way - if a bunch of liberals are screaming and whining... don't listen to what they say.

Answer 3

I give you the same answer that I share with others. I have been a respected scientist for 35 years now. The science shows that global warming is both naturally occuring and also aggravated by the effect of the excessive amout of carbon being pumped into our atmosphere. Look at 60,000 years of ice core samples and what do you see? Are there fluctuations in temperatures? Absolutely! But what I found at the end of those ice cores is a tremendous increase in temperatures never seen in 60,000 years. Also, I've looked at carbon in the atmosphere since 1958. I overlaid a chart showing the rise in carbon dioxide with surface temperatures from 1958 to 2006. There is a definite correlation between carbon in the atmosphere and temperature increase.

And I find it interesting that you should mention a colder winter. I live in Wisconsin and also looked at the colder weather this winter. And I found a report showing that the North Atlantic Current is starting to slow down as a result of fresh water being released by melting polar ice from Antarctica. The North Atlantic Current transfers heat from the equator and brings it North. Without that current working, the North gets colder and that's what happened this year in my region of the United States. But consequently, it was also a drier winter. Of course, we have the answer to cut nearly all carbon emissions immediately, but we won't so long as we have those of our species who compete against each other for food and energy through our petty wars and conflicts. I hope this gives you a different perspective on climate change.

Answer 4

This is science and what counts is the data. Look at the links.

"I wasn’t convinced by a person or any interest group—it was the data that got me. I was utterly convinced of this connection between the burning of fossil fuels and climate change. And I was convinced that if we didn’t do something about this, we would be in deep trouble.”

Vice Admiral Richard H. Truly, USN (Ret.)
Former NASA Administrator, Shuttle Astronaut and the first Commander of the Naval Space Command

Here are two summaries of the mountain of data that convinced Admiral Truly, short and long.

http://www.globalwarmingart.com/wiki/Image:Climate_Change_Attribution.png

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

It's (mostly) not the sun:

http://www.stopglobalwarming.org/sgw_actionitems.asp

And the first graph aboves shows that the sun is responsible for about 10% of it. When someone says it's the sun they're saying that thousands of climatologists are stupid and don't look at the solar data. That's ridiculous.

Science is quite good about exposing bad science or hoaxes:

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/ATG/polywater.html

There's a large number of people who agree that it is real and mostly caused by us, who are not liberals, environmentalists, stupid, or conceivably part of a "conspiracy". Just three examples of many:

"Global warming is real, now, and it must be addressed."

Lee Scott, CEO, Wal-Mart

"Our nation has both an obligation and self-interest in facing head-on the serious environmental, economic and national security threat posed by global warming."

Senator John McCain, Republican, Arizona

“DuPont believes that action is warranted, not further debate."

Charles O. Holliday, Jr., CEO, DuPont

There's a lot less controversy about this is the real world than there is on Yahoo answers:

http://www.worldpublicopinion.org/pipa/articles/home_page/329.php?nid=&id=&pnt=329&lb=hmpg1

And vastly less controversy in the scientific community than you might guess from the few skeptics talked about here:

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

"There's a better scientific consensus on this [climate change] than on any issue I know - except maybe Newton's second law of dynamics. Global warming is almost a no-brainer at this point,You really can't find intelligent, quantitative arguments to make it go away."

Dr. Jerry Mahlman, NOAA

Good websites for more info:

http://profend.com/global-warming/

http://www.realclimate.org

"climate science from climate scientists"

Answer 5

Scientists who actually work in these fields flatly contradict Gore. Take his allegations that extreme weather (EW) events will increase in frequency and severity as the world warms and that this is already happening. Former professor of climatology at the University of Winnipeg Dr. Tim Ball notes, "The theories that Gore supports indicate the greatest warming will be in polar regions. Therefore, the temperature contrast with warmer regions -- the driver of extreme weather -- will lessen and, with it, storm potential will lessen."

http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/finan...
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Answer 6

It's natural
back in the seventies climatologists were afraid of a second ice age.
back in medieval times there was a period called very descriptively "the medieval warm period" and the temperatures were higher than they are now.
Many climatologists that were once convinced that global warming was human caused are now reneging and saying that the data does not support that claim and the earth has also now showed signs that it is beginning to cool once again.

Answer 7

Both. Even the IPCC report, which puts most of the blame on human activity, acknowledges that solar forcing (increase in the sun's output) is probably partly to blame.

Answer 8

both best organic phenomena are the photo voltaic pastime and the multidecadal oscillation of the oceans. As photo voltaic pastime will boost the quantity of ability attaining earth will boost. the different is likewise actual. you've likely heard of el nino and l. a. nina, they look to have an significant impression on cooling and heating of the ambience.

Answer 9

I believe that while the earth does indeed go through natural changes, I also believe that what humans do both individually and collectively has an effect and whether that effect is good or bad depends on the choices and/or actions taken.

Answer 10

I believe in Climate change. Weather changes like last summer extremely hot weather, even winter are colder. There been increased in wildfires and drought, which been destroy the ecosystem, and cause more extinction of animal and plants. And probably heard about the glacier melting and sea level has been rising because the Carbon dioxide and other gases that have been trapping the sun heat in earth's atmosphere. This problem was caused by burning fossil fuels such as coal, gas and oil and clearing forests from humans' and it our responsibility to do something about. i believe who believe it hoaxes, are either go with bush admiration and Fossil Fuel Company who have been toning down climate change (global warming) so won’t seem as bad and there doing for money over well be of people and planet. i don't think there aware what of power we have on planet. Human are consider a dominate race, we have largest population, we create machine and change environments like the direction of river in way we like. We make houses and city skyscrapers, we guns, planes. We power to destroy whatever is in our path, and kill off an entire species and make it at stick. How not consider that power? There time when were going to see what wrong we done to earth, and try fix this global problem, for better than doing nothing. I know humans are not perfect and it natural to think of yourself cause it real thing we understand but once and while we need to think what going on around us, for world doesn’t center around you. Animal are valuable they keep the balance of life or circle of life, without them, the environment will be danger and which will endanger us. This planet earth has given us so many things like tree that bring the oxygen, a habit for animal and reduce carbon emissions and this planet is alive and belongs to animals as well. Even though we make mistakes that why we strive to do, that what makes us better people. I not trying to converge and change you into something your not, I just like you understand what I and perhaps many other see. 4 stop global warming sites
http://www.oprah.com/tows/pastshows/200612/tows_past_20061205.jhtml
http://www.stopglobalwarming.org/default.asp
www.climatecrisis.net
http://www2.oprah.com/tows/slide/200704/20070420/slide_20070420_350_101.jhtml

2 cartoons making fun of global warming
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIJZ4d892kI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLW2T3QgJc0&NR